Makerspace? Think I'm gonna join the local one

[saltydecimator 482]

$25/ month and they have a CNC mill! Tormach something. Lil one, but not lil in price ($30k)

 

Should be real good for doing gun and gun related projects...

 

Im stoked!

 

Any of you guys in one? I'm moving in a year, otherwise I would just buy own equipment

[Sdustin 578]

25 a month doesn't sound bad. I'm not sure there is one local to me but some projects would be a dream having access to that kind of stuff.

[csspecs 1,987]

I know a few people that got their startup going off of a makerspace.. Just be sure you know the rules, some are NOT cool with anything firearm related.

 

Tormachs are not super expensive. But if you are looking at the full setup it is pretty easy to get to $30K.. Most people are using fusion 360 for cad and cam, and it is FREE for individuals.. If you are making over 100K a year you have to pay for it, but even then it is cheap.. Lots of capability and the cam is about as friendly as anything else.. You can draw up your designs and hit the maker space running.

 

You can put together a pretty impressive shop just watching for deals on craigslist.. I have a few machines that could not be easily replaced for $50k that I paid less than $1000 for, being in the right place at the right time with cash is a pretty amazing thing.. My rent for my shop is around  $500+ a month, so $25 a month with tools is pretty reasonable.

Edited December 27, 2016 by csspecs

[HB of CJ 1,263]

I am not quite sure, (or understand at all) what "Maker Space" is.  A machine shop hobby club?  Shared time U Do It?  Or does the operator come along with the usage?  Kinda like the hot rod club shop or ski boat club shop or the hobby center club from heaven?  Sounds like to me this would only work in heavily populated areas.   Wish we had more such clubs were we live.  Oh well. 

[evlblkwpnz 3,418]

Crashing one cutting tool can easily be over $25. I am wondering what they do about that or if you have to bring your own cutters.

[saltydecimator 482]

They have the explosive blade stop circular saw, in orientation they did say if you activate that you would have to pay for it so... Stands to reason personal breakage is gonna cost ya...

 

I did show the president my gun parts and he didn't ostracize me, so at this one I think I'm gtg...

[gunfun 3,931]

I've been metal shop master at mine for about a year, but so many staff and policy changes makes it iffy. I think their value is entirely dependant on the local culture of each 'space. It can be full of a bunch of safety nancies, or a bunch of people who make stuff and want you to be able to use anything, or a bunch of artistes who tie up all the resources for the worthy artsy types.

[gunfun 3,931]

Crashing one cutting tool can easily be over $25. I am wondering what they do about that or if you have to bring your own cutters.

 

Usually certain tools require you to take a class to be signed off on them. The class fee includes a few personal cutters. Most 'spaces have some system of lockers or cubbies where you can keep your stuff. 

 

Typically they will also have consumables on hand which can be bought at cost.

 

We had a few issues with this due to a few people who would cut improper plastics on our laser cutter and coat the optics in foul residue. The lens assemblies are about $160 and the same guy would keep ruining them. My solution was just to leave a cleaned up but still crummy one in the machine and keep a nice one out of reach of the public. 

 

We have a shop manager now, who mitigates this kind of thing, but he also tends to favor woodworking to the exclusion of everything else. If the metals area loses all the space and never has working tools and consumables, the space isn't much use to metal workers. Then the wood workers say the space is wasted on us and therefore take our space and don't spend money to replace our tooling. It's a feedback loop. They kind of did the same thing to electronics guys. However the two things that bring in new people and money to keep the thing going are cedar canoe/kayak builds and 3d printer build workshops.

I know a few people that got their startup going off of a makerspace.. Just be sure you know the rules, some are NOT cool with anything firearm related.

 

Tormachs are not super expensive. But if you are looking at the full setup it is pretty easy to get to $30K.. Most people are using fusion 360 for cad and cam, and it is FREE for individuals.. If you are making over 100K a year you have to pay for it, but even then it is cheap.. Lots of capability and the cam is about as friendly as anything else.. You can draw up your designs and hit the maker space running.

 

You can put together a pretty impressive shop just watching for deals on craigslist.. I have a few machines that could not be easily replaced for $50k that I paid less than $1000 for, being in the right place at the right time with cash is a pretty amazing thing.. My rent for my shop is around  $500+ a month, so $25 a month with tools is pretty reasonable.

 

Our place just blew most of our budget on a big wood working shop bot. It isn't open to the public without special arrangement. So really the only people who get to use it are start up businesses by fee arrangement. 

 

It kind of undermines the whole concept of a place where you have access to all the tools and all the talent you could need to make anything when all the good tools are mostly off limits or are not included in your monthly fee. 

pss they are mostly super liberal, and anti gun, but the guy who does most of the financing is leftist-libertarian. He hates guns, but he hates telling people what not to do more. I've made gun stuff there and he's helped.

[saltydecimator 482]

I am not quite sure, (or understand at all) what "Maker Space" is. A machine shop hobby club? Shared time U Do It? Or does the operator come along with the usage? Kinda like the hot rod club shop or ski boat club shop or the hobby center club from heaven? Sounds like to me this would only work in heavily populated areas. Wish we had more such clubs were we live. Oh well.

Hipster name for a tinkerers club. Like communism, shares resources etc... They have 3d printers, screen printing, wood shop metal shop pottery shop etc. Almost any kind of setup for anything an artsy fartsy type creative person would want. And its cheap.

[gunfun 3,931]

I think of it more like a gym membership for your creativity. Instead of muscles, you build skills and have workspace and tools. 

 

There are a lot of nice tools I could buy but wouldn't use often enough to justify keeping in the way even if I had a place for them. Makerspace goes several steps past that. I can do wood working, but I am never going to buy a 30" two sided power planer that runs on three phase. Maybe I would buy a little home grade jobber and have to joint my plank toghther. Makerspace got a couple of them from a cabinet shop and I tuned them up. I get access to a hell of a lot better tool than I would otherwise, and don't have to give up my garage for a tool that I would use once every 6 years. It's having access to the best tool for the job rather than a compromise tool, most the time. (Except mine compromises on most of the metal work tooling. Have to fix them to use them....)

 

Nothing commie about it. Instead I have access to tools I can't afford, or won't have a place to store. Also to skillsets I haven't had time to cultivate. I can know metal fab, the basics of engineering, woodworking, printing, sewing, mechanics, but I suck at electrical anything above basic, and haven't really learned CAD or programming. This place has the tools for all of those and more and people who will help me to use them, teach me, and sometimes just do the work I can't for the fun of it. 

 

I get to help people learn stuff that I know and how not to wind themselves into the wood lathe...

[HB of CJ 1,263]

In Junior High School metal shop we had to watch the black and white AND color safety films probably made during world war 2 during war production that graphically showed what happens when a mans tie pulls him into a big slow turning lathe.

 

Then again in High School auto shop we had to watch just about the same thing showing staged and real event happenings when a split rim truck wheel and tube type tire gets installed or inflated non correctly.  Very sobering indeed.  Safety first always.

 

Anybody else have neat good dreams about a fully automated factory that shoves in the raw material at one end of the building and fully assembled, tested high quality Saiga products come out the other end?  In my dreams.  Amazing robotic machinery. 

[Sdustin 578]

In Junior High School metal shop we had to watch the black and white AND color safety films probably made during world war 2 during war production that graphically showed what happens when a mans tie pulls him into a big slow turning lathe.

 

Then again in High School auto shop we had to watch just about the same thing showing staged and real event happenings when a split rim truck wheel and tube type tire gets installed or inflated non correctly. Very sobering indeed. Safety first always.

 

Anybody else have neat good dreams about a fully automated factory that shoves in the raw material at one end of the building and fully assembled, tested high quality Saiga products come out the other end? In my dreams. Amazing robotic machinery.

One question. Would said factory run on vokda?

[saltydecimator 482]

[quote name="GunFun" post="1059478" timestamp=

 

pss they are mostly super liberal, and anti gun, but the guy who does most of the financing is leftist-libertarian. He hates guns, but he hates telling people what not to do more. I've made gun stuff there and he's helped.

 

Thats awesome! Glad he sticks to his principles...if more liberals were more honest like him a lot more "progress" could be made! Which is ironic as most progressives are more like regressives hahah... Yep I experienced the anti gun stuff yesterday. The pres wasn't verbally opposed when I talked to him a week ago, but diff guy I.met yesterday said new boradt meeting was gonna flesh out the "no guns" policy... Kinda annoying.

 

So you're a lawyer right? The guy said guns had more attached liability to the space than any other stuff... My argument was if you trip and stumble or a felon makes a ghost gun, its all still kinda covered no? Dealing with the public thats your risk no? Or it all just boils down to liberal anti gun politics?

[gunfun 3,931]

Aww crap. I had made a detailed reply, but I think I closed the tab before hitting post. I don't feel like retyping right now, but I think the short answer works out into two things.

 

A makerspace I run would let people make anything legal they want with our tools. However, nothing regulated, i.e. the "gun" itself. No live ammo on site. 

we won't do classes on how to make them or use the parts, but we will teach general machining skills. Members can help you, but we won't make it an official course.

 

You probably would meet guys who would help you lathe a muzzle brake at the space, and fit it at home. You won't sign up for a course on how to do a trigger job. If you try to make a suppressor or an auto sear, I'ma pull your membership. I don't want to have to gamble whether your form 1 and stamp are legit and that you did it right. I don't care that your cousin's uncle's brother is a "class III manufacturer, and he's going to be the official maker"...

 

It's the same as how you can use the rig to print T shirts for yourself, but if you use our stuff to print Frozen themed hentai  T-shirts to sell from your facebook storefront we're going to shut that down. Common sense. If you are sensible and a regular member, we are going to cut you a lot of slack. If you cause a lot of problems or join with the expectation of monopolizing the machinery to do commercial manufacture and want us to do all the work for you, you are in for dissapointment.