Photo courtesy of Lindsie Reitz.

Hand-Eye Supply's first Maker Faire was a mind melter—a sensory explosion of Arduino-controlled blinking lights, musical Tesla coils, 3-D Printers rattling away, full scale operational R2-D2's and Daleks, Lego cities, fire breathing dragons and swaths of overstimulated makers and enthusiasts of all ages with bugged out eyes and perma-grins.

We set up our booth in the expo hall and pedaled our wares: shop aprons, safety glasses and Curiosity Club t-shirts to the Maker Faire masses. The crowd was welcoming and inquisitive and we made some new friends, caught up with some old ones and generally had a smashing time. The whole event was capped nicely with the solar eclipse and, astronomers aside, there probably has not been a more prepared audience to watch it with. Attendees donned solar viewers for the celestial spectacle, a final light show for Maker Faire Bay Area 2012.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Hand-Eye Supply booth, Miranda and the crew for so carefully re-locating us and Steve Davee for lending many a helping hand over the weekend and generally being a stand-up dude!

Menthos + Diet Coke Part 1. Photo courtesy of Lindsie Reitz.

Menthos + Diet Coke Part 2 Photo courtesy of Lindsie Reitz.

Exterminate! Photo Courtesy of Lindsie Reitz.

Getting woozy in the Whiskey Drome. Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

Mike Kirkland of JackSparX - Insert "hair-raising" pun here. Photo courtesy of Lindsie Reitz.

The musical Tesla Coils of ArcAttack! Made even more thrilling by the volunteer dancers in the Faraday cage, which were often groups of children. Photo courtesy of Lindsie Reitz.

Clad in a Faraday suit made of Chain Mail, ArcAttack!'s Joe DePrima shreds lightning bolts. Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

Flaming Umbrella Sculpture at night. Photo courtesy of Lindsie Reitz.

Flaming Umbrellas by day. Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

Competition is fierce and furious at the Death-Defying Pedal Car Figure 8 Race. Photo courtesy of Lindsie Reitz.

And they're off—the Death-Defying Pedal Car Figure 8 Race. Photo courtesy of Lindsie Reitz.

Interactive Fire Sculpture. Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

The Bay Area LEGO Users' Group Lego City. Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

The inner workings of the Visible Bally Freedom Pinball at Pacific Pinball Museum's booth. Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

Cold beer in a Cupcake Car from the Acme Muffineers. Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

Thermite explodes! Demonstrated by Jeffrey Schwartz of AmazingRust.com. Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

Incredibly complex and huge! Built by the attendees over the weekend. Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

Toy Dissection at the Exploratorium. Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

Pedal-powered stage. Pedal Faster!!! Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

Albatross flight simulation by Aero! Photo courtesy of Ben Lipsey.

Solar eclipse through viewing shield. Photo courtesy of Lindsie Reitz.