Nice,
I like the idea of Maker Stories and I have so many from the years at DMS. As I’m nose deep in Pyro right now, I’ll tell a story about meeting Ken @Lampy my Pyro Leader!
Ken joined DMS a little while after I did, back in the under 100 member days of Ladybird. We met at the space and had a lot in common as we both work in Design and enjoy bitching about the crazy expectations of customers. Ken eventually put on a class on for building black powder rockets with a mallet and dies. I sat in the class and found out that there was Chemistry, Geometry, Physics, Machining, and Craftsmanship required to make these rockets that in the end just went BOOM. It is an art between design, cost, and efficiency of lift. I was hooked! But, I didn’t have the tools or experience to get started in the hobby on my own.
After the class, Ken shared his equipment, knowledge, and product with me and we went to my first Pyrotechnic Artists of Texas (PAT) event to make rockets and other BOOM stuff back in 2013 or 2014 aka a long time ago. He even paid my way into the event. It was the best event I had ever been to. A real Willy Wonka’s Factory Tour, I got to do everything you were told not to as a kid under the guidance of knowledgeable people. I thought everything I was doing was illegal and unsafe, but under the right setting and scenario I could do it without these burdens. I found out that day I had more Freedom in this world than I thought had before.
From then on Ken and I have been great friends. We have split multi-thousand dollar purchases to further our Pyro hobby and build ever better rockets and BOOMERS! We have gone on cross country trips to Massive Pyro Events, networked with legends of the hobby, and now are both on the board of PAT the original group that opened my eyes to this magic. All of this would of never happened had I not run into Lampy aka Ken at DMS. I would literally have less freedom.
DMS is an amazing group of individuals trying to build a community. I have many stories like this with other members like @Gimli, @nickdangerous , @oyetkin, @uglyknees, @Photomancer, into seemingly perpetuity. Shoot I even have great stories with individuals I’ve butted heads with like @Robert_Davidson. If you join DMS for just the tools you are missing out on the other 90% of this group.
