Donald (Don) Smeller is one of the foundational, longest-standing pillars of 10BitWorks Makerspace. Often self-styled as “Artiste Smelle” or the makerspace’s “Major DoMo,” Don has served the community across multiple decades as a Board Member, longtime State Registered Agent, master tutor, and the operational anchor for the shop floor.
In CiviCRM and payment records, Don is recorded as the single longest-standing member on the legacy Squarespace billing platform (over 53 consecutive recurring subscription cycles) before migrating to the self-hosted ACH billing system in October 2026.
- Board of Directors: Elected to multiple terms on the 10BitWorks Board of Directors, including the 2018 Board and the 2021 Board. Nominated repeatedly by peers across 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.
- Registered Agent of Record: Served as the formal Registered Agent on file with the Texas Secretary of State for 10Bitworks Hackerspace for many years, until Form 401 was filed in August 2026 transferring the registered agent role to Eric Spehr.
- Opening Ceremony & Tribute: Formally recognized with a dedicated tribute at the Botts Lane Grand Reopening in honor of his decades of volunteer stewardship, mentorship, and equipment maintenance.
- Morning Tutoring & Tours: For years, Don maintained an open shop presence Wednesday through Sunday mornings, serving as the primary mentor for new members, providing initial tours, machine orientations, and hands-on tutoring across diverse disciplines.
- Laser Cutting & Engraving Station:
- Maintained, serviced, and kept the 80W CO2 laser cutter operational through countless tube replacements, optics upgrades, alignment procedures, and chiller maintenance cycles.
- Set up remote thermal monitoring for the laser tube cooling circuit using thermocouples and a Raspberry Pi web chart to prevent freeze damage during severe Texas winter freezes.
- Regularly conducted laser cutting orientations and demonstrations, including leading public Make-And-Take laser cutting activities during makerspace open houses and Grand Reopening events.
- Spearheaded and personally funded professional code-compliant exhaust venting for the laser station at the new Botts Lane facility.
- CAD & 3D Modeling (OnShape):
- Longtime advocate for web-based CAD using OnShape.
- Created the complete 3D architectural OnShape model of the 130 W. Lachapelle facility during the 2017 space planning process.
- Authored video tutorials and documentation on creating interlocking laser-cut box joints, silhouettes, and digital vector assets.
- Ceramics & Remote Kiln Telemetry:
- Rebuilt heating elements on makerspace pottery kilns.
- Collaborated with members to deploy a thermocouple-to-Raspberry Pi monitoring setup (housed inside a ceramic pot on the shop floor) allowing remote monitoring of cone firings up to ~2,000°F.
- Experimented with custom clay 3D printing mechanisms using delta chassis and motorized auger printheads.
- Woodworking & Machine Tooling:
- Annual Christmas Cubes (2005–Present):
- The Witte Museum Trebuchet & Marshmallow Catapult Kits:
- Designed, CAD-modeled, and laser-cut hundreds of interlocking flat-pack wooden trebuchet kits (Marshmallow Catapult #188) for children to assemble and fire during the annual “Build It! Day” at The Witte Museum.
- COVID-19 Emergency Prototyping (2020):
- Squeeze Bag Ventilator: Collaborated with CanOpener and local makers in March 2020, cutting precision acrylic manifolds and parts for Robert Treviño’s emergency manual resuscitator bag compression ventilator.
- PPE & Masks: Experimented with fabric masks, laser-cut templates, and rapid face shield designs to support early pandemic supply needs.
- Custom Assistive Hardware & Mechanism Design:
- Shirley’s Grabber: Designed and fabricated custom mechanical reacher/grabber hardware.
- Ceramic Clay 3D Printer: Prototyped a motorized linear “grease gun” clay extrusion reservoir and auger printhead retrofitted onto delta 3D printer chassis.
- Cork Dog Relief Sculpture: Combined laser scanning, CNC toolpaths, and composite cork layers to produce complex 3D relief art (182: Cork Dog).
- Lachapelle 3D Facility Model:
- Created the full parametric 3D CAD model of the 130 W. Lachapelle building in OnShape, deriving spatial layout plans from physical tape measurements to assist with shop zoning and tool layout.
- The “Bus0” Policy: Don coined the enduring shop policy Bus0 (“Bus your own tray; leave the surface with zero items; zero tolerance”), stenciling the standard across workbenches to foster a culture of shared responsibility and clean workspaces.
- COVID-19 Reopening & The “DoMo” Protocol:
- Authored the makerspace’s initial pandemic reopening safety protocols in April–May 2020, establishing health screening, masks, and sanitary standards (“Bleach0”).
- Conceived and volunteered as the “DoMo” (Door Monitor), physically staffing the front entrance to safely regulate building occupancy, track attendance, and preserve 10BitWorks’ community connection during lockdowns.
- Check-In Automation & Access Control (Lachapelle Legacy):
- Collaborated with John Chadwell and Ray Good on early QR-code sign-in placards hung from ceiling joists to replace paper clipboards.
- Assisted with physical installation and lock modifications on the legacy Lachapelle Front Door Pi Controllers, roll-up garage door safety switches, and August smart lock systems (these physical mechanisms were specific to the Lachapelle facility; modern RFID and door strikes were redesigned for Botts Lane).
- Community Mentorship & Fine Art:
- Partnered with Wounded Warrior Angels to provide free training in digital fabrication, ceramics, and laser cutting to homeless veterans.
- Documented makerspace history through oil painting, including his celebrated canvas of a 10BitWorks welding class under the artist moniker Artiste Smelle.
Don hosts a self-run Apache web server on a personal Raspberry Pi at http://108.199.112.230:8080/ (historically on port 80 and 8080) under the title Smellè (Artistè Smellè).
The site serves as an open archive of his creative portfolio, engineering guides, and 10BitWorks operational references:
- 10BitWorks Machine Guides:
- Creative Portfolio: Extensive collection of oil paintings, kinetic sculptures, mechanical puzzle solvers, block prints, and maker projects.