Central's Makerspace now offers limited services. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, access inside the equipment area is temporarily staff-only. The digital media lab equipment at Alton branch is currently unavailable.
BPL’s renovated makerspace is bigger, brighter, better—and ready to welcome back Burlington makers! Now located on Central's spacious 3rd floor, the makerspace is a community creativity studio where you can design, innovate, fabricate, and build skills for life.
Questions? If you would like to know more about any of our equipment or services, please give us a call at 905.639.3611 extension 1302 or contact us online.
How It Works
Drop off your ready-to-make design file in a USB flash drive for makerspace staff to manufacture on a first-come-first-served basis.
- Mon, Fri, Sat: 10am-4.30pm
- Tue, Wed, Thu: 10am-6.30pm
- Projects will be manufactured as designed; library staff will not modify designs.
- Production fees will be charged for incomplete or unsatisfactory manufacturing due to design issues.
3rd floor Public Computers
Our specialized maker equipment requires design files in specific formats (see Equipment below). Make sure you bring a USB stick to save your designs. Computers are available first come-first served:
- 3 design computers with CorelDraw, Adobe Creative Suite, Inkscape
- 4 regular computers with links to LinkedIn Learning, YouTube, Niche Academy, and other online learning resources
- 1 computer with scanner - temporarily unavailable
- VHS to DVD converter - temporarily unavailable
Design Responsibly
Whether you are designing from scratch or using a ready-to-make pattern for your maker project, please be aware that the content must not be:
- Prohibited by provincial or federal law.
- Unsafe, harmful, dangerous, or threaten the well-being of others.
- In violation of another's intellectual property rights; for example, the 3D printer and scanner may not be used to reproduce materials subject to copyright, patent, or trademark protection.
- Designs must meet the production requirements outlined in the sections below.
- Laser cutter materials: Customers may buy project materials at the library or supply their own from the approved list - see Related links
- Vinyl cutter/printer, 3D Printer, embroidery machine materials: Must be purchased from BPL. Customers cannot supply their own vinyl, filament, thread, etc.
- Materials sold at the library are only for use within BPL's makerspace.
Hardware: Epilog Mini Helix 24 - 40w CO2 laser
Drop off your design file in a USB flash drive in one of the required file formats:
- For projects requiring cutting: .SVG, .PDF, .CDR (Version 17)
- For engraving-only projects: .PDF, .PNG, .JPG
Project Size:
- Cutting bed size: 12" x 24"
- Cutting thickness: 1/4" maximum
Production Cost: $5/every 30 minutes of laser cutting time
Materials Cost (includes tax):
1/8” Birch Plywood (1' x 2') = $6.60 (limited quantities available)
4mm Birch Plywood (1' x 2') = $6.30
3mm Acrylic: Clear (1' x 2') = $12.30
3mm Acrylic: Black (1' x 2') = $13.05
3mm Acrylic: White (1' x 2') = $11.85
3mm Acrylic: Yellow, Blue, Red, Green (1' x 2') = $14.55
Low Odour Laser Rubber (8.5" x 12") = $26.25
Hardware: Roland BN-20 Vinyl Printer and Roland GS-24 Vinyl Cutter
Drop off your design file in a USB flash drive in one of the required file formats:
- .SVG, .PDF, .CDR (Version 17)
- For vinyl printing-only: .PDF .PNG or .JPG Hardware
Project Size:
- Vinyl printer 18" width maximum
- Vinyl cutter: 22" width maximum
Materials Cost (includes tax):
Cutting Only: Black, White, Blue, Copper = $2/foot (length)
Printing & Cutting:
- Standard Vinyl (Clear, Matte or Glossy) = $4.25/foot (length)
- Premium Vinyl (Heat Transfer) = $11.65/foot (length)
Drop off your design file in a USB flash drive in one of the required file formats: .STL, .OBJ
Project Size:
- 11.8" length x 12" wide maximum
- Must be able to print in 7 hour maximum
Production Cost: $2.50 per 30 minutes of print time
Materials: We cannot accommodate requests for specific filament colours.
Hardware: Janome Memory Craft 500E
Software: Janome Digitizer V5
Drop off your design file in a USB flash drive in one of the required file formats: .EMB or .JEF
Embroidery Size: 7.9” x 11” maximum
Production Cost: $4 for the first 10,000 stitches + $2/every 5,000 stitches (or part thereof) after.
Acceptable fabric for embroidery machine projects:
- Natural Fibres (Cotton, Linen, Wool)
- Fine Fabrics (Silk, Satin, Taffeta, Velvet)
- Knit Fabrics
- Synthetic Fabrics (Blends, Rayon, Polyester)
- Denim
- Upholstery
Related links
Approved Materials for Laser Cutter Projects
Learn about the MakerBot Replicator Z18 3D printer
Get ready-to-print 3D designs from Thingiverse
FREE online classes on Tinkercad
FREE 3D printing training & tutorials on LinkedIn Learning