This course is heavily based in materials. I will provide samples for you to experiment with, but you will be responsible for purchasing materials for individual projects. Look at the materials page for much more.
You should get these tools and materials ASAP and bring them to every class.
1. General
- multimeter
- paper (range of weights, colors, textures, etc e.g. tracing, vellum, cardstock, etc.)
- scissors
- X-Acto knife
- small tip brushes
- ruler
- tape (single, double sided, and/or glue dots)
- hot glue
- hot glue gun
- clear nail polish
- small needle nose pliers (such as those used for jewelry making)
- wire clippers
- wire snips
- tweezers
- liquid containers (to store inks)
- assortment of fabric (muslin or cotton is fine)
2. Paper-related
- paper in a range of weights, colors, and textures (e.g. tracing, vellum, cardstock, etc.)
- Soft graphite pencil or woodless graphite pencil
3. Electronics
- A variety of LEDs of your choosing. Keep aesthetics in mind and default to diffused! I usually get one of the big kits from Evil Mad Scientist, but you can source Sparkfun, Adafruit, SuperBrightLEDs, Ebay, and more for deals. For example:
- 5mm LED Assorted (Sparkfun)
- 10mm LEDs (whatever colors you’d like)
- SMT Cool White 5050 LED (I usually get one of the big kits from Evil Mad Scientist)
- Resistors:
- 220 Ohm Resistors (red, red, brown)
- 10 K Ohm Resistors (black, brown, orange)
- Sparkfun has a lovely resistor kit that I highly recommend
- 3V CR2032 Lithium Batteries
- Small Neodynmium Magnets (you can get these from AI Friedman, the Container Store (look in the office section), or online)
- Alligator clips
- Solder
- Copper Tape (1/4″ width)
- Coin cell battery holders (at least 3)
You will need these as well, but not immediately:
- Breadboard
- Arduino Uno + jumper cables
- Note: If you plan to work with fabric, a Adafruit Flora or Lilypad Arduino are highly recommended.
3. Fabric
- A basic sewing kit including needles, thread, seam ripper, etc.