Rochester Makerspace

As the Cape Cod Makerspace puts it, the organization is whatever the members make of it. The space has a vision to be a shared community workspace where artists, engineers, creators and thinkers take control, promote science and technology and push one another to experiment and innovate.

Cape Cod Makerspace’s mission seems to revolve around its members, and supports them as they learn different aspects of design. It offers custom design services, CAD design and consulting for its members, allowing them to create working prototypes of their ideas with the help of expert designers. The club has lofty goals for what it wants to provide members, but is still in the process of putting all its ideas into action. It is setting up its shop in a space donated by a Wareham, Mass., computer company and is in the process of applying to become a 501(c)3 recognized by the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Even though the organization is still putting the finishing touches on its club itself, that hasn’t stopped members from keeping busy with various projects. While Cape Cod Makerspace is busy readying its space and putting together parts for its CNC and RepRap, it is also organizing a battle bots competition against other local makerspaces.

Cape Cod Makerspace is more than just a place for members to work and share ideas. The site maintains a fairly active blog with news about conference and conventions and links to videos and pictures of recent projects. It also has a resources page that points members to online tutorials for a range of interests as well as links to places they can buy new parts.

The club may still be young, but the East Gippsland Makerpace is coming together quickly and building interest in the rural region of Australian where it makes its home. This makerspace is putting together many of the traditional woodworking and metalworking tools common at other clubs, but also aims for a technological focus. In addition to a drill press, lathe and number of different size saws, the club will also have a computer lab and eventually projectors and audio equipment.

East Gippsland Makerspace got its start in early 2012, when a group of founders came together, setting up a website and Facebook page and calling on interested people to step forward to help get the club launched. It now has its own space, and is putting together a committee of members to establish policies and “steer the ship.”

The idea is going over well so far. The club is seeking funding from its local community college, has built an active following on its Facebook page and is creating buzz locally for the idea of a makerspace. Founding members have appeared twice on local radio stations to explain the concept of a shared workspace and bring in new members.

East Gippsland Makerspace offers a variety of membership levels depending on how involved the member wants to be and how much experience they have with the tools. There are restricted memberships, which gives them access to the lounge, a profile and e-mail address and supervised access to the makerspace itself. Once they have been trained in how to use the equipment, they can move to an unrestricted membership that also gives them extra perks like use of meeting facilities and free or discounted access to special events.

Members of Maui Makers don’t have to look far to understand the DIY ethic of the club. In fact, they don’t have to look any further than the building itself. Located in a shipping container that was modified and fitted into a workshop, the makerspace is a place for makers of all kinds on Hawaii’s second-largest island to meet and hone their crafts.

Maui Makers sees itself as something of a Fab Lab, with a focus not only on giving members means of physical production but also putting a strong focus on technology. Even in the smaller space, Maui Makers has the equipment to suit a range of interests. It has a Epilog Helix 24 Laser Cutter, a Cupcake CNC 3D printer and a desktop CNC mill. There are air compression tools, smoldering stations, wood lathes and saws and an inventory of microcontrollers and other electronics to round out the equipment.

The club has a lot of interaction with other DIY groups and clubs on Maui, including the Maui Techies group. It also collaborates often with artists from the Source International Arts Festival, an annual art, music and healing festival with a focus on multi-media arts.

To help expand the skills of its members, Maui Makers puts on a series of workshops focused on building beginner-level skills. There are classes on using the laser cutter, learning basic electronics and soldering and how to use the Makerbot or LabView. Maui Makers also holds open meetings every Thursday evening so members of the public can come and see what the club is all about.

There’s a lot more to Maui Makers than a converted workshop and weekly meetings. One of its initiatives, Young Makers Maui, aims to get young people involved in various aspects of making and encouraging them to showcase their work at an annual makers fair. The club has a very active Google Groups message board where members share ideas and talk about the projects they’re working on. There is also a wiki page with information about the club’s equipment and some of its areas of focus. Readers can also see photos and links to some cool projects, like one member’s plans to convert an aluminum ladder into a truck rack for carrying equipment. It’s a cool project for anyone to try out, whether they’re in Maui or not, and can save hundreds of dollars it would cost to buy a truck rack.

Boasting a new 25,000-square-foot space that is home to more than 100 artists, fabricators and business people, Artisan’s Asylum has the tools and programs to accommodate any kind of interest.

The Somerville, Mass., club, which was cited by Boston Magazine as a reason why Somerville is the best place to live in the Boston area, has all the amenities of your average makerspace plus a few extras to make it more inviting. There is a kitchenette and dining area where members can eat and socialize, air conditioning and heating, access to a loading dock on the ground level and options for electrical service in their rental units.

The club has a very impressive collection of tools that includes a fully equipped machine shop, welding shop, woodworking shop, fabric shop, bike shop and electronics lab.  And they’re getting ready to add jewelry making and screen-printing shops.

Artisan’s Asylum rents extra space in various sizes to its members, with rental prices ranging from $5 for a shelf to $275 for a 200-square-foot workspace. These also come with wireless internet service.

The non-profit studio’s mission is to support teaching and learning, and it does so with a huge slate of courses and special events. The coursework covers everything from digital media to woodworking to glassworking and caters to all experience levels. The club also has a number of one-day introductory events, like its Intro to Bike Shop seminar, designed to give beginners an glimpse to what the club has to offer.

One of the weekly clubs using Artisan’s Asylum gained some national attention for a project it competed. The Robotics Intensive course, a group of 19 engineering enthusiasts, created a six-legged robot weighing 500 pounds and packing 135 horsepower in its propane-fueled body.

In addition to a website, Artisan’s Asylum also maintains a wiki page that includes direction to the club, floor plans and information about the different craft areas.

[vimeo width="601" height="338"]http://vimeo.com/31455885[/vimeo]

Joel Bukiewicz wanted to be a writer but he found that he really loves making things and being part of a community that makes things by hand. In this short video he very eloquently tells (with a little profanity) how he started making knives for home and professional cooks, and what it takes to get really good at something.