[ELECTRON] fablabs

Tue Oct 5 15:55:44 UTC 2010

In fact I orignally had an idea to do it in the underused architectural workshops but they have now had a makeover so perhaps not so much underused! But I bet some other workshops are.

Regards 
Nina Baker 

Failing to plan = Planning to fail

--- On Tue, 5/10/10, Paola Di Maio <paola.dimaio at gmail.com> wrote:

From: Paola Di Maio <paola.dimaio at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [ELECTRON] fablabs
To: "Discussion list for the Electron Club" <members at electronclub.org>
Date: Tuesday, 5 October, 2010, 15:36

Thanks Andrew and Nima

I am a researcher at DMEM Strathclyde Uni
Lets put together a proposal?

P

On Tue, Oct 5, 2010 at 3:30 PM, makerfair <mcmadsat09-makerfairglasgow at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

I had always hoped there might be an empty space in one of the universities that could be accessed via a public door at weekends and evenings and via an internal door in office hours.

I think the only sensible route is for folks to pay for training courses and then pay a modest membership or hourly rate thereafter. It cannot be free in either the cost or the access senses, since the most basic health and safety requires some training even to use ordinary hand tools.

Regards 
Nina Baker 

Failing to plan = Planning to fail

--- On Tue, 5/10/10, Andrew Back <andy at smokebelch.org> wrote:

From: Andrew Back <andy at smokebelch.org>
Subject: Re: [ELECTRON] fablabs
To: "Discussion list for the Electron Club" <members at electronclub.org>
Date: Tuesday, 5 October, 2010, 14:45

On (14:00 05/10/10), Paola Di Maio wrote:
> Thanks Roy
> 
> signed up to the list
> It would be good to have some models of how other fablabs set up
> Do you know where the funding comes from?

Since they tend to involve a lot more costly machinery I get the impression
that they are member funded. The one in Manchester is free to use Fri/Sat
and the rest of the time is for paying customers. The much bigger Bay Area
TechShop has various levels of membership but it's never free AFAIK [1].
Manchester's does seem to have support from various agencies also, as may
the Bay Area one.

I'd imagine that, just like hackspaces, you could operate/fund a fablab
various ways. If you can get funding and/or space etc it could be free like
Electron Club, or you could take an approach similar to London Hackspace and
charge a monthly subscription. Obviously bearing in mind that the tooling:

- is likely to be much more expensive
- could be easier to cause costly damage if careless
- will consume more electricity (some may need 3-phase)

You might need insurance given the risks, e.g. the classic hair/necktie
caught in a lathe or pedestal drill. And would almost certainly need to
organise induction for people. Might need to do COSHH assessments and other
H&S stuff for machine oils, cutting pastes and brazing fluxes etc. 

That said you could probably just have a shed somewhere with a few small
donated machine tools in it. If it's just a few friends... I suppose it
really depends how ambitious and open it will be.

My personal opinion is that every city and medium sized town ought to have
one provided as a public service and operated like a library. But this isn't
likely any time soon!

Cheers,

Andrew

[1] http://www.techshop.ws/Join_Now.html

> I am thinking of doing some web based video interviews with other fab lab
> organisers to
> leearn their knowhow and model
> 
> whatdyathink?
> 
> P
> 
> On Sun, Oct 3, 2010 at 8:23 PM, Roy Mohan Shearer <fy81le at googlemail.com>wrote:
> 
> > Hi Paola,
> >
> > Please do join us at
> > http://groups.google.co.uk/group/glasgowfablabs
> > and check out/add to the research pages there. Myself and Bruce are
> > plugging away at things as much as we can but only have limited time
> > so more help/ideas are always appreciated. There is indeed a demand
> > for a fablab here, just need to figure out the wheres, whats and hows.
> >
> > Roy Mohan Shearer
> > (post-)Industrial Designer
> >
> > ____________________________________________________
> > Zero-waste Design,
> > Southside Studios, 17 Westmoreland St., Glasgow, G42 8LL
> > +44 (0)7974896651
> > www.zero-waste.co.uk
> > ___________________________________________________
> > www.tinyurl.com/thesoundishere | www.dbasscollective.co.uk
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 3 October 2010 14:05, Martin McGrath <mcgrath.martin at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Paola,
> > >
> > > See http://www.electronclub.org/doku.php?id=groups:glasgow_fablab
> > >
> > > Cheers
> > >
> > > On 3 October 2010 13:52, Paola Di Maio <paola.dimaio at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> Just got back from a trip to Holland where I came  came across FabLab
> > >>  Nederlands
> > >> I am starting some research there
> > >> Somewhat related to electron agends , thought i'd ping this
> > >>
> > >>
> > http://www.iom3.org/news/fabricating-feedom-uks-first-fab-lab-opens-manchester
> > >> Could electron host a fablab instance for Scotland? would be interested
> > to
> > >> help to make it happen
> > >> cheers
> > >> PDM
> > >> _______________________________________________
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-- 
Andrew Back
a at smokebelch.org

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