Upgrades: Secure workshop, Craft room, and Class room
Safety always
In and out of Makespace
We have new equipment and many new members
Thank you
Worlds of new activity
Makespace and the Whipple Museum have been in collaboration. Back at the beginning of the year Rosanna from the Whipple gave a talk at Makespace about needing an Orrery that children can handle without damaging it, but still has the aesthetics of an old style piece of ingenuity. Makespace member Graeme Durant stepped up to design and built one from scratch. It has been delivered to the Whipple and they love it. It will become part of their outreach programme and taken to schools.
Assembly Required (Katy M an Alex J) have been as active as usual. Working with the V&A in London they created retro gaming control for an ongoing exhibition.
Upgrades in the Space
Makespace grows and adjusts to the way you, our community, makes and builds. Metalworking and woodworking facilities are expanding into the space we acquired when the new lease was signed. The go ahead for the expansion from the University was a direct result of clearing the space of unused materials, making it fire regulation compliant, and in general members stepping up to keep the space a productive environment. Thank you to Matt Jaworski and Andy Burrows for the help painting and filling.
The new room will house the metal milling machine, the metal lathe and all the tools that go along with both. There are now 40 trained users of the new Metal Lathe thanks to Alaric and the lathe owners for organising the training. Much of which was delivered in partnership with the Cambridge regional College. The milling machine needs more trainers and some additional owners to make it available to more members.
The woodshop (the current secure workshop) will have a big move around, but nothing has been firmed up yet. Your suggestions, feedback and help is wanted, needed and welcome 🙂
The craft room also began an upgrade to the floor, displays and workspace. With the addition of leather working to the vinyl cutter and sewing facilities, it is now one of our more active areas. Thank you to Izzy B, Pip R and Tom P. Work is not finished if you use the craft room please help make sure it gets improved in ways that add to your projects.
The class room is filling up each day with people doing day job stuff as well as making. This is fantastic and very welcome. It is also seeing more evenings and weekends use attracting many non-members to the space. Members are encouraged to host events and let others know with tweets and photos. We now have picture rails on which you can hang photos, images of your work, logos of your organisations or just cool images to inspire.
Safety always
Makespace continues its excellent safety record. Keep up the diligence. When in the secure workshop, please always wear your safety glasses and where appropriate, ear defenders and dust masks. If you do not have your own with you, a supply is always just outside the secure workshop door or near the equipment.
The fire safety training that a number of regular members went through is hitting the mark. A recent fire alarm (the result of a candle being burnt in the kitchen of one of the other tenants of 16 Mill Lane) had Makespace members doing all the right things! We do need more members to have safety training, especially if you work in the secure workshop or host events. Please get in touch at management@makespace.org if you have not been fire safety or first aid trained.
In and out of Makespace
Some quick housekeeping, on your way in and out of Makespace check the doors close behind you. Some stick open, especially the front door! Always click in with your fob and ask all visitors to sign the register. Both of these are part of the compulsory fire safety procedures that allowed the workshop expansion. Knowing who is in helps in an emergency.
When leaving the space please taking a rubbish bag to the bins in the back and make sure the bag gets in the correct bin. We have had word from the University that regular and recycle wastes are getting mixed. The University is very generous in giving us the space in which Makespace exits and places very few rules on our use of their building. We need to support them where we can. This applies to cycles also, please be sure none are inside, when your repair is done move the bike outside.
Winter is rolling in, the heating at Makespace comes on between 6 – 7am and stays on until 7-8pm, sometime it’s on on Saturdays but not on Sundays. Sweeping and vigorously scrubbing work surfaces are a good ways of keeping warm.
New equipment and new members at Makespace!
We have a new spindle sander in the workshop (its red equipment) – Owner and Trainer Michael D (of Electric Flapjack guitars) has made it his mission to train every member.
Makespace is a volunteer run organization and was built from the ground up by its members. We always need more help. Your skills benefit Makespace greatly – some even from outside the space. 15-20 new people are joining our community in a given month and all need training. Volunteering as a trainer is as little as 2 hrs per month, or even every 2 months, and greatly appreciated. If you use a particular item of equipment regularly and enjoy (or at least don’t mind) interacting with other members, please contact management@makespace.org to discuss becoming a trainer.
Thank you to everybody who has helped make Makespace what it is! And a special shout-out to the Volunteer Owners & Trainers who have repeatedly helped throughout 2018:Katy Marshall, Mat Cook, Tom Parker, Michael Dales, Alaric Worrod, Brian Starkey, Mark Mellors, Steve Harrison, Boyaun Xiao, Steve Upton, Rob Copcutt, Martin Lenz, Mic Lamming and Andy Burrows.
