[HH] Artisan's Asylum's "makerspace" Public Opening

[Tom Metro]

Kurt Keville wrote:
> Yup. I went by...

I couldn't make it today. I'm hoping they do something similar on a
weekday evening.

What was the parking like? (Being a suburbanite, parking is always top
of mind. :-) )


> I think what these guys have going for them is location and anchor
> tenants...

Anchor tenants? Can you elaborate?


> ...they were just too far from their constituency... http://builderati.com/
> AFAICT, you have to be within biking distance...

Who do you see as the primary constituency? To me it seems like
something that wouldn't have a strong geographic component. You would
draw amateur artists and hobbyists from the affluent communities, and
professional artists, builders (trades people), and student hackers from
the lest affluent communities.

But my guess is that the majority of regular users will end up being
students, as they are the ones with the most time and energy to make use
of such a facility. (Most of us older hackers don't have quite the
devotion to the hobby as say, Federico does. :-) (Federico, at your last
BLU talk as you kept pulling out an endless parade of gadgets, I
couldn't help but wonder where you find the time and money to play with
them all.))


Federico Lucifredi wrote:
> I have been taking the "advanced Metalworking" class there...

That's too bad you didn't mention it here. That's the class that most
interests me, and it would have been fun to know someone in the class. I
see it is running again in January.

I have a small SMAW (inverter stick) welder and a gasless MIG that I
need to become more proficient using. I've figured out how to get good
welds from the stick, but it tends to burn through the 1" square tubing
I'm using on a project, so I picked up the MIG. Haven't yet achieved a
quality weld with the MIG. (I had better luck many years ago when I used
a gas shielded MIG welder in a high school robotics class.)

The TIG course also intrigues me. But requires more costly equipment.

I'd be happy just to find a reference to a local scrap metal dealer
where you can *buy* random bits of scrap, rather than sell it. The stock
you find at the hardware store makes most projects cost prohibitive.
(Unless it can be built from electrical conduit, which is about the only
building steel you can find at a hardware store for a reasonable price.)


> ...they seem to have quite a lot of equipment on loan from the
> constituency...

I saw their "Lease Your Tools" page:
http://artisansasylum.com/?page_id=1382

The example was a tool costing $1250, and netting a $26 discount on your
monthly membership. Given that ratio you'll end up with almost no
benefit from a $200 ~ $500 tool. So I imagine most tools are loaned
gratis just to keep them from taking up space, or because the owner
wants to support the group.


> I am not sure what I would do with a membership (and probably I would
> consider access to the MIT shop first), but it is a great resource to
> have locally, and the instructors are really friendly.

Likewise, I probably wouldn't get enough value out of a membership, but
having access to a CNC mill and other equipment you'd never fit into a
home shop for $15/day is a steal.

(Do they have a box brake and a shear for doing sheet metal work?)

 -Tom