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Classes

Come and see what Site 3 and our community are about! Most classes are taught by members, with occasional guest appearances from Site 3 friends! We teach everything from electronics to wood working to stained glass – and if you would like to learn about anything else we do at Site 3, or if you’d like to inquire about when a previously-held course might be held again, please let us know by e-mailing “info” @ this domain.

Come and see what Site 3 and our community are about! Classes are hosted at Site 3 coLaboratory, usually upstairs. Registration is simple, we use Event Brite sign up.

Laser usage classes are required before you can use the Site 3 laser cutter, generally these classes run on the last Saturday of the month.

Below are the the upcoming scheduled classes, or skip ahead to classes scheduled by demand. If you’d like to learn about anything else we do at Site 3, or if you’d like to inquire about when a course might be held (even if it’s not currently listed), please contact us by e-mailing “info” @ this domain.

In addition to class requirements, please bring drinks/snacks with you. We have no running water on-site. For that reason, avoid messy food in the lab – for your convenience and ours. There are a few cafes and convenience stores close by at Bloor & Ossington.


Prototyping circuits: intro to electronics

Wednesday 8th of February - 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Interested in learning to build electronic circuits, but don't know where to start? This is the course for you! In this introductory-level course you'll learn how to read a schematic and how to use it to build a working prototype. During the course you'll build the Atari Punk Console, a circuit that produces sounds reminiscent of retro video games. We'll also discuss some basic theory of how the circuit works, and we'll do some basic "circuit bending" by tinkering with the design and see how our changes affect the circuit's behaviour.

... register and learn more

 

Arduino/Wiring with Brett Hagman of wiring.org.co

Thursday 23rd of February - 7:00pm to 10:00pm

This is a three-hour long beginner course to get started with Arduino or the Wiring environment. 

Students will learn how to program using the software environment, and go through a set of examples and demonstrations.  A $10 parts kit is included in the cost of the class.

Requirements

... register and learn more

 

Flame Effects Course with Site 3 Fire Arts

Saturday 25th of February - 10:00am to 4:00pm

Site 3 Fire Arts team presents: HOWTO Flame Effects, hands-on.

Over the course of the weekend, we will teach you basic propane handling, safety, and science. We will also teach you how to safely assemble your plumbing and test it for leaks, before letting 'er rip.

 

Saturday schedule:

Propane safety and handling Effect design Igniter systems Fuel supply systems Afternoon effect build Build test  Sunday schedule:

Control and interaction systems You will not get to keep an effect head of your own, but you will receive a Site 3 Fire Arts USB key with all useful course information in HTML/browsable - and thus machine-searchable! - format. It will print out if you're into that kind of thing.

... register and learn more

 

DIY Sketchbook Revolution: March Series

Saturday 10th of March - 12:00pm to 4:00pm

Sabrina Scott returns with her extremely popular series on bookbinding!

These three classes will cover everything from Accordion Fold books to start right up to hardback case-binding, which is what you get when you think of a hardback book. Beginners are welcome, as are accompanied minors. Sabrina is an accomplished teacher who is not only chill, but great at getting the information out to anyone taking her workshops. We're thrilled to have her back.

As usual, materials for the class will be supplied.

The classes are $40 each, or all three for $110. Register early so we know how much material to supply.

... register and learn more

 

Intro to SLR photography with Kyle Clements

Wednesday 14th of March - 7:00pm to 10:00pm

Single-Lens Reflex Cameras are the Beast From The East when it comes to getting the photographs you want, every single time. OKCupid says using a good camera for those bathroom shots will get you better dates, your mom says nice shots of your cousin's wedding will get you limitless cred, and you KNOW you want to snag a perfect frame of the full blue moon. 

All three of those are radically different applications of the camera technology, though! An SLR, unlike a point-and-shoot, can rock all three. 

This is the class to find out how to use your camera to do just that.

 

Bring: Your camera, a lens, memory card (empty), battery (full)

... register and learn more

 

Site 3 Classes Scheduled by Demand

Introduction to stained glass


Interested in learning to create stained glass windows but don’t want to buy all the expensive equipment? Take our introduction to stained glass course! You’ll learn to design, cut, and fabricate your own stained glass projects under the tutelage of Site 3 member Dana Sarafinchan.  During three sessions of two hours each we will teach you the terminology, equipment, and skills to complete a copper-foil window hanging for your home. We’ll supply everything you’ll need and then some; you just need show up and enjoy the company while learning a new skill at your own pace!

Course fee: $120 + HST (includes all materials)

Class sizes range from one-on-one to groups of up to four.

Scheduling: To schedule, please contact Dana directly by emailing dsarafinchan@ this domain.

More circuit prototyping classes!

Our last circuit prototyping class was a hit, and so we’re having another on June 24 from 7-9PM. In fact, we’re going to be making them a monthly affair, so if you’re all booked up in June, don’t worry, we’ll still be here in July.

From the event description:

Interested in learning to build electronic circuits, but don’t know where to start? This is the course for you! In this introductory-level course you’ll learn how to read a schematic and how to use it to build a working prototype. During the course you’ll build the Atari Punk Console, a circuit that produces sounds reminiscent of retro video games. We’ll also discuss some basic theory of how the circuit works, and we’ll do some basic “circuit bending” by tinkering with the design and see how our changes affect the circuit’s behaviour.

Intrigued? Check out the eventbrite page to secure your spot in the class!

Geotagging Photos

Do you like to travel? Do you like to take pictures? Do you like to do both at the same time and want to know what was taken, when and where? If yes, then you should take this course.

Geotagging is the act of inserting the location the picture was taken inside the meta data of the picture. Now you’ll know exactly where all those amazing photos were taken the last time you went hiking, or on vacation, or just walking around town.

High end dSLR cameras have GPS accessories that will automatically insert co-ordinates into pictures. Those accessories cost several hundred dollars and a good dSLR is not a casual purchase.  This course will teach you how to combine any digital camera, an ordinary GPS receiver, and a computer to achieve the same thing. The first half of this course will be a short walk around the neighbourhood to take sample pictures. In the second part you’ll learn how to tag the pictures you took, most importantly you’ll learn to do this in an automated fashion, so that tagging one picture is as easy as tagging hundreds.

By the end of the course you’ll know how to:

  • Manually insert longitude and latitude into pictures you’ve taken
  • Upload GPS tracks from your receiver to your computer
  • Display those tracks on a map to see an exact route of where you’ve been
  • Combine the tracks with the pictures you took to create geotagged photos
  • Export those pictures to programs like Google Earth

For this class you will need:

  • a digital camera
  • a hand held GPS receiver (with the accompanying cables)
  • a laptop
  • freely available software (preferably downloaded before class)

(If you do not have a GPS receiver the teacher will provide you with a track log from theirs, if you can’t bring a laptop you’ll be walked through how to do these things on a desktop.)

Course fee: $35
Course length: One class lasting 2 – 3h
Class size: 3 – 10 students
Scheduling: On demand, please contact marc.reevenewson(AT)gmail(DOT)com to arrange times.

Leather mask-making workshops

Announcing our craftiest workshops yet: wet-molded leather mask-making with Adam Smith! Those of you who know Adam know how exciting this is; for those of you who don’t know him, Adam is a genius mad-scientist/leather-worker/costumer/prop-maker. As far as I can tell, if something is filmed in Toronto and has something in it that’s made out of leather, chances are Adam made it.

The class will cover the various types of leathers and their use, characteristics of different parts of the hide, as well as some of the tools specific to leatherworking. Participants will learn some of the basics of water-molding leather and leather finishing, and if successful will be able to create and finish two molded leather masks. As there is some time needed for the masks to dry enough to finish, we may take also take a look at a variety of other leatherworking tools and their use.

Sign up now!