VALPARAISO — Tubes filled with multicolored plastic pellets fill the shelf in Adam Johnson’s kitchen. A large motor is perched on a table by the back door and, across from it, sits a peculiar metal track connected to a large black spool.
“Welcome to Vidette Makes,” Johnson said, presenting the various machines.
The engineer by trade has always been a tinkerer. Vidette Makes, which operates partly out of Johnson’s home and partly out of McMillan Hall at Valparaiso University, is a community of fellow tinkerers that meet once a month to share their various skills.
The group has been meeting for several years, but they formally became a nonprofit and adopted the name Vidette Makes in 2020. One of the makerspace’s current projects is the 3D printer filament-recycling contraption splayed-out across Johnson’s back entryway.
