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This is a thread about Hackerspaces. "What is a hackerspace?", well according to Wikipedia: Wikipedia posted:A hackerspace or hackspace (also referred to as a hacklab, makerspace or creative space) is a location where people with common interests, usually in computers, technology, science or digital or electronic art can meet, socialise and/or collaborate. A hackerspace can be viewed as an open community labs incorporating elements of machine shops, workshops and/or studios where hackers can come together to share resources and knowledge to build and make things. Another way to put it, is that a hackerspace is a place for creative people to pool their knowledge, experience, and resources. There is a lot of good information about hackerspaces at hackerspaces.org, as well as a mostly up to date list of Hacker Spaces I'm one of the directors of a newish hackerspace that is working on setting up a large workshop in Nashua, NH. I'm getting more and more familiar with the logistics of starting and running such a place, but I am by no means an expert. I got involved because I was tinkering with the idea of forming my own space, and while researching it found a brand new one nearby, and ended up teaming up with them. One of our goals is to eventually have the tools and know how to allow our members to build and create anything they want. We're also planning on offering classes for various things like welding and circuit design/construction, or anything else there's demand for. We operate as a non-profit and have no paid employees, only members and the board of directors. Money comes in primarily from membership dues, though we've been kicking around some fund raising ideas to supplement that. In the future I'd love to expand to the point where it could become my day job to own and operate such a place, but for now I'll settle for having a large enough community to just pay the rent and break even on operating expenses. I'd like to use this thread as a way for people to learn more about hackerspaces and what they offer, as well as a way for people like me to find out what we can do to improve our hackerspaces. If you've been running/a member of a space for a while now, what problems have you run into? If you have a space near you, and the idea interests you, what has prevented you from joining? I'm sure there are plenty of other people on here who are involved with spaces all over the world, so please feel free to contribute to the thread, it's not just for me.
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May 18, 2011 18:30
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From Vancouver here, and there are two local hackerspaces here. I've been considering joining the cheaper one for two reasons: My house doesn't have any room for a clean workspace. I get more done in a space with no distractions that I can dedicate myself to just working. The reasons that I haven't pulled the trigger are: My job is very demanding (8-12 very exhausting hours a day, and sometimes on the road for up to a month). When I do have free time, I tend to work at odd hours. Like, wake up at 3AM and decide to do some soldering. So I'd need to be a keyholder, the more expensive of the two options. I already have pretty solid equipment of my own.
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May 19, 2011 02:14
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I wish my department had a hackerspace when I was an undergrad. Would have been nice to have the extra resources. All we had was a lame IEEE branch and a defunct project club. Now things are more active, but the projects they get into seem kind of mundane (autonomous quad copter, makerbot mods, etc). They never seem to try building or designing anything from scratch. But I guess that's not what being a "hacker" is about.
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May 19, 2011 14:06
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When I joined up with mine, they didn't really have much to offer equipment wise that I didn't already have access to at home or work. They did have a good community and workspace though. Now that we're in the process of moving from a tiny little garage bay to a 6000 sq.ft. building, the space resource alone is worth it for me. I've moved a lot of stuff from my house to the shop, which my wife is thrilled about. The new space also gives nearly limitless possibilities and we're finally expanding our equipment beyond what you might find in a well stocked home workshop. For those of you thinking about joining one, what would you consider a reasonable monthly membership fee? Let's assume two levels of membership: Full: * 24/7 key access * Long-term project storage locker/shelf space * 25% off all classes * Priority access to equipment Half: * Access only during scheduled operating hours * 10% off all classes * No project storage
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May 19, 2011 15:06
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Hillridge posted:If you have a space near you, and the idea interests you, what has prevented you from joining? - high membership costs - not much equipment I don't already own or could get access too (only real exception being a laser cutter) - cliquish - sometimes too trendy - every project does not call for an Arduino or for one to be shoehorned in somewhere I just don't see the point in paying for something I can already do myself at home with a whole host of other headaches on top of it. I don't mind visiting / working on projects there on open nights, but I would not pay for it (sorry). Also, "classes" - everyone who teaches something needs to take some kind of crash course in public speaking or something. The few that have taken place while I was around just kinda fell apart after 15-20 minutes, or worse, were full of factual inaccuracies.
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May 19, 2011 22:14
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I went to the weekly open house at Site 3 today. It's a nice two-storey space with lots of equipment and a fire toilet.
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May 20, 2011 05:51
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I'm on the board of directors at LVL1 in Louisville, KY. We are strongly against stratification of membership, so to that effect, we've kept one level of membership: $50/mo. gets you a key (24/7 access) and voting rights. There's also a clause in our bylaws that says you cannot store stuff in the space unless you're a member, but that's very loosely enforced. We've got a very active membership of about 34 people, plus another 30+ non-members who appear pretty regularly. The community that has developed over the past year (we've had our doors open since July, 2010) is amazingly accommodating. Some of our non-members are among the most valued contributors among us. We've got money in the bank, and a monthly surplus. If the membership were to disappear completely tomorrow, we could afford to keep the doors open for another 6 months. On top of this, we've developed a pretty formidable electronics workshop, and we're working on a metal/wood fab lab. Tools of note include a CNC milling machine, a Makerbot, and soon, as laser cutter.
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May 21, 2011 02:00
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Zuph posted:Tools of note include a CNC milling machine, a Makerbot, and soon, as laser cutter. Where'd you get this (and other equipment) from?
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May 21, 2011 03:33
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greenman100 posted:Where'd you get this (and other equipment) from? This stuff pretty well exemplifies where we get our stuff from: The CNC machine was donated by a member. The Makerbot was purchased by allocating funds from the club with a general vote. The laser cutter will be purchased by donations from all the members. We accept donations outright, but expect to get more when our 501.3c is approved (July, if all goes as planned).
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May 21, 2011 04:50
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Zuph posted:I'm on the board of directors at LVL1 in Louisville, KY. Cool, I'm in polo fields. I've thought about checking it out, but haven't gotten motivated to make that drive yet. The CNC and 3d printer may have just motivated me.
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May 21, 2011 05:33
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We're also supposedly getting a laser cutter at the end of June. In our case it is going to be funded by one wealthy member and leased to us for a certain amount per month interest free until we pay it off. I'm also in the process of getting us an automotive lift, which should cost 1/10 that of the laser cutter and draw more members.
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May 22, 2011 00:43
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How do you go about finding a space to lease for something like this? And what about things like insurance? I have to assume you'd need some sort of coverage just to cover your asses in case, say, that autolift drops something heavy on a person. I'm just curious about the more mundane details of running something like this. It seems like something I'd be interesting in trying to kick off in an area where there isn't one available, but I don't have a lot of business-running experience, and I suspect that's really what it'd take: basically running a business.
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May 22, 2011 16:35
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Bad Munki posted:How do you go about finding a space to lease for something like this? And what about things like insurance? I have to assume you'd need some sort of coverage just to cover your asses in case, say, that autolift drops something heavy on a person. The hackerspace design patterns available at hackerspaces.org cover a lot of this. Our group formed in November of 2009, with charter members paying dues well before we even had a space. By the time we had enough money in the bank to rent a space, we already had a dozen members, and even more people watching the mailing list. We just threw a call out to our list, asking if anyone knew commercial property available with X specifications. Our only real stipulations were garage door, 24/7 access, and bathrooms. We found quite a few spaces, and voted to lease our current space. So far, it's been great. Even though we only lease 2000 sq. feet, our space has the only entrance to the basement, so we have defacto access to another 4000 sq. feet of (occasionally damp and creepy) basement, and until there are tenants in the front half of the building, we have another 6000 sq. feet to play with. Everyone that walks in the door has to sign a blanket release of liability. Our insurance policy provides general liability for the space and everything occurring therein, and is approximately $600 a year.
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May 22, 2011 16:44
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Bad Munki posted:How do you go about finding a space to lease for something like this? And what about things like insurance? I have to assume you'd need some sort of coverage just to cover your asses in case, say, that autolift drops something heavy on a person. We picked Nashua for our new space because of the high amount of large mill type buildings available, then visited spaces until we found one we liked. Our landlord required us to carry liability insurance, which can be a bit tricky to find since there's no dropdown box for "hackerspace" in the insurance company's system. We also make members sign waivers and conduct agreements, as well as be trained on all dangerous or complicated equipment. There is also a buddy rule where there must be two people present when anything more dangerous than a soldering iron is being operated. It really is like running a business. I had little experience in this, but have been swimming in the deep end for the past month getting our new space set up. The old one was an LLC owned by the founder, the new one is a non-profit run by 5 of us (including the founder). There have been brief moments of friction since the founder isn't the final word on things anymore, but overall he's done a great job in sharing the power. Right now the hard part is that everyone wants to use the new space to start making cool things (obviously), but a lot of boring infrastructure stuff needs to be done first. Hillridge fucked around with this message at 13:49 on May 23, 2011 |
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May 22, 2011 17:01
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I'm a member at pumping station one. We have two membership levels. "Starving hacker" and "full". Starving hackers don't get to vote, or store things there. As a full member you get a locker, and voting rights. http://www.pumpingstationone.org It's a nice place, but it's just starting to get large enough that it could be problematic. Membership just cracked 80.
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May 23, 2011 04:54
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I should probably link our space too: MakeIt Labs Don't take anything on the site as gospel right now since some information posted may be changing soon (for instance membership terms and prices are under discussion right now). We also have a lot of updates to the equipment list. We're in the midst of the move from Lowell to Nashua and have been pretty busy with all that entails, pushing website updates to the back burner for now.
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May 23, 2011 13:55
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I'm a member of Harford Hackerspace in Baltimore MD. We are a tax exempt 501c(3) educational charity. We have no dues, unless you decide to donate. We have been around since January of 2009, hackin' away. Right now we have a boat load of shop tools, two CNCs, access to additional CNCs, lasers, and the like. We are planning on getting a laser for the space soon. We have approximately 10 to 12 members.
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May 27, 2011 22:57
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I'm a member of HSBNE, the hackerspace in Brisbane, Australia. We have a space in a central location, heaps of room. We have plenty of small tools, a couple of repraps, a drill press, a metal lathe, some welding equipment, etc etc. about 25 paying members. So going really well. The only issue we have tends to be mess management, suggestions welcome  We're waiting on incorporation paperwork to go through, after that we can start applying for community grants. Should we get any, there will be more large tooling in our future.
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Jun 3, 2011 15:56
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That reminds me, does anyone have advice on websites regarding grants? One of our big focuses is going to be education, so I can't help but think there has to be some type of grant out there waiting for us to apply. We're not officially open until July, but we already have a high school group coming in for a week to work on a go-kart related end of year project next week.
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Jun 6, 2011 01:37
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I've got to get up to Nashua sometime. Maybe we can meet up. (I'm on the Cape) Oh, how I wish we had something like this nearby.
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Jun 7, 2011 13:03
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Sure, just let me know when you plan on coming by so I can make sure I'm around. The Rotary lift is going in tomorrow, can't wait to try it out.
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Jun 8, 2011 13:04
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I am in Portland, OR and we have a pretty new hacker space here. They are just starting out and the membership cost seems alright except for the fact that they don't have very many tools and all the projects they are working on all seem to be in the same area and don't really interest me.The people that run it seemed like one big hipster clique and were to wrapped up in what they were doing to even care about people visiting or answer questions and stuff. It is really frustrating because I was hoping to join and have a good space to work on projects. Guess I will just stay in my garage.
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Jun 9, 2011 00:01
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Twerpling posted:I'm a member of Harford Hackerspace in Baltimore MD. Forgot to reply to this one, and you don't have PMs. Can you email me (hillridge@gmail.com) if you see this? My next goal after getting the new space operational is to apply for 501c3 status and I'd love to talk to whoever handled that for your space. We had a huge score off craigslist today. 16x24 modular cleanroom complete with ceiling, lights, doors, windows, and electrical. If we add a HEPA filtration system it should meet lower end cleanroom specs. It's all free, we just have to take it apart and move it to our location. It's going to be our new conference/classroom.    Anyone near Nashua with a truck big enough to hold 3+ pallets worth of modular room want to work out a shipping deal? valinhorn posted:I am in Portland, OR and we have a pretty new hacker space here. They are just starting out and the membership cost seems alright except for the fact that they don't have very many tools and all the projects they are working on all seem to be in the same area and don't really interest me.The people that run it seemed like one big hipster clique and were to wrapped up in what they were doing to even care about people visiting or answer questions and stuff. That's kind of lame. Hopefully the will work stuff out before it drives away too many members.
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Jun 9, 2011 01:50
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devians posted:I'm a member of HSBNE, the hackerspace in Brisbane, Australia. We have a space in a central location, heaps of room. We have plenty of small tools, a couple of repraps, a drill press, a metal lathe, some welding equipment, etc etc. about 25 paying members. So going really well. The only issue we have tends to be mess management, suggestions welcome I'm in Brisbane, I read about HSBNE after reading this thread a while ago, what kinda projects do you guys work on? Am I right in assuming these places mainly act as a kind of communal workshop?
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Jun 12, 2011 12:24
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We have all sorts of projects on, I'll list a few:
I'm sure i've forgotten lots. We also get the Queensland Robot Wars chapter in our space for matches. http://www.hsbne.org/news/hsbneupdate We have group hacking nights every tuesday, you should come along. It's more than a communal workshop, it's also about the people who are there to help out and we all contribute to each others projects.
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Jun 12, 2011 13:36
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All sounds very interesting, I'm just an Arts student looking to learn a bit more about electronics, though I'm fairly proficient mechanically (rebuilt/worked a Holden 186 with some mates last summer, and am currently restoring a Valiant). I'll try and convince one of my friends (currently completing his thesis in mechatronics at UQ) to come along so I'm not overwhelmed with all the coding and electronic talk.
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Jun 16, 2011 10:24
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are you kidding me? most of tuesday night tends to be us ripping on each other, a touch of projecting, and then the rest is high voltage, flames and trying not to crash on the scooter. Come hang out.
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Jun 16, 2011 12:56
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Alrighty then, I'll see what I can do
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Jun 16, 2011 14:00
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techknight posted:I went to the weekly open house at Site 3 today. It's a nice two-storey space with lots of equipment and a fire toilet. I checked this place out last night and ran into Techknight, hopefully I didn't wierd anybody out. The lazer cutter and makerbot were working basically the entire time I was there. A huge variety of stuff was going on from leather and wood working to lazer engraving rock. If I lived in the city I would join up with a place like this.
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Jun 17, 2011 14:37
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Hey devians, I went to HSBNE last Tuesday and had a great time. I love looking at all the cool stuff you guys make, even if I don't understand it myself (not yet, at least!). Definitely going to be coming back. Bobby Wokkerfella, I encourage you to come along. Then we can be electronically clueless together! Also, scooters are fun .
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Jun 18, 2011 05:17
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This is all really cool and I'm wondering if I can't maybe get one organized here in Northwest Arkansas. I'd like to make sure it's got broader appeal though in this smaller market, and one thing that I'd love to do would be to add stuff like ventilated spraypaint/graf studios, a silkscreen setup, maybe a garden if we find a place with outside square footage? What are the first steps? Find a dozen interesteds and start talking?
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Jun 18, 2011 09:13
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helno posted:I checked this place out last night and ran into Techknight, hopefully I didn't wierd anybody out. Haha, I think you fit in pretty well. If you're still in town on course, come out again this Thursday!
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Jun 19, 2011 19:00
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techknight posted:Haha, I think you fit in pretty well. I'm back home now but the next time I'm in Toronto on a thursday i'll be sure to stop in.
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Jun 19, 2011 20:34
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Mustard Snobbery posted:Hey devians, I went to HSBNE last Tuesday and had a great time. I love looking at all the cool stuff you guys make, even if I don't understand it myself (not yet, at least!). Definitely going to be coming back. Bobby Wokkerfella, I encourage you to come along. Then we can be electronically clueless together! Hey man, which newbie were you? I was the guy tooling about with the tap and die set swearing that i didn't have the right one, out of that giant box. Jonny 290 posted:This is all really cool and I'm wondering if I can't maybe get one organized here in Northwest Arkansas. I'd like to make sure it's got broader appeal though in this smaller market, and one thing that I'd love to do would be to add stuff like ventilated spraypaint/graf studios, a silkscreen setup, maybe a garden if we find a place with outside square footage? I wasn't involved at that point, but the hsbne space started for the first 6 months as people meeting in a pub and paying membership to build up a cash reserve. there's all sorts of amazing things that can happen in a space, but the number one issue is always money if its funded by the space. we have 25 paying members i believe and we still only have enough operating capital to fund a big purchase every 18 months or so. This is where grants come in.
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Jun 20, 2011 01:12
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devians posted:Hey man, which newbie were you? I was the guy tooling about with the tap and die set swearing that i didn't have the right one, out of that giant box. I was the tall lanky red headed guy.
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Jun 20, 2011 05:52
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Bad news: Our clean room fell through because the people giving it away were too impatient and decided to give it to someone else on Tuesday, without calling us first, even though we told them we would move it by this weekend and they had agreed to that. Protip: Verbal contracts are poo poo, get it in writing. Oh well, at least we don't have to ship it and set it up now. Good news: Laser cutter has arrived! 
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Jun 20, 2011 23:42
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Just chiming in to say I'm part of the harford hackerspace in baltimore too. And... ^^^^^^^^ What laser cutter is that? It looks huge and we are in the market to finally purchase one.
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Jun 22, 2011 01:07
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I've been hanging out at my local hackerspace. It's pretty 
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Jun 22, 2011 06:29
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It's the 150W version of this guy: http://www.rabbitlaserusa.com/laser_RL1290.asp The owner of the company is coming out this weekend to set it up and train us on it, so there are big "DO NOT TOUCH YOU CURIOUS BASTARDS" signs on the crate until then. So excited. We're having a re-opening party on July 2nd from 2pm onward. If any of you are close enough to Nashua to drop by, please do!
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Jun 22, 2011 14:19
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Hillridge posted:We're having a re-opening party on July 2nd from 2pm onward. If any of you are close enough to Nashua to drop by, please do! LVL1 is having our one year anniversary the same day, July 2nd, starting at 7pm. Anyone near Louisville should stop by, more details here: http://www.lvl1.org/2011/06/21/1-year-anniversary/
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Jun 22, 2011 15:48
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