The Maker Faire Vienna 2023

This weekend, an event took place in Vienna that I've been looking forward to for months. The Maker Faire Vienna 2023. Due to the pandemic, there was a three-year break, meaning the last fair took place in spring 2019. At that time, I had just started constructing my watch. I didn't know anything about a maker scene yet, and of course not about this trade fair either. A lot has happened since then. 3D printers, microcontrollers and Aliexpress are now part of my everyday life. My expectations were correspondingly high to be able to discuss with like-minded people and get to know their projects.

According to the organizers, there were over 900 makers with around 160 stands. Of course, I wasn't able to take a close look at every stand, so I would like to present just a few of my personal highlights that I particularly liked.

Shaper CNC router

The Shaper was the absolute highlight of the Maker Faire for me. A device that is operated like a router and behaves like a CNC router. The spindle moves on bearings and is kept on track electronically. To do this, you load the pattern you want to mill into the device and then trace the contours more or less precisely on a small screen. The shaper automatically adjusts the spindle so that the result is absolutely precise. I tried it out myself and was really impressed.

CNC milling machines from Johann Neuwirth

Johann has a very interesting hobby. He builds CNC milling machines. Not only, but especially the smaller, affordable CNC milling machines have interested me for a long time. I talked to him for a while about all the things he has already built and it was very impressive. And the small milling machines are not even particularly expensive.

Pong replica based on original circuit diagrams

Pong was the first game I played at home on the TV when I was a child. At the Maker Faire, there was a replica of the game that was built according to the original circuit diagrams. Not a computer game, but analog electronics and lots of integrated circuits from the 74xx family. Of course I also played a round. And won :-)​​​​​​​

Happylab 

Several makerspaces were represented at the Maker Faire. Happylab had the largest stand, where they also presented some of the projects that had been realized there. I asked them to explain to me exactly how a makerspace works, what it costs, what equipment is available, and so on. It all sounded very interesting, as you have all kinds of machines at your disposal, from small 3D printers to large CNC milling machines. That would open up completely new possibilities for realizing my projects.​​​​​​​

Prusa

As it is about time to replace my old Ender 3 with something new, I was very excited about the Prusa stand. Unfortunately, it was a bit disappointing. Very small, lots of people and the staff couldn't give me any answers to detailed questions. At least the Prusa XL was shown, but without the tool changer. I was expecting more.​​​​​​​

Of course, there were also many other interesting stands. So here's a short photo tour of the Maker Faire:

I really enjoyed my day at the Maker Faire Vienna. It was just great to be among so many like-minded people and to talk shop. And who knows, maybe you'll find me there again next year. But this time as an exhibitor.