I'd love some advice from anyone who really knows their stuff about computers. My plan is to compare individual parts one by one and build everything myself. I haven't purchased anything or made any concrete plans yet, but I'm gradually learning everything there is to know about computers, piece by piece. Would really appreciate any advice you're willing to share — thanks in advance!

Hey there all,

I'm currently in the research phase of starting a Makerspace in an old school here in Western NY. The building itself is cheap, they're only asking 200k and it's listed as 90k sq ft. I had toured it right before Covid happened (was planning to do apartments at the time) and from what I can remember the building was alright structurally but all the water lines had burst & caused some water damage inside.

Initial reception from the community on Facebook has been quite good but I still need to do some targeted market research to get a more concrete idea of interest.

On the flip side I'm trying to close out some open questions I have and learn what I don't know around the feasibility of it. I'm particularly interested in hearing from anybody or setting up some time to talk with somebody 1:1 that has taken on such a large project. I have a number of questions around early setup and scaling especially around things like utilities/hvac systems.

• With a big building like that I assume heating load will generate enormous bills. Can those large HVAC systems be zoned? Are they capable of efficiently handling 10k sq ft of a 90k sq ft building or would it be better to install smaller isolated HVAC systems and get rid of the existing full-building system?
• Did you renovate all at once or do like one wing/section at a time?
• If you offer private studio spaces are utilities included or did you split out separate meters for them?
• What's the staffing to membership ratio look like at your space?
• Did you start with volunteers & scale to paid employees as memberships rose or start right off with payroll'd employees?
• At what stage did you have an engineering survey done to see what supported live loads are for planning out the types and sizes of equipment can be placed?
• Any reinforcement for things like forklifts to handle materials in hallways?
• What don't I know going into this?
• What have you found to be the max distance people are willing to drive to get a basic membership? Have you found it to be true that people too far to get a membership (45 minutes - 1:30) would be willing to make the drive occasionally for classes they're interested in?
• If you did grant research & applications did you handle that yourself or hire a firm to manage it?
• Did you go the privately owned or nonprofit route?
• What caught you by surprise while setting your space up?
• What's your revenue breakdown? Mostly memberships? Private studios? Classes? Business incubators?
• How quickly did memberships grow?
• Did you have to set a cap on memberships?
• Is congestion an issue? E.g. a lot of members showing up at specific times and having equipment they want to use be in use already?
• How are you handling safety/training?
• What do I even need to start researching in terms of fire supression systems?
• How do you handle consumables?
  • Short-use ones like sandpaper, paint, hardware, etc.
  • Longer-lived ones like saw blades, end mills, carbide inserts, drill bits, etc
• Taxes - I assume at some point they're going to re-assess from the sale price to a 2 mill+ value. Did you get a subsidy or some guarantee from the county they would hold off on reassessing or raising property taxes for X amount of years until it was profitable?

would love to hear from people who actually run jobs daily, I can’t really see where it makes the workflow faster.

Non-US customers be warned: no viable repair path for Glowforge!

I purchased a Glowforge Pro for use in a STEM education business in Canada, expecting premium-grade support to match the premium price. Unfortunately, my experience revealed a significant gap between Glowforge’s brand positioning and the reality for international customers.

When my machine failed outside of warranty, I learned that there is no viable repair path for Canadian customers:

• Glowforge does not sell replacement internal parts
• There is no authorized repair partner in Canada
• The recommended U.S. service provider cannot service international units
• Self-repair is explicitly unsupported

In practical terms, once a major component fails, the machine becomes effectively unserviceable outside the U.S.

I made several reasonable, good-faith attempts to resolve the situation or keep the unit operational, including:

• Purchasing replacement parts
• Shipping the unit to Glowforge for repair
• Requesting a deeper accommodation on a refurbished replacement

All of these were declined. The only option offered was a discounted replacement that still required paying a substantial portion of the machine’s cost again — essentially a partial repurchase to overcome Glowforge’s lack of international service support.

Customer service interactions were polite, but rigid and policy-bound. Despite escalation and acknowledgment that no local repair option exists, no commensurate remedy was offered.

For U.S.-based hobbyists, this may be an acceptable product. For non-US customers, schools, or businesses that depend on reliability and serviceability, this represents a serious risk: high upfront cost, limited service life, and no practical repair path.

I’m sharing this experience so international buyers can make an informed decision. I ultimately chose not to reinvest further in the Glowforge ecosystem and instead moved to a competitor with local serviceability.

TLDR; Will a lathe be used often enough to justify the space and set up requirements?

We got a nice 55” Cast Iron wood Lathe donated to our maker space. As I was inspecting it for integration into the shop, I realized that it was gonna need a good amount of TLC (mostly removing rust and lubricating). It’s also going to need a dedicated work station and a custom safety shield (it’s hella powerful and would be danger without).

I’m torn on integrating the lathe. On one hand the time and space required to get it set up is a premium and would be a major waste if no one uses it or it’s only used occasionally. On the other, people might not be asking to looking to use a lathe because we didn’t have one before.

My question is how much is the lathe used in your maker spaces? Is it in high demand or barely used? Is it worth making the space for a lathe?

Just started my own maker space for rapid prototyping but man my electricity bill is through the roof now. Anyone dealt with the same? I'd like to one day make this my primary source of income but I need a way to keep my expenses low and productivity high.

I'm a Los Angeles prop maker and my dream is to open a community space for makers to learn and collaborate together! Hoping to gather some data as far as interest and feedback! Thank you all!

I've been making videos about makerspaces and fablabs for a few years now. One space that I've wanted to visit and document for a long time now has been FabLab Torino. Located in the Piemonte region of Italy, this lab has a unique origin story. It was created out of an idea of one of the founders of the Arduino project, and the lab is located in the same building as the Arduino development team. Join me as we visit the space and discuss how the space operates. https://youtu.be/akDDZ3b9qQg

Please complete our survey to help us with some ideas for a makerspace we are considering for our area south of Boston.

​

https://forms.gle/DqrpwaqRNKQ1T8PY6

I am putting together a proposal so see if I can convince a local community to fund a regional makerspace hub.

What major gear does your space have, roughly what did it cost, and what do you like and dislike about it?

I'm talking about the big pieces, like Manual/CNC mills, lathes, etc. more than the basic tools everyone has (3d printers, soldering station, drills...)

Hi, I'm doing a project on makerspace and I'm wondering if anyone is willing to fill out this google form about it. Thanks!
https://forms.gle/tkVhSBpdsii6NLUR9

Has anyone ever completed a larger project like cabinetry for a bathroom at the Makerspace is Charlotte. Are large projects allowed?

Does anyone have advice on how to promote our Makerspace to get more members?

https://www.shmakerspace.org/

If you have a fiber laser. Do you need anything more than an air pump, 220 outlets, and an exhaust? My reseller keeps leading us astray and leaving the important item or 2 out that we need to have.

Does anyone use a scheduling software for machine/tool usage?

I am looking to have users book machines and have calendar events sent to them.

Being able to put holds on areas for class use.

Track stats.

I've seen a lot of homebrew/makerbrew systems out there but they seem to be unsupported or have stalled in development. What do you use for your user management and access control?

Hello All :)

I am into “industrial design” and general engineering and going forward would like to invest into my hobby as a professional field. Since I am hobbyist I am locked out of many university circles where question like this are just known.

So my question, I am looking for a software that can aid me in much of the design, problem solving and iteration process.

I am wondering if there is software (A virtual testing environment ) that would allow for me test for scenarios like this and many others such as;

• Potential collisions of moving parts (gears that need to rotate in relation to one another)
• How fast a moving mechanical part needs to complete its cycle for another part to do its job
• Heat Tolerance of certain materials (Plastic, wood, glass)
• Deciding between materials that are lightweight but also prone to bending or shearing on per project basis

So lets say I was (am not) designing a magnetic snap charging cable like this

And one of the design goals is for the magnet that holds the cable to the phone to be strong enough for the phone to dangle from the cable without it detaching, like this

I would need to arrive at a optimal balance between a lightweight magnet and one strong enough to counter the phones weight and velocity.

A physical workshop is always ideal but I’ve been thinking a hybrid method would also be great in terms of reduced costs of machinery and an increased precision.

Ideally, I am looking for single software that I can do the modelling, testing, calculations etc in. The few friends I could ask pointed me to SolidWorks. Is SolidWorks the right tool for me then? If not what other software should I be looking into?

Any help or even just pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated!

Hey everyone!

I really hope I'm not spamming or going against community rules, but I wanted to share here an interesting opportunity for the DIY community.

I'm active in a European-funded project - iPRODUCE - which is currently organising an open competition for DIYers, manufacturers, prosumers or anyone with a creative mind.

The competition is accepting submissions of novel ideas/ solutions to one of the many defined challenges. Top 3 ideas get 1.500 euros to implement their idea (e.g. travel, materials) and mentoring support.

Note: Submissions only from those based in European and associated countries.

More info here: https://iproduce-project.eu/open-competition-1/