There are many ways to help out at the maker space:
Donate your time:
- We have clean-up days.
- We need folks to present on educational topics.
- We need help fixing and maintaining the tools and the space itself.
- Almost everything that happens at our maker space is done by a volunteer!
Donate funds!
Purchase items from our wish list:
We also need:
- A new doorframe and electronic locking mechanism
- Our current doorframe cannot support an electronic locking system, leaving us using and handing out, physical keys. This means we cannot remove access from a given member easily. A lack of payment would be no real barrier to an individual who has not returned his or her key.
- Handy Craft Supplies
- Our community lacks non-commercial third places for people to do handy crafts. This also appeals to a more female-oriented audience that we don’t currently seem to serve well (as evidenced by our male-to-female member ratio).
- Craft Storage cabinet
- A cabinet that folds out would also be a space-efficient and easy-to-use solution for our small space. For example: https://www.theoriginalscrapbox.com/products/dreambox
- Access Control for tools
- Currently, any member can use any tool at any time. We cannot control who uses tools, even if a member or guest does not have training for that tool. Ideally, we would also be able to track usage for our tools for proactive maintenance.
- A Bigger location
- Our current location is cramped. We cannot fit our entire membership in the space at one time using the tools.
- HE280™ HOTEND WITH ACCELEROMETER PROBE
- This will keep our current and beloved Rostock 3D filament printer running that much longer. This is one of the biggest consumables for this machine.
- Video conferencing equipment and software / Video recording equipment
- We have monthly presentations and monthly classes. Recording these for the internet would build our web presence. Depending on the content of the presentation or class these could be referenced for tool usage at the maker space, making everyone safer.
- Heater for garage (dirty shop + timer switch)
- Our dirty/wood-working shop is not heat or cooled. Adding a heater to the space would greatly increase its usage during the cold Nebraska winters.
- Breakfast nook or Couch
- This would make our space feel more comfortable and inviting.
- Shipping Container – 20 ft long
- Our outdoor storage is not sufficiently secure to allow us to store most items. It has been burgled one multiple occasions. A 20-foot storage container would solve this problem and provide a fair amount of storage.
- Welding bench
- A Saw Stop Table Saw
- Our table saw is approaching it’s end of life and a Saw Stop would greatly increase the safety of everyone who uses the tool. Saw Stop will stop automatically if it detects any fingers, limbs, etc close to the blade while running. https://www.sawstop.com/
- Welding Curtain
- Our current set-up causes 1/3 of the shop to be cut-off while anyone is welding. It is safe, but discourages welding and similar activities. A welding curtain would solve this issue.
- Bench belt sander
- Mill Drill
- Both for space and to replace old tools. We have a mill and a drill press, neither of which do a good job for their intended purpose.
- Dust Collector
- Our woodworking shop gets very dusty, even from medium-sized projects. A dust collector would keep the back-room cleaner, and cleaner tools will last longer.
- Solvent tank
- Retracting Drop Power Cords
- Anvil
- Mechanics toolbox x 3
- Our current tool bench is not well organized and does not use the space well. Mechanics tool boxes would be a much better use of our space and would also be safer, easier to use, and more inviting.
- Pottery Wheel – small
- Prusa 3D filament printer OR Lolzbot
- Our Rostock 3D printer is a champ, but will eventually break beyond repair, being one of our most popular tools. We would like to replace this with a Prusa 3D filament printer or Lolzbot 3D filament printer.
- 2D Cad Package as a DraftSight Replacement
- Multi-head 3D Printer
- Spot welder
- New bigger electronics bench
- Our current bench is large, but not large enough for more than one person to use it at a time. A larger bench would allow for better utilization of our limited space.
- Multiple Laptops for classes – 8
- 27″ 4K monitors X2
- These would replace our current dual-monitor setups in the very cramped Clean Shop area.