Don't DIY Alone

More pictures !

2010-07-28T03:21:00.001-07:00

Here are some more pictures from the big bike trailer making workshop...

the finished trailers !

tools on a boat

trailer to bike attachment..

welding

workshop sparks

tall bike, trailer frame structure, and stuff for keeping safe....

...Putting the wheels on

cool looking diagram on blackboard

(phew! thanks to the person taking the pictures!)

Pictures from the bike trailer extravaganza

2010-05-18T02:29:00.000-07:00

Hello!
Well what a weekend that was- 2 action packed days of super people, screaming angle grinders and head scratching.
Heres a selection of jumbled blurry pictures:

In order: hitch prototype, trailer number 2 plans, the chef in his kitchen, solo grinding, team drilling.

More pictures to follow.

Pig on a bike...

2010-05-04T01:47:00.001-07:00

...spotted at critical mass on friday

In other news, the bike trailer workshop is filling up quick- if you are keen then email diyedinburgh [at] riseup.net to secure a space.

Bike trailer workshop!

2010-04-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

On the 15th and 16th of May, there will be a two day bike trailer extravaganza! The poster is below, but just in case:

When: 10am-5pm Sat 15th and Sun 16th May
What: How to build a super duper strong trailer out of scrap. Trailers to be donated to the Abundance project (Abundance Edinburgh).
Where: Craigmiller, Edinburgh

The workshop is open to all, but get in contact be emailing diyedinburgh [at] riseup.net to confirm your attendance ASAP. A donation towards the running costs of the venue, the materials and tools and stuff would be great.

The Outdoor Skillshare

2010-04-21T02:03:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone.
Theres something cool happening in the woods somewhere sometime....and theres more about it here

And as if that wasnt enough, heres a picture of a broken wind turbine that is hanging around at the workshop. Wanna help fix it?

Whats been happening?

2010-04-18T08:48:00.000-07:00

We been building....

We been learning...

[in order: chopper and tall bike in background, wood burning stove, V3 wind turbine, trailer building]

Welding workshops

2010-04-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well hello there.
After a fun sunday morning welding workshop a couple of weeks ago, it seems like a good idea to do it again:

When- 10am Sunday the 2nd of May for a few hours
Where- the workshop...for the address email diyedinburgh[at]riseup.net
What- a bit of a taster of MIG welding, angle grinding and other metalwork

The workshop is open to all, and is free BUT welding is more fun if you have somthing to weld, so bring some scrap metal to use. Some ideas for things to bring- shopping trolleys, old office desks (they often have good steel frames), bed frames, scaffolding tubes, street signs (like the one in the picture below), bike frames.

If you have other interesting items to trade for some steel thats possible as well- bike bits, old tools, electrical stuff, cool stuff, stuff.

Lastly, theres not an infinite amount of space so if you are definitely going to come, maybe you could email diyedinburgh [at] riseup.net..

Wicked.

SAVE OUR OLD TOWN!

2009-02-10T05:13:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Some of you may have bumped into the lovely people from the Save Our Old Town (SOOT) campaign during the DiY gathering. They are looking to finish their handmade community banner. These banners are wonderful creations of communities, that create visual and directly physical works of peoples' histories and connection, as well as retaining practical skills and sharing connections to each other and to time spent creating. Please get in touch with them and help finish the banner and maybe start a new one!

www.eh8.org.uk

http://www.independentrepublicofthecanongate
.blogspot.com/

see you next time!

2009-02-09T13:05:00.000-08:00

Well, the weekend of DiY good times has come to an end.
Thanks so much to everyone who held workshops, came to the Zine-o-rama, performed, volunteered, made coffees... for making this such a great weekend. Special thanks to The Forest Cafe, The Roxy, and ACE for hosting events. Stay tuned for more fun DiY times in Edinburgh...

There are more and more DiY festivals and skillshares popping up all over the place... check out the May event in Newcastle: diyayefest.wordpress.com.

Some photos may be posted soon.

See you next time!

xx don't DiY alone xx

Sometimes broken things make the best building supplies!

2009-01-31T12:46:00.000-08:00

So, after much work and hallucinations around the typewriter, here is what will be happening during the "Don't DIY Alone" gathering...

THURSDAY 5th FEBRUARY:

AUTONOMOUS CENTRE OF EDINBURGH, ACE: 17 WEST MONTGOMERY PLACE, LEITH:

8pm - 10pm Herb Exploration and Study Group: will be exploring elecampane

THE FOREST CAFE: BRISTO PLACE, EH1

In the Upstairs Hall:

6pm Bicycle-powered 12V cinema showing...

924 Gilman St: Let's Talk About Tact & Timing

Ambitious documentary chronicling the 21-year history of a non-profit,
volunteer-run, all-ages venue in Berkeley, California. This intimate
portrait of a small punk venue fosters a sense of hope that punk principles
& practices can build a creative, successful &  long-running community

In the cafe downstairs:

9pm Make and Mend vs. Stitch and Bitch PARTY! Come and bring all your making and fixing projects and hang out and talk to people doing the same! There will be music and all the other entertainments!

FRIDAY 6th FEBRUARY:

6pm Critical Mass! meet AT THE MOUND, PRINCES ST., CENTRAL EDINBURGH: CRITICAL MASS and fun bike ride adventure! BYO bike and lights, colours and sound-makers.

THE FOREST CAFE: BRISTO PLACE, EH1

In the Crafty Room:

4-6pm Potty Ecology: a facilitated discussion on our use of water, how to reduce it, where water comes from and where it goes, and practical ideas on how to reconnect ourselves to the hydrological cycles (and the exciting consequences of this...)

In the Upstairs Hall:

6pm Bicycle-powered 12V cinema showing...

Catching Out

The adventure begins on the porch of a train hurtling through the arid
expanse of the Mojave Desert, & continues into the unconventional terrain of
an American sub-culture.  "Catching Out" follows three contemporary
trainhoppers as they navigate between the constraints of society and the
freedom of the road.

In the cafe downstairs:

9pm Vegan Bring and Share Potluck and discussions on food politics, nutrition, food production, cooking for the masses and experiences with volunteer-run catering and social spaces! Bring vegan meals, snacks, puddings! Share and talk! There will be a BRING YOUR OWN BOOZE with a set CORKAGE policy, as always with Forest evening events!

In the Darkroom:

2-4pm Darkroom photography sessions part 1

SATURDAY 6th FEBRUARY:

AUTONOMOUS CENTRE OF EDINBURGH, ACE: 17 WEST MONTGOMERY PLACE, LEITH

11-6pm Leith Wholefoods Co-op, Library, Infoshop, cheap photocopying

THE FOREST CAFE: BRISTO PLACE, EH1

In the cafe downstairs:

10am-6pm The Edinburgh Zine-o-rama! A celebration of independent and radical publishing! With the accompaniment of a DIY SOAPBOX...come and read your words, sing your songs, talk about what inspires you, tell people about your projects!
9pm Fancy-dress DIY DISCO DANCE PARTY! Theme to be confirmed...but come dressed to dance and bring a CD or things of music you like to dance to! Everyone takes it in turns to play their music! We are all the DJs!

In the Upstairs Hall:

6pm Edinburgh Chiapas Solidarity Group and Bicycle-powered 12V cinema showing...

La Pesadilla Azul (The Blue Nightmare) - Oazaca 2006 (19 minutes)
After police repression against the people of Oaxaca and APPO (People’s Popular Assembly of Oaxaca) on November 25, more than 200 people were unjustly and illegally taken to varioius jails, suffering beatings and rape. "The Blue Nightmare" contains testimony of some of the people that were detained.

Plan Puebla Panama (57 minutes)
The PPP is a multi-billion dollar development plan to link the nine southern states of Mexico and the rest of Central America into a huge Free Trade Zone. The PPP aims at increasing the profits of transnational corporations, by using military force to steal land, polluting the environment, putting workers in sweatshop conditions, and privatizing biological resources. In Spanish, with English subtitles.

In the Action Room:

11-1pm Zines, comix, DIY publishing!
2-4pm CCTV Surveillance exploration of the city centre! A movement to find and map all CCTV cameras! Meet at 2pm to prepare for the game, run around the city, meet back to see what happened!
4-6pm IWW - the DIY Union! A facilitated discussion on the history and future of the International Workers of the World, IWW!
6-7pm Zines, comix, DIY publishing!

In the Crafty Room:

12-1pm Bookbinding and joining!
2-4pm Feminist Health: a facilitated discussion

In the Cave Recording Studio:

12-4pm DIY music recording!

In the Darkroom:

10am-12pm Darkroom photography sessions part 2

CEILIDH HALL AT THE ROXY ARTHOUSE: ROXBURGH PLACE/DRUMMOND STREET

10am-2pm Yoga ... bring your yoga mat!
2-5pm Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army...workshops in clowning!
5-6pm Basic Feminist Self-defence...all welcome!

NICHOLSON SQUARE, NICHOLSON STREET

11am-2pm Edinburgh Food Not Bombs serving free and healthy food for all who want it!

SUNDAY 8TH FEBRUARY

AUTONOMOUS CENTRE EDINBURGH, ACE: 17 WEST MONTGOMERY PLACE, LEITH

11am-1pm Herb Exploration and Study Group

THE FOREST CAFE: BRISTO PLACE, EH1

In the cafe downstairs:

10am-6pm The Edinburgh Zine-o-rama! A celebration of independent and radical publishing! With the accompaniment of a DIY SOAPBOX...come and read your words, sing your songs, talk about what inspires you, tell people about your projects!
9pm DIY Soapbox Open Stage Evening! The evening is yours to spend sharing stories and songs and pictures and games and time! There will be boardgames and bring musical instruments!

In the Hall Upstairs:

10am-12pm Basic Bicycle Maintenance: in association with the Bike Station who will give lots of help for everyone to bring their bikes (or just their brains) to drop in and learn how to perform basic maintenance and repairs on their bicycles!
1pm-4pm Advanced Bicycle Maintenance: as above, but all the things you never learn in basic workshops...like fixing hubs, bottom brackets, bearings and so on...
4pm-6pm 12V power and how to get off the grid: a look at bicycle-powered 12V generators and low-voltage, autonomous power systems!

6pm Bicycle-powered 12V cinema showing...

Si nos Dejan  (If they let us)

Excellent documentary mapping the experiences of migrants living in
Barcelona. With its fast rhythm & sharp approach, Si nos Dejan is a powerful
insight into the diverse range of experiences of people living without
permission.

Plus short - Detention Ships

As the Dutch government plans to build ships to hold migrants off the coast,
local people have other ideas and decide to take part in a spot of DIY!

In the Action Room:

2pm-5pm Open Source Software/Computer Maintenance

In the Crafty Room:

2-4pm Blockprinting and Rubber Stamp making!
4-7pm Textiles work of all kinds! Come and share stitching/joining knowledge!
7pm-9pm Stick-n-poke DIY tattoos! Learn how to put ink in your skin with basic tools! Needles and ink! Bring sewing needles, safety pins, Indian Ink, ideas for designs and maybe some First Aid equipment! It's fun and permanent!

In the Cave Recording Studio:

12-4pm DIY music recording!

In the Darkroom:

4-6pm Darkroom photography sessions part 3

Thread your needles!

2009-01-28T04:22:00.000-08:00

Hello! Sorry for the delay to updates here, but we have been very busy having adventures and making plans! Everything is coming together well and this Saturday, the 31st January, we will have a finalised programmezine made and photocopied and pasted on the walls of the real and digital worlds! It will list all events, venues and times and will also provide information about cool places we like in our city and little bits of pieces...

Keep checking here for more information, and write for questions, or head to our forum!

Smash and create!

xxx

Workshop Announcement

2009-01-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

Workshops include:

Bicycle Maintenance
Book-binding
Independent publishing
First-aid (Action Medics)
Musical Instruments
Self-defence for women
Veganism & Food Politics (Anarchist TeaPot)
Stick-n-poke DIY tattoos (BYO sewing needle & ink & simple design)
textiles & mending - bring your mending
leatherwork (not confirmed)
12-volt power & Bicycle Cinema
Herbalism
Scottish flora & fauna (tour - to be confirmed)
Critical Mass (friday 5pm @ The Mound, fancy dress)
Homebrew for you
Open Source Software

What?

2008-12-12T06:37:00.000-08:00

The DIY (do it yourself) ethic refers to the principle of being self-reliant by completing tasks oneself as opposed to relying upon "specialists" to complete them. The term can apply to anything from home improvements and repairs to healthcare, from publishing to electronics. DIY questions the supposed uniqueness of the expert's skills, and promotes the ability of the ordinary person to learn to do more than he or she thought was possible.

Why Do It Together? Groups of people can include a vast range of skills. By coming together and sharing our skills for free, we challenge hierarchies of knowledge and also the commodification of knowledge. By creating as a group, we can build networks and celebrate a different way of living.

What's "Don't DiY Alone"? A gathering in Edinburgh to share skills and have a good time, 5-8th February 2009.

How can you get involved? Contact us at diyedinburgh@riseup.net to organise a workshop, or come along in February and learn some stuff! Go to our online forum at diyedinburgh.freeforums.org and start organising now! Contact us for a copy of the posters to put up in your area.

Zine-a-rama poster

2008-12-12T06:17:00.002-08:00

Don't DIY Alone poster

2008-12-12T06:17:00.001-08:00