Has anyone in here ever been to a "makerspace" or anything like that?
Are they just a fad? Could they be made into a profitable business? What kind of tools and machinery /diy/ would put in one?
have not and would not unless there was no other way to get access to a ridiculously expensive piece of equipment
when I go to use something I don't need to waste time fixing it, putting it back together, or waiting in a line to use it because incompetent people were allowed in
>>974206
oh, forgot about searching for missing pieces, if they're still there at all, because some idiot didn't take responsibility
>>974200
this sounds like physics/engineering lab in college
check shit out for lab/project
shit is broken because of idiots
tools are broken because of idiots
spend most of time fixing or looking for good parts
>>Could they be made into a profitable business?
lol, as long as you get their credit card #/ssn/driver's license/etc so you can charge them for breaking shit
>>974200
They mostly deal with meme level shit, notice how everything isn't covered in grime and metal shavings in that picture.
They mostly depend on yearly memberships with a requirement to actually work for free for the cuckspace and do fundraising to get by.
>>974235
Well they're just kids playing with paper. I'm sure one could fit a few decent lathes in that same space.
>>974247
Good luck getting insurance for that shit. First person to launch a tool and hit someone and you'll be feeling the dong of some lawyer.
>>974250
You're not going to let 5 year olds anywhere near it
I've been a member of a makerspace for three years now.
They are great spaces to work and to talk to other creative people. What they are not (which is why a good chunk of /diy/ hates them) is a private workshop for just you.
Basically you have to be okay with sharing.
>Are they just a fad?
Not really, they allow people without the space and money to purchase tools to use them. Those two requirements will never go away.
>Could they be made into a profitable business?
Lookup Techshop
Most people would argue that techshop is not a true makerspace. Most community makerspaces are setup as non-profits.
>What kind of tools and machinery /diy/ would put in one?
Depends on the userbase. /diy/ will obviously say milling equipment, 3d printers, and CNC machines. These are, however, some of the lease used machines in our space.
Our most popular area, by far, is woodworking. Then metalworking/welding.
>>974206
Not sure how other shops are setup, but our shop requires you to be cleared on complex tools. No one has ever fucked up one of the bridgeports or metal lathes because you have to prove yourself to be competent to use them.
>>974235
There are some niche makerspaces out there that only deal in very limited things, I visited one one time that basically only dealt with theatrical props and costumes.
>>974250
Insurance actually isn't that bad, runs the same as what a fab shop pays. Every member is required to sign a release form to join.
CNC Drill and router
Every kind of tank needed for through hole plating
Dry film laminator
Photoplotter
PCB exposure bed
Dry film developing tank
Rinse tank
Etching tank
Rinse tank
Another exposure bed for solder mask
Inkjet silk screen machine
Solder dispensing machine
Pick'n'place machine, could be a manual one
Reflow oven
I think a complete PCB shop for 2 sided boards would fit in the same area as a medium shipping container. Anyone who needs more than two sides can easily have the job outsourced to China.
>>974228
Watching other engineering students use power tools made me loose faith in the future if humanity.
![2013-12-30[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/yclzcRA.jpg "2013-12-30[1].jpg")
>>974200
My local library has teamed up with the local makerspace to provide free hours to library members. Pretty cool deal.
A friend volunteered at ours and said learned quite a bit and had fun. She was laser engraving some shit for personal use but said people run small batches for resale or build the parts of something they didn't have the tools at home to do.
I'd like to learn about their huge cnc router and I've heard the machine operation and safety classes are pretty thorough.
I don't have a lot of space in my 1 car garage and I don't have thousands of dollars to throw at tools that I don't even know will be useful. So to me it's a plus.
Do they make money. Probably not. And they shouldn't. They should be run like libraries where everyone has an opportunity to learn and tinker. That is a benefit to society as a whole.
There's only one in my city and it's run by the university. They do demonstrations and I believe once a month or so they'll do a course where you learn how to 3D print/laser cut/etc. in a day. Actually using any of the things other than that though isn't really available to the public.
>>974323
>They should be run like libraries where everyone has an opportunity to learn and tinker. That is a benefit to society as a whole.
maybe in an ideal world, but there will always be some careless idiot who ruins it for others
some DVDs I've gotten from libraries look like someone took a freaking power sander to them; how complicated is lifting a disk out of a case and putting into a disc tray? how does one cause permanent, deep scratches between those two points?
>>974261
This is relevant to my interest. I'm in the starting phase of setting up/grabbing funding for a commercial makerspace in my town.
Will probably gear it somewhat towards simple repairs first, with the option for users to take on small "jobs" for other users, for instance if they like tinkering with power tools and making them work etc.
Obviously need some boilerplate legal docs like "makerspace takes no responsibility for mods made by users" etc, but shouldn't be too hard to demand a pretty general waiver be signed by all users.
Also thinking about gearing it a little towards "make your own accessories", like phone covers and the like. Just have a basic template loaded into a CAD-program and let people go a little wild with the bells and whistles. People love bells and whistles.
>>974439
Sounds dumb.
I pay you to have a space to do simple repairs and making phone covers?
>>974444
How much space do you think the average joe has outside of the Sprawl of the US? Not a lot, I'll tell you that. If I had access to a couple square meters of shop floor and some tools, I'd pay for that.
The whole granulation is about selling it in to more than one demographic, with different levels of engagement for each need.
Old farts might be more into the lathe or woodworking, teens might be more into having a fresh print of some new idoru or whatever i dunno.
>>974444
The "phone covers" thing is just an idea. I (among other things) wanna get people hooked on the concept of 3D-printing, maybe they'll be interested enough to take my (very reasonably priced) course in how to fabricate one themselves for a dollar and a smile, plus ten cents to me. You feel me now? I don't give a shit what people print on my shop's machines. The point is that matter printers are gonna be huge once they reach reasonable adoption rates and it becomes easier to replicate already existing objects, for instance with 3D laser scanners.
We've all had TV remotes missing a battery cover at some point, right? Or a knob missing from your radio or whatever. If you have the remote with you, you could scan it, make a basic "rectangular arc" to cover the back, include a simple plastic spring latch (the kind that goes "pop" when you close the cover) and just press print. It would take you fifteen minutes total, and you would have a proper replacement part.
People are actually into that shit. And they'll be even more so in five or ten years. Repair is the new replace, and if I feel like I'd pay actual dollars for a place to get the fuck away from my girlfriend and at the same time have the tools and area AND expertise to maybe fabricate the little bits and bobs missing from my worn shit, I'd be happier.
That's why I do it, so I and dickheads like me can get a place to work.
>>974457
I am staff at a pretty large makerspace.
People pay for the tools, not the space generally.
Most makerspaces aren't a good place for large projects due to space constraints. 20 people all trying to make a dinning room table is a fuck ton of space.
It depends on what is popular in your area. A lot of /diy/ seems to think an electronics setup would be ideal, but the reality is that electronics is a very space and tool light hobby.
Are you going to pay $50/month to have access to a soldering iron, power supply, and an oscilloscope? No, because after a few months I can use that money to buy those tools and run them in my basement.
Are you going to pay $50/month for access to a laser cutter, bridgeport, large lathe, and welding equipment? Sure, that is a good deal. Those tools would take you decades to buy at $50/month.
I mean if you're thinking of a much smaller sum for membership, I might pay $5/ month for a shared space to do glue-ups.
>>974473
>(not amerifat so prices will look inflated due to different PPP)
I'm thinking you pay for what you use. If all you need is a table space, a glue gun and some hand tools, you just need a (cheap) basic safety lesson and maybe 10$ a month.
If you however wanna use a drill press, table saw, maybe rent a miter saw to do your interior paneling, you could get by with maybe 30$ a month, a basic mandatory "this shit is really fucking dangerous and will kill you in these various entertaining ways" course that is easy to defend the cost of for maybe 20$ or 30$, and cost of any materials outside of a "starter pack".
Go full retard and play with the arc welder, lathe and DMLS machine (I wish), and we're talking more serious sit-down-shut-up classes, training sessions, safety gear and a "cost of wear + risk" fee included in 50$ - 100$ monthly.
Rent the B-side of the shop for some hundred or up to a thou if you also want to rent tools for it, in the few cases where people actually wanna make a whole wood dining table in their own damn time.
Bear in mind, I've not done market research, I dunno if these prices are all over the place or not, I just try to show the difference in scale.
>>974473
>also not everybody has a house with a basement. I know none of my friends do, if you don't count their parents.
>>974250
>Good luck getting insurance for that shit. First person to launch a tool and hit someone and you'll be feeling the dong of some lawyer.
Fun fact: in US college and trade schools, the trend for some years now has been to totally get rid of all manual metalworking equipment completely (mills and lathes) and just have CNC equipment.
The school's justification for this is because jobs mostly want you to know CNC, which isn't untrue----but the *real* reason is because the CNC equipment is a much lower liability risk. It lives inside a cabinet and the motors won't turn on unless the door is closed--so you have basically zero chance of morons ripping their fingers off.
In the USA, people can drag you into court no matter what they signed, and just having your lawyer show up costs money. This is the reason that a lot of companies make you agree to seek arbitration before taking a case to court.
>>975297
That reminds me of the CNC in my internship, which in fact DID NOT HAVE DOORS. Just a free floating T-table and no kind of security equip around it.
Not the safest thing to work with really, because you know, if anything goes wrong the whole shitty piece of metal flies through the workshop ...
Better yet, they used exactly that machine as training machine.
I'm curious about this as well.
I live in a tiny-ass studio and have no space to make shit here.
I have my own rotary tools and shit, I just need a space to work.
There is a local maker's space but to get into it, you need to be vetted by a member. Caveat: the entire maker's space is thoroughly infiltrated by steampunk people who are all friends of my ex.
So hm. Just not sure if it's worth the potential hassle.
>>975297
>In the USA, people can drag you into court no matter what they signed, and just having your lawyer show up costs money. This is the reason that a lot of companies make you agree to seek arbitration before taking a case to court.
See, people love to parrot this type of myth.
When you sign a legally binding contract, it is just that, legally binding.
Of course you can still file a civil case against anyone, for any reason. You will find, however, in a case like this, that the plaintiff will lose 100% of the time. Their only hope would be to try and assert that there was some degree of negligence on the part of the defendant which is highly unlikely.
So, now you have an individual who will need to find a lawyer to take an unwinnable case, pay for their time (because no lawyer would touch an unwinnable case for a percentage of damages), and then successfully beat the lawyers that your insurance company has on retainer.
>>974200
I've been to a few, one each in Dallas, Jersey City, Long Island, and Austin. The Dallas one was far by the best, size of a supermarket. Jersey and Austin were more of hackerspaces and much smaller (in line with what you'd expect from Austin or NYC, square-footage wise).
IMO you pay $50-$100 a month and you no longer need to worry about buying (usually expensive) tools, broken stepper motors, or crowding up garage space. If you're any bit extroverted it's the way up go.
>>974278
Yea it's sad how incompetent most engineers are in anything but their tiny little focus. My mom is more competent with hand tools the most of my peers.
>>974472
These ideas are good ones, I thought about the same as well
Basically anything that can be found on thingiverse, decent formats on other 3d sites like turbosqu8d and you can run off anything for a passing kid or parent.
problem is, once you've replaced the remote covers and gas-can cap spacers for everyone in the neighborhood and the 3d fad is over/matured (e.g. once they can do all that shit via Amazon and have it delivered by drone), you'rve still got 75% left on the lease for that zoned building
>>975297
This just makes me sad, back when I was in highschool we had wood/metal lathes, oxy acetylene and MIG welding. nail guns, chop saws, planers. I think only thing we weren't allowed to use was the table saw. Wood work/metal work classes were some of my favourite classes and they gave me a lot of basic skills I use every day to this day, really sucks that kids today aren't going to learn the same shit because of babying them to never get hurt, All they'll learn is how to use a computer, and people wonder why this generation growing up has their heads shoved in a phone all day, it's because that's all we teach them now.
>>974437
Morons let their children handle them.
I've seen my friend's toddler slide a dvd around on the carpet like a toy car.
>>975879
yup, that sounds about right
either that or they were chewing on them
>>975867
Oh but you see that is when I activate the next stage of my ultimate battle plan.
>besides there's a fuckton of central industrial buildings in my town that basically neither have purpose nor value at this stage, until some cocksucking developer buys them and turns them into million dollar condos.
>>975875
>really sucks that kids today aren't going to learn the same shit because of babying them to never get hurt
Worked in a school, can confirm that this is not the reason. More kids get hurt in gym class than shop class every year by an order of magnitude. It just boils down to money, like everything else.
I worked at a high school with a full wood shop and metal shop.
So, in short, today's generation doesn't suck, they just are being fucked over by granny who doesn't want to pay taxes to let kids have these classes.
>>974200
>Ever been in one
There is one in my city. It's not bad, but it's mostly quadcopterfags, cosplayers, and some furniture builders. Going over to the woodshop where fine woodworkers were building furniture and musical instruments was like crossing over an invisible boundary.
In the end, I decided it was not worth the monthly fee and gas driving back and forth.
Many of the machines were poorly kept, and the metal shop was incomplete because the guy who loaned them the tools moved and took it all with him.
>are they just a fad
I think it's a faddish name for a shared workshop. I think what you might see is small groups of people renting some warehouse space and purchasing tools together, as a partnership corporation or coop affair.
>profitable
I rather doubt it. There was another in my city that was a for profit operation. It was four times the price of the nonprofit one, and had a lot of nice facilities. I think they imagined it as a sort of prototyping lab for entrepreneurs.
If you market to hobbyists, the price point has to be low... if you're marketing to people who make money with whatever they're doing, you have to convince them it's worthwhile to put up with the inconvenience of sharing machines and space.
>>976075
>It's not bad, but it's mostly quadcopterfags, cosplayers
Fucking this.
I've got one near my workshop and I visited once. I figured it'd be a good way to kill an hour or two after work instead of sitting in traffic.
It was full of self proclaimed "hackers" that basically all hovered around a 3D printer. They actually had an old lathe that they had no idea how to operate. I don't mean they sucked at using it I mean they couldn't even figure it out. I offered to help teach them but since I wasn't a member I couldn't.
I decided it wasn't me when they showed me their community projects. I won't bitch about their craftsmanship because we all start somewhere and I guess the point of these places is to help others learn but they were the oddest fucking projects. Rather than building work benches or tool storage they were fucking around with, shit you not, a carousel that distributed art pieces or some shit.
I thanked them for their time. Decided I would just work an extra hour, since I'm salary, with the carpenter at work. I'd rather build handrails or frames than fucking carousels.
>>976093
I know a lot of photographers who share a studio with 2-10 other people. Same thing works for woodworkers, inventors, machinists, etc. You get a lot of the same benefits of spreading out cost, but you're dealing with a small group of focused professionals instead of dozens of memesters.
I've considered trying to run such a workshop at a small profit, but I suspect there'd be some negative feeling about it.
Makerspaces or whatever might be a decent thing for introducing people to a variety of skills (if you don't know an old guy with a pole barn full of tools). But eventually you hit a ceiling.
>>976108
You're right. I'm not knocking their projects. But they made it clear that community projects took precedence over individual or group projects. Basically esteemed of "we're doing these and if you can find time and space around them feel free".
I wasn't going for use of tools (hell I have everything imaginable through work with free use), I was going to work with people with similar interests. I ended up just volunteering around my town: building planters and fences for parks, helping with Habitat builds, etc.
>>975925
Make a swapmeet next to your shop and you'll be golden.
We have things called Men's Sheds. Much better than a hackerspace because they're targeted at lonely old men. Instead of the ADHD of a hackerspace, you get dudes who genuinely just want to do something, not something specific.
Last project I saw there was birdhouses. Nobody needed a birdhouse, they just needed to do something.
I think they help a master carpenter build rowing boats too. Speaking of which, they wouldn't survive without having the master guy show up once in a while and keep the tools / give out to people for fucking with things they don't understand.
If you're in Euroland, look for a men's shed. Fuck the hackers, go hear some war stories
>>976389
Actually, I was thinking of a business idea a while ago - a mechanics' shop where you get to do your own mechanicing, Just a workshop where you can bring your car and use the lifts, etc. There would be actual mechanics on hand to help out also.
MAybe stupid, and I'm sure insurance would be impossible
>>976392
Not stupid. Actually, the concept already exists I believe - look up "self-serve auto shop".
It's become very hard to nail done a common defiintion of what makes a makerspace, or what it is a makerspace is trying to achieve.
Personally, I don't think it's a bad thing - gives more room for a community to build the space that suit their needs from the ground up. And once you hit the skill ceiling, there are a lot of specialized pre-existing groups ready to take you on from there (woodworking guilds are usually a pretty good example).
Yup. My garage lol. But seriously maker spaces look awesome. I'd love access to a 3d printer
>>975879
Bunch of savages...
>>976415
>access to a 3D printer
Hit up your local university.
Kids love that shit, guaranteed to have a few lying around you can print shit on. They might tell you to pay for the plastic or to bring your own roll.
>>975861
Though if you do know how to use tools you are considered a wizard and don't have do too much of many reports.
>>975840
Have you thought about renting a storage unit and using that as a remote garage? I've seen people open their units, start up a generator and build shit out of them. You will probably have to rent one off the beaten path, and clear your use with the owner, but I doubt they give a shit. If you are responsible, you are basically extra security for them.
If you have your own tools, fuck the noise of the know-nothings that show up to hacker spaces.
>>976093
I purchased my own shop and filled it with tools before the hacker space thing started.
What you describe is not all negative. I work with a bunch of technical people, and we think so linearly. I am not social enough to wander down to the local hackerspace, but I should just for the exposure to the wierdos. Who knows if exposure to something non-linear will push me to another idea.
Actually considering joining atm for this reason.
But fuck that noise of mandatory 'community projects'. I've never heard of that.
>>974261
>Basically you have to be okay with sharing.
REEEEEEEEE
They can be useful when you have no place to work and/or no tools, but the ones I went to were managed by turbo-hipsters who had no fucking clue about anything.
>hackerspace downtown
>combined alternative art studio in the front, makerspace in the back, but lots of computers meant for programming and making smart devices
>two giant garage spaces for woodworking, welding, ect ect
>3d printers
>full shebang, monthly producing one-off projects for maker events and competitions
>whole bunch of stuff donated, old printers and medical equipment, loads of good scrap to hack stuff out of
>inhereted an old electrical engineers workshop, so plenty of old but still good electronics components
>art studio gets bought by some city funded commie organization
>they shut down the hackerspace area in the back and make it into a modern art museum
why do commies ruin everything
>>976760
If they got bought out, they probably weren't doing so hot.
I'm guessing they didn't own the building--they were probably renting and realized they were headed towards insolvency.
>>976760
>the commies bought us out
>commies fucked you over with capitalism
kek,son!
>>976528
Possible, but not a given. Colleges (community colleges included) often reserve use of facilities to people who are actually taking classes there. If it's accessible though, the college store will likely have the materials you need there.
>>975848
Not to get into it, but you would need to prove negligence regardless of whether or not you signed a contract if you are buying a service. You cannot waive your right to sue for negligence. You would still be able to sue even if you signed a contract beforehand because the contracts sections on negligence would be unenforceable.
Your sentiment is correct though, in most cases the company will not be held liable in freak accidents. The negligence threshold is lower when the service clearly has elements of danger.
Strangely this is not true for goods, and you would need to only prove that you were harmed by a defective product.
>>976788
> city funded
They bought him out with the governments money
Real talk, that's fucked up.
>>976389
This is a good idea.
The biggest drawback for me is the opening times. There are two within ten miles of me but they are only open limited hours, two days a week, when I'm at work. I know they're mainly for "old men" but I'm over 50, so not ADHD, and have no space or large tools for woodwork projects.
Shame they're not open at weekends.
>>976057
>So, in short, today's generation doesn't suck, they just are being fucked over by granny who doesn't want to pay taxes to let kids have these classes.
So in short, the 3G (Gimme Gimme Generation) stands around with their hand out and have obviously never experienced the exquisite pleasure of paying property tax.
Speaking of kids today... they have more disposable income than any other generation in history of the known universe. Why don't kids today spend a small percentage of that to support those classes? I fork over $440/month in school tax and I don't even have kids.
>>979317
>parents giving their children money is the kids fault
>Kids should pay school taxes
Do you even listen to yourself?
>>974200
I'm pretty sure makerspaces are just a meme that makes companies and college feel like they're progressive.
I live in a dorm room, and I still buy my own power tools, 3D printers, and routers because the rules and regulations on these places are such bullshit, and there is no way to win; either you lower rules and regs, at which point people hurt themselves or break or missplace equipment, or you up it and you has time and size limits, or so many trainings it's just not worth it.
Give it 10 years and I think maker spaces will go the way of the library.
I am a member of one nearby. While the building is kind of ratty, they have some really cool equipment like a shopbot, a couple of digital mills, and an electron microscope. I mainly use the laser cutter though.
The one I go to is a non-profit, so probably not.
>left wing sjw regulatory "paradise"
No thanks. I'll stick to my garage.
>>979401
Minneapolis?
>>979317
>So in short, the 3G (Gimme Gimme Generation) stands around with their hand out and have obviously never experienced the exquisite pleasure of paying property tax.
Since most children in middle school do not (and cannot) own property, I would say that they almost assuredly have never paid property taxes.
>Speaking of kids today... they have more disposable income than any other generation in history of the known universe.
Yes, and so did my generation when I was young. So did my parents when they were young. The beauty of being young is that generally all of your income is disposable since your parents are footing the bill.
>Why don't kids today spend a small percentage of that to support those classes?
So... you want public middle schools to be self funded by the students in them?
>I fork over $440/month in school tax and I don't even have kids.
Living in a developed nation sure does suck, doesn't it?
>>979502
More like
>Autistic fat nerds insulting everything you make despite never making anything themselves
My hackerspace is about 10:1 Male to female and most of those females are girlfriend and wives of members.
It's basically a boys club. Police have been called for sexual harassment
>>979509
What?
Since when is sexual harassment a crime? Assault, yes... but I can catcall and make all the inappropriate advances and commentary I want to. As long as one stops if directed to by the person you are leering at its not disorderly conduct... what in the world would they actually charge you with?
>>974261
Do they have table saws?
>>979530
Being a big ol' meanie, of course.
>>979530
In the same way you can be arrested for telling your grandpa to stop being a shithead and sending all his money to his ex wife.Before he runs off to the VA like a little bitch. And I get a visit from a social worker and a cop.
What? He beat the shit out of me when I was younger for discipline. Yet I can't have strongly worded discussion with the man.
Bullshit.
And the man wonders why nobody wants anything to do with him.
>elderly abuse is serious business
>>979530
It was a case of shy girl is nice to neckbeard and he took it too far.
Basically he decided to call her "tits" as a nickname because she had large breasts. She and others told him to stop several times.
He got her phone number from somewhere and started calling her. Then he started telling people they were dating.
She finally got a restraining order and filed charges. He was banned from the organization. Think she dropped charges though.
>>979815
I don't believe you. That can't possibly happen.
>>976760
>modern art
>commies
dont think so anon
>>979901
Segregation happened what's so hard to believe?
>>979303
You might want to look up local woodworking clubs, or ask at local woodworking stores if the Woodworking Guild of America might have a club near you. They might have a space available for others, as well as mentors willing to teach/share their tools.
>>979400
You might be surprised how libraries are renewing their missions today, mostly as places for local community building, citizenship meeting and information literacy - on top of offering access to information in every way, shape and form. The library network in my area has been expanding a lot of their branches in the last few years and is planning on building more to face public demand.
>>979530
According to the Department of Justice of the United States (assuming that's where anon lives) sexual harassment can fall under the umbrella of sexual assault, depending on the local legislature.
>>979317
>i pay for roads i dont have car
>i pay 4 power sticks but dont u computer
>>979509
>My hackerspace is about 10:1 Male to female
it should be 1:0 otherwise you get everything you described.
Went to one in London. It was full of drunk neckbeards. Nobody was sober or organized enough to show me how to use the machines, it was "someone will show you one day, then you can join". Not surprised really, I had a feeling it was going to be /diy/ irl
>>975875
Don't be so quick to judge,many engineering schools offer hands on programs if you look for them
>>974200
I have visited a few
They seem to either be a hangout for high school kids making blinking LED trash, with broken and outdated tools I could amass on my own if I had space.
Or in very rare cases rich grads or industry hobbyists doing things in their own little world of awesome, but require huge fees and very limited project selection.
Have not seen a really a solid business model with these, but some do make enough to keep the lights on.
>>974200
>Has anyone in here ever been to a "makerspace" or anything like that?
Many. There is a lot of variety and different things happening.
>Are they just a fad?
No, makerspaces are an important part of the next phase of the industrial revolution. They facilitate technical knowledge and provide access to tools that people are using to make amazing things.
> Could they be made into a profitable business?
People using the machines regularly sell their wares or get paid for the objects being made.
In general I think the organization that runs a makerspace should be community-run and nonprofit. TechShop, a publicly-traded for-profit makerspace company, has trouble making ends meet, but local community makerspaces are more flexible so they meet local needs. Overhead is high and TechShop has to pay staff while most non-profit makerspaces have volunteer monitors.
> What kind of tools and machinery /diy/ would put in one?
Fab Foundation tool list plus metal lathe and mill, welding and large mold-making setup along with whatever the community wants. Industrial sewing machines and vacuum formers are pretty popular.
>>980493
I've found it to be quite the opposite.
Most days of the week a woman doesn't set foot in the place and it's just an autistic dick waving contest with the nerds.
These nerds are a small minority but they are the type of asshole who always has to be right and insert their opinion on everything; even if they know absolutely nothing about it.
They tend to shut their mouth when women are around since they're too autistic to talk around them.
Every once in a while, you get some neckbeard who tries to hit on women, which is always funny and never works. You'll always have some retard messing things up but that is like arguing that you should ban guns because criminals can get access to them.
>>979401
>electron microscope
That is dank as hell
My school has an after school makers space and we have a laser cutter and people have made clocks and other weird things on it. If you know some neat tricks you can do pretty much anything on it. Also 3d printers are really handy for make complex shapes.
>>974200
>Are they just a fad?
No, 5 years member of a Hackspace, UK
The general Maker Movement is a growing thing. Hacker and Maker spaces are only part of it.
>Could they be made into a profitable business?
The Hackspaces in UK are usually run as Not For Profit. The one I am in is sustained in monthly subscription of members and equipment is either bought 2nd hand or new depending on demand. Biggest equipment sofar is large laser cutter that cost approx £7500. cash was raised in two weeks from members. Competent members maintain equipment and there are levels of maintenance authentication.
Never has there been a problem with 'shit broken because of idiots' However be aware you are in a shared space and things will need a higher level of maintanance than something in your own shed and be wise to bring your own lathe / mill bits or similar to avoid disappointment if you have a special job in mind.
The 'Maker Spaces' I have been to are serious businesses with paid permanent technician. So the subscription is much higher and so is the quality of equipment an expected performance and support. If you want a workshop for small enterprise start-up ideas etc this would be a better place to be.
>>974200
Tools are substitutes for skills, and makerspaces are for people who can't even find/make their own tools. The caliber of person you'd find there is exactly what you would expect. """"Hacker""""spaces are a meme that needs to end.
>>974206
This is the exact reason I have a home gym rather than a gym membership. Why would anybody want to wait and share if they had the chance not to?
>>981214
>makerspaces are for people who can't even find/make their own tools
1. Finding tools isn't an issue for most people, paying for them is. This is especially true for tools that you don't use often.
2. Homemade tools are generally shitty. Sure, if you're a master machinist, you can probably make a tool with fairly tight tolerances. However that applies to around a thousandth of a percent of the world's population.
3. Tools are not a substitute for skills. There is a reason you don't see master craftsmen using the shittiest tools imaginable.
>>981551
My garage isn't 10,000 sq ft to house all of the tools I would like to own. I also don't have 500k to spend on them all.
>>981214
>tools are substitutes for skills
wew lad
let's see you put a crease down the middle of a 36" long 3/4" strip of aluminum without tools.
>>976788
>city funded
>capitalism
Just stop
>Tools are substitutes for skills
Skill me a weld repair of a worn shaft turned to finished dimension.
Your post is among the most retarded I've read on 4chan since it wasn't bait.
It is distilled Essence of Stupid.
>>981662
>weld repair of a worn shaft
just in case you've never run across it, there's a better process for shaft repair called metal spraying.
>>976760
>A bunch of hipsters pooling their collective resources for a communal workshop where one gives what they can and takes what they need.
>Calls the the city organization communist
Seattle Attic was founded in the summer of 2013, as a response to the misogyny shown by the brogrammer culture that sees hackerspaces as 'male' spaces, and was the first Feminist Hackerspace in the United States[24][25] soon followed by Double Union, in San Francisco.[26] Their founding came as a result of The Ada Initiative, and their AdaCamp conferences. Which has also lead to the formation of FouFem in Montreal, the Mz Baltazar’s Laboratory, a start-up organization and feminist hackspace in Vienna, the Anarchafeminist Hackerhive in San Francisco, the Hacktory in Philadelphia and the Miss Despionas in Tasmania, Australia [27]
>>975848
>When you sign a legally binding contract, it is just that, legally binding.
Then why do judges regularly throw out legally binding contracts because they were not "fair enough"?
Prenups are a good example.
>>974228
>equipment is 30 years old
>it broke 29 years ago
>lab still looks good because its stocked with tools
>ieee buys everyone a free pizza for every meeting though
>>975867
man I've never seen anything good come out of an australian hacker space. at best they print their names or some shitty logo or buy a kit to play pong and plug it into an oscilliscope then LEL I AM HACKING A TELEVISION.
apparently, "geek". here means copy pasta. I hear they're extremely vulnerable to feminists as well. they turn up and demand everything be dedicated to yarn bombing and quilting.
>>979317
>disposable income
explain how it's "their" money when they need the phone and laptop just to attend classes and bus fair sits at 5$/day instead of being free.
>>979400
my city just built a new library. I havnt been. it will depress me. went to a university library at curtin, perth a few years ago. there was one small room on one floor of books. it was all books from the 60s. mostly drug pop ie leary circuits of consciousness. first four floors were computer terminals. went to the state library. it was like 5 floors. giant building. but double height floors and the available space was just a narrow band around the perimeter of the building. the whole fucking thing was hollow. but somebody thought shit, we need to build this epic building. nazi architecture man.
>>979509
>Police have been called for sexual harassment
you pay to be a member of this club?
did you expect anything from the borderline sluts who go there just so they can post selfies next to other peoples projects or holding powertools? the solution is to not interact with a woman ever.
also I should mention that australia has "mens sheds" which are men only hacker spaces and we've had them for like 30+ years. blokes there build sex equipment for their wives as stealthily as possible but not really. there's only one reason to have a crotchless rocking chair.
>>980506
>translation
>we dont know you
>we dont like you
>pay member fee
>suck our dicks
>>980582
>space for highschool kids
>blinking LED
>facilitate learning
you mean public schools are so shit now kids are forming their own schools in order to learn anything?
>lathe
no. just no. this is too much for a hackerspace. hacker spaces are full of idiots. and it only takes one to stick their hand in there trying to grab it to see how powerful the motor is.
>>983080
actually that's the basis of 99% of contract law. there is heaps of compliance law related to it. even signed it can be illegal.
>>983053
so a dyke bar?
>>983080
>Then why do judges regularly throw out legally binding contracts because they were not "fair enough"?
>Prenups are a good example.
People love to say things like this all the time. What are you defining as "regularly", because It is incredibly rare.
They are only thrown out if the contract was illegal or non-binding in some way.
Prenups, for example, must be signed in advance of a wedding in most states by a certain number of days.
The most common reason they are thrown out is because the document is unconscionable. So if your prenup reads like this: "Everything I make and purchase is totally mine, my spouce gets nothing if we divorce." The judge will laugh at you and invalidate your agreement.
To make a better argument: Go rent a car from a rental place. Crash the car into the wall. Then sue the rental company because you hurt yourself with their property.
>>983111
>you pay to be a member of this club?
>did you expect anything from the borderline sluts who go there just so they can post selfies next to other peoples projects or holding powertools? the solution is to not interact with a woman ever.
Yes I do, $660 a year for the past 3 years.
I get that you're going for the whole edgy approach here but, you have clearly never dealt with the women who use these facilities.
The woman who was harassed was a 40 year old obese woman who worked in IT.
We also have a shop manager there that is a woman, she is a union pipefitter. 90% sure she is a dyke. She could probably flatten most of the men in the place and is easily the most skilled welder there.
>also I should mention that australia has "mens sheds"
A nation full of cuck sheds.
>>974444
well if you're a basic bitch and can't think of your own things to make outside of a single already-provided example then no you won't be making anything at all
I tried an infamous one once (geekgroup) but it was just full of autists and the "leader" was an egotistical douche.
>>975861
my friend is a mechanical engineer and he can't even change his own oil
>>988038
My dad is a master electrician, who owns his own shop with about 15 people under him.
He has to call me when he hooks up his computer and home theater equipment.
People know what they are used to.
