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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Sep 8

What better way to start the week than with LabCrafter's one-year anniversary! 🥳

We want to extend a huge thank you to our customers. It's been a joy sharing our love for open-source scientific equipment with all of you.

For now, it's time for a well-deserved cake break! 🎂🥂

A smiling couple (Gerrit & Margriet), wearing party hats and LabCrafter t-shirts. They're standing in front of a world map. Text at the bottom says "1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY" in red and white.

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Reposted by LabCrafter

Digital Naturalism Laboratories @dinalab.bsky.social · Aug 1

Here's a super cool documentary about the Mothbox!

Learn about the development and use of this fun #openscience #opensource tool for DIY biodiversity monitoring!

youtu.be/1LGz3aWpeVE?...

Mothbox - Wildlabs Award 2024

YouTube video by Digital Naturalism Laboratories (Andrew Quitmeyer)

youtu.be

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Jul 25

Crimping a connector for a fluorescence add-on we're collaborating on for the OpenFlexure microscope.

A bunch of 3D printed components, wires and screws are lying on a cutting mat. There's an orange Engineer PA-09 crimping tool in the foreground, as well as some screwdrivers and an allen key.

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Reposted by LabCrafter

Digital Naturalism Laboratories @dinalab.bsky.social · Jul 1

Happy Gosh Gathering from Dinacon!! 10 years ago @goshcommunity.bsky.social made a goal to make open science hardware ubiquitous by 2025!

The time has arrived and we are celebrating #opentools here with 53 people at Dinacon!
#openscience #opensource

Andy and bri celebrate with shirts snd people making pcbs

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Jun 25

Being self-employed means we can do more of what we love. Recently we volunteered at our local children's nursery and brought the OpenFlexure Microscope. We had a great time hunting for garden creatures and viewing pre-prepared slides. The hairy fly legs were definitely the biggest hit!🪰

Gerrit and Margriet showing the OpenFlexure Microscope to a group of nursery children.

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Jun 13

Gerrit wrote a blog post about his experience at the 2025 Open Hardware Summit in Edinburgh, organised by @oshwassociation.bsky.social .

gerritniezen.com/reviving-the...

#oshw #openscience #OHS2025

Reviving the Spirit of Open Science Hardware: Highlights from the 2025 Open Hardware Summit

Since starting our open science hardware company, LabCrafter, last year, I’ve been reflecting on the current state of open-source hardwar...

gerritniezen.com

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Jun 4

Gerrit gave a talk last week at the Open Hardware Summit in Edinburgh about our collaboration with the AMYBO community to grow food with electricity! Thanks to @oshwassociation.bsky.social for organising this amazing summit and hosting it in the UK.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI_2...

Gerrit Niezen: Growing Food with Electricity: Sustainable Protein Production

YouTube video by The Open Source Hardware Association

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by LabCrafter

OSHWA @oshwassociation.bsky.social · May 26

Oooh we are getting sooo antsy to see you all at the Summit in just FIVE days! We've even got a handful of tickets left if you want to join us: ohs2025.eventbrite.com

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · May 23

Beautiful micrographs from the OpenFlexure microscope, showing off its ability to create huge stitched images: images.openflexure.org/viewer/

OpenFlexure Viewer

images.openflexure.org

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Apr 30

A school in the Netherlands used our 5V boost converters (labcrafter.co.uk/products/5v-...) for their sensor boxes, and gave a presentation on their inspiring project at The Things Network Conference: www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3B2...

Photo of a sensor box that has been opened, with LabCrafter's 5V boost converter visible on the bottom right of the board.

Photo of a sensor box that has been opened. An antenna is attached to the lid, and all the electronics inside the box are visible. There's a small e-ink display showing readings from the various sensors.

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Apr 16

We wrote a post for the Open Science Shop newsletter, a network of open science hardware vendors that we're part of: www.openscienceshop.org/labcrafter/

From Microscopes to Microbes: What’s New at LabCrafter

At the beginning of September last year, my wife and I co-founded a new open science hardware company - LabCrafter - in Wales. We started by offering open science tools to folks in the UK, and recentl...

www.openscienceshop.org

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Reposted by LabCrafter

RuffLandings @rufflandings.bsky.social · Apr 11

I’d never heard of the Pioreactor before! For anyone else curious:
Pioreactor: pioreactor.com
Electropioreactor: amybo.org/docs/electro...

Pioreactor

The Pioreactor is an accessible and affordable bioreactor - ideal for teaching biology & biotech to students, scaling up a lab, and more. The Pioreactor can grow and experiment with yeast, algae, and ...

pioreactor.com

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Apr 11

We're working with the AMYBO.org community to extend the Pioreactor for sustainable protein experiments. 🦠
A couple of weeks ago, we ran a hands-on session at the Cambridge Festival Schools Days! 🧪🌱
KS3 students used the Pioreactor and @openflexure.bsky.social microscope to explore cyanobacteria.

Sandrine, an AMYBO volunteer, explaining how the Pioreactor works to a group of students sitting around a white table. There is a Pioreactor, an OpenFlexure microscope, a laptop and a screen on the table.

Gerrit giving a presentation on biotechnology and sustainable protein to a group of students sitting on black chairs. There are two large screens showing the presentation.

Rob, an AMYBO volutneer, handling a vial from the Pioreactor, surounded by a group of students sitting at a white table. There is a Pioreactor, laptop, kitchen roll and a box with purple disposable gloves on the table.

Two smiling students, one looking directly at the camera, with a Pioreactor and OpenFlexure microscope in front of them. There is an extension cord with a power supply next to it.

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Mar 21

OpenFlexure microscope and high-resolution upgrade kit now back in stock! labcrafter.co.uk/collections/...

OpenFlexure Microscope

Open tools for open science

labcrafter.co.uk

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Reposted by LabCrafter

OSHWA @oshwassociation.bsky.social · Mar 17

On day 1 of #OHS2025 you can catch Gerrit Niezen of @labcrafter.co.uk talk about harnessing hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria, creating an open-source bioreactor for small-scale protein production, making microbial protein fermentation accessible! Get your ticket today: 2025.oshwa.org/attend/

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Reposted by LabCrafter

OSHWA @oshwassociation.bsky.social · Jan 15

Tickets are ON SALE NOW for the Open Hardware Summit 2025 in Edinburgh, Scotland! Get your ticket today right here: ohs2025.eventbrite.com

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Feb 21

Very excited to be giving a talk at the upcoming Open Hardware Summit in Edinburgh on May 30th: https://2025.oshwa.org/talks/070-gerrit-niezen/

Growing Food with Electricity: Sustainable Protein Production with a Kitchen-Table Bioreactor

2025.oshwa.org

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Reposted by LabCrafter

Digital Naturalism Laboratories @dinalab.bsky.social · Feb 20

Whooo ill be there talking about Moths and Robots and robots to look at moths!

:00 AM
Welcome

Lee, Sid, Alicia

10:10 AM
All Yarns Are Beautiful: Breathing new life into old knitting machines
Carson Holgate

More details

10:30 AM
Democratizing material and technological knowledge: RepMat Library (REPlicating MATerials Library)
Alessia Romani

More details

10:50 AM
The Mothbox Project: How Open Source Hardware Can Benefit Conservation Research
Bri Johns, Kitty & Andy Quitmeyer, Hubert Szczygiel

More details

11:10 AM
Snack break

11:30 AM
Building a FAIR Battery
Sanli Faez

More details

11:50 AM
Open Source Desktop Biofibers Spinning Machine: From Biomaterials to Biofibers
Eldy S. Lazaro Vasquez, Xin Wen, Nefeli Hadjiyiannis, Mirela Alistar, Laura Devendorf, Michael Rivera

More details

12:10 PM
Growing Food with Electricity: Sustainable Protein Production with a Kitchen-Table Bioreactor
Gerrit Niezen

More details

12:30 PM
Maintaining

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Feb 7

New Product Alert! 🚨 Our in-house designed 5V Boost Converter is now in stock! Perfect for battery-powered environmental monitoring, it delivers 5V while fully disconnecting when disabled.

Learn more: https://labcrafter.co.uk/products/5v-boost-converter-with-true-shutdown

#OpenHardware

5V boost converter with true shutdown – LabCrafter

This compact (17x12mm) step-up converter provides a reliable 5V output with true shutdown, perfect for battery-powered applications like environmental monitoring. If you're using a 3.7V Li-Ion battery but need 5V to power your air quality sensor, this converter is an ideal solution. Unlike most boost converters that on

labcrafter.co.uk

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Feb 5

Busy preparing a new product for launch!

A bunch of small PCBs being depanelled and cleaned up

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Reposted by LabCrafter

OpenFlexure @openflexure.bsky.social · Feb 1

We are having a blast at #FOSDEM, showcasing the OpenFlexure Microscopes and chatting with loads of other open-source enthusiasts!!

Come and see us in Hall H to get a demo of our microscope, and come along to our talk tomorrow at 15:20 CET in H.1309 (Van Rijn)!

#OpenSource

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Jan 24

Our OpenFlexure Microscope kits proved very popular, and now you can be notified when we're back in stock. We wrote our own code for this to eliminate use of third party Shopify Apps that share customer details.

Screenshot of LabCrafter website showing OpenFlexure microscope is out of stock

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Jan 17

Since Prusa decided to move away from open-source, it made it much easier to decide which 3D printer to buy next. Voron Design is similar to the OpenFlexure Project, in that a core team creates the design, and a network of vendors sell kits to build it. Looking forward to building this Voron 2.4!

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Reposted by LabCrafter

OpenFlexure @openflexure.bsky.social · Jan 12

OpenFlexure Microscopes are more available than ever. It is really exciting to see so many businesses helping our community buy microscopes.

@labcrafter.co.uk have a new Hi-Res upgrade kit.

Fieldworkers in Japan are also selling a kit!

The true power of Open Hardware is that anyone can sell it.

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LabCrafter @labcrafter.co.uk · Jan 8

Sending out our first newsletter! Subscribe on our website if you'd like to read the next one: labcrafter.co.uk