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Earlier this month some of us at Empire Abrasives had the
pleasure of attending the annual Catskill Mountain Maker Camp as
attendees and sponsors. This was such an incredible event that we are proud to
have been a part of and also had a great time attending.
As sponsors, we supplied different abrasive products such as
flap discs, grinding wheels, and cutting discs for various stations around the
event. We also had a dedicated booth set up with 2×72 sanding
belts set up on two belt grinders for anyone who needed to grind down their
metal projects they were working on.
Additionally, we were a part of a multi-step build along
with several other companies that let attendees learn different steps in a
metal fabrication project to create a very cool souvenir to take home and
remember the event.
The first booth in this project was Avid CNC. At their booth, the team
demonstrated how their CNC machines work and answered any questions visitors
had about the process. All weekend long, the Avid machine cut metal kits that
would be made into a tea lamp, after a few more steps where the attendees put
it together themselves.
After picking up their kits from Avid’s booth, makers took
them over to the Empire Abrasives booth to deburr the metal to prep
it for welding.
The team at Lincoln
Electric gave an amazing introduction to MIG welding for everyone
interested and then taught everyone how to do their first welds using the kit
from Avid CNC.
After the welds were done, it was back to the Empire
Abrasives booth where the welds were cleaned up with our 2×72
ceramic sanding belts. This was a great hands-on learning experience for
anyone who hasn’t used a belt sander before.
The next step was a chance to add some personal touches to
their lanterns with a powder coat and color with some help from Chad from ManCrafting.
Check out this finished product that Jacob Griffin aka griffin.makes shared on his
Instagram!
Beyond the DIY lantern, there was really something for
everyone at the event. There were tons of great sponsors showing off their
products and offering demonstrations and hands-on projects for everyone. Some of
our favorite booths (besides our booth, of course) were:
- Mini boat building and racing with Total Boat
- Make your own cutting board/butcher block with Clean Cut Woodworking
- Handmade wallets with Weaver Leather Supply
- Bladesmithing with David DelaGardelle at the Coal Ironworks tent
We definitely don’t want to leave anyone out, so check out the
Makers Camp schedule to see everything else that was going on!
Overall, it was an incredible event for seasoned makers and
newbies looking for some new skills and hobbies. We’ll be counting down the
days until the Catskill Mountain Makers Camp 2023! We hope to see some of you
out there next year!