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Ask Slashdot: How Should I Build a Maker Space For a Liberal Arts College?

Posted by Soulskill on from the build-it-out-of-LEGO dept.

XxtraLarGe writes: I work for a small liberal arts college, and have been asked to research makerspaces. I have done a bunch of initial research which tells me a lot about equipment being used, as well as location, etc., but what I'm not finding are what to know before you start, or what it takes to make the effort worthwhile.

I'd be interested in hearing from other educators, staff, students and other maker community members on Slashdot that had makerspaces at their schools or community — can be any level — and what was the experience like? 3D printer, 3D scanner & Laser cutting machines seem to be a given, so I'd like to hear what kinds of think-outside-the-box equipment/materials did you have? We are considering putting it in our library, which seems to be a popular choice with most schools. There's also the possibility of having it somewhere in town that it could be more accessible to members of the community, maybe even as a co-op.

12 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Makerspace.... by Brett+Buck · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's been called a WORKSHOP or some close equivalent in various languages for something like 2000 years now! Why the heck do we need to make up a stupid name for it?

    1. Re:Makerspace.... by NicBenjamin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because if you call it workshop upper middle class guys will think it's a place where dirty. low-class, lowlifes work with old techniques like welders and stay away. As a makerspace they know none of that riff-raff will be around to question their choice of Sci-Fi/pop culture toys reproduced in plastic; so they will come. And since it's at a Liberal Arts college, most of the potential market are those annoying upper-middle-class white guys.

    2. Re:Makerspace.... by jythie · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I do kinda question what demographic they have in mind when they set up those 'public makerspaces' which have been popping up. In their descriptions (and pictures) they do seem pretty classist, tools for upper middle class people to 'show they are makers!', but not for lower class workers to make stuff.

    3. Re:Makerspace.... by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because if you call it workshop upper middle class guys will think it's a place where dirty. low-class, lowlifes work with old techniques like welders

      Welding is a good way to make stuff, and even an upper middle class guy should be able to learn it. The equipment for MIG welding is simple and cheap. Any decent workerspace/makeshop should have one. You also want a CNC vertical mill, and lathe, even if it is just a table top, like a Sherline. If you have a Techshop nearby, you should partner with them. If there is a Techshop a day's drive away, you should pay them a visit. You will learn a lot. You might talk to them about opening a branch in your town. Also, talk to your insurance company, and make sure what you are planning is allowed under your existing policy.

    4. Re:Makerspace.... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And if you show up, and you actually know how to make shit with your hands, they don't say "great, does your experience with real world physics give you any insights into how we can make building stuff with our computers easier?" they say "what could somebody who bends metal know about the latest 3d printers that are designed to bend metal?"

      As the son of a machinist, I still have a little trouble with the too-precious culture surrounding "makerspaces". My first job was sweeping up around his tool and die shop and if you wanted to see dudes who could make stuff, that was the place.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    5. Re:Makerspace.... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

      and three days later a cute chick asked me to help her fix her wheelbarrow.

      Is "fix her wheelbarrow" something I should look up on Urban Dictionary?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re:Makerspace.... by Mashiki · · Score: 5, Interesting

      As the son of a machinist, I still have a little trouble with the too-precious culture surrounding "makerspaces". My first job was sweeping up around his tool and die shop and if you wanted to see dudes who could make stuff, that was the place.

      Reminds me of a story my dad told me, he worked a lathe operator back in the 80's, and they had a few old guys who used to do all the tapping and die cuts by eyesight alone. They could turn out a threaded bolt that was so tight it would strip out the tapped hole from the air pressure. Or feel by touch whether or not there were imperfections in stuff they'd made. Something similar as my grandfather who was a bodyman, he could see and feel imperfections in a repair job that other people would miss even the guys who were doing repairs now.

      The guys before all the computerized stuff were artists in their trade, because they had to be just that good.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    7. Re:Makerspace.... by jandersen · · Score: 3, Insightful

      ... a CNC vertical mill, and lathe, ...

      Is that what being 'a maker' means? Who would have thought it. So it is all about spending a load on high-tech equipment and the pushing a button?

      I may just be a sad, old hippie, but I think relying on heavily computerized equipment, where you can download a blueprint, push a button and out comes a finished product, that doesn't mean you're a 'maker' in my book. Yes, I know I exaggerate, but still. Or is 'maker' what you call yourself when you don't want to learn how to actually do things, you just want the finished result?

      Whatever - rant's over - but I think there is a lot of real benefit to learn how to do it the primitive way, even if you later just use a machine; it gives you an insight, just like being able to write a program well in C or assembler gives you a good ballast, even if you later only write Python programs. It is sometimes quite surprising how little difference there is between using an electric tool and a manual one, if you are competent with the techniques. Just take the process of cutting a piece of plywood: it seems enticingly easy to just take an electric jigsaw and the result is guaranteed to be good, right? Except that it amazingly easy to produce a poor result. Then try the same with a handsaw - it is somewhat slower and it may be physically harder work, but it is not actually that much harder or slower, and it is in fact quite easy to do it well, if you don't try to rush it.

      What I'm getting at is, don't just fall for the fallacy thinking that the only way is to set up a high-tech production facility. A very large part of the advantage of machinery is that you can produce high volumes of the same thing, but it also introduces a limitation in flexibility and will hamper your creativity. And it easily insulates you from the basic insight into what you are doing - it makes you feel helpless without your machinery.

    8. Re:Makerspace.... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The makerspaces I have visited are mostly populated by educated upper class type geeks. Many of them are doing projects that at some point will involve mechanical work: robotics, 3d printing, structural stuff, or even just making a decent enclosure for whatever electronics they created. And most of them struggle even with the basics of woodworking, welding, or machining. If you have these skills, you'll be welcomed with open arms. I haven't met a "maker" who doesn't regret not having had or taking the opportunity to learn them in school or college.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
  2. Staffing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I work at an art school. The equipment you choose is important, but not as crucial as the level of commitment from your institution. Building a space isn't just picking and buying the equipment. The institution also needs to look at the cost of staffing the space with knowledgeable, dedicated staff who can help manage expectations and keep things running. Layman think that laser cutters, 3D printers and CNC machines are like laser printers, they're not. There are safety regulations to consider, as well as proper ventilation and dust filtering. In academic spaces, "maker" devices get beaten to hell and are constantly breaking down. Grad students can only be expected to do so much. If your school is committed to "making," then then need to commit an annual budget to build an appropriate home as well as staff and maintain the facility with at least one full timer who can train faculty, and manage grad students and work study.

  3. People, not tools by inzy · · Score: 4, Informative

    I've been involved with my local makerspace, Tangle Ball in Auckland NZ, for about five years now. The most important thing we have done has been to focus on the social aspect: we're mostly interested in how members and guests behave and relate to each other. So, obviously no discrimination, abuse or other bad behaviour is allowed. We do not focus on any particular technology or tools or activity, but instead think about how we run the place, who gets to make decisions (anybody can take part in debates, no committee with any real power) and who has access or doesn't. We don't exclude any particular activity, anything is permitted so long as it doesn't monopolise any of the resources, discriminate or exclude others.

    That said, there are a wide range of activities, mostly around physically making things:
    * Sewing
    * Boat building
    * Electronics
    * Robotics
    * Art
    * Debate of social issues such as democracy, privacy, capitalism, urban development
    * Software development
    * Car painting
    * Tool tutorials and safety
    * A co-housing group
    * A cycle repair group - tumekecyclespace.org.nz
    * Cooking and baking
    * Collectivism

    There is a 3D printer, but suggesting a makerspace must have one is an odd and rather arbitrary decision: why would you focus on that one technology, it's terribly limiting? Why not sewing or brass casting or something else?

    The question is this: what are you trying to achieve, and why? In our case it was to provide a social space for members, who then provided whatever resources were required. The tools or whatever will follow from there; trying to predict what members and users want will straight away close down what can and can't be done.

  4. Fine tipped permanent markers by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'll offer a list of components I dearly missed when last using a shop.

          0.01" permanent markers, very useful for drawing fine lines to cut or marking places to drill.
          Thread gauge, because people will drop bolts and screws and get confused about which bin they go in.
          Hot knife for cutting plastics, especially if it's hut enough to cut Teflon.
          Velcro ty-wraps, especially those that come in the cheap big pre-perforated rolls.
          Furniture clamps, for gluing bulky items.
          Ziploc bags for keeping components together when people leave the workshop.
          Voltmeter, one that can safely measure 120 Volt, and fuses for it when unskilled people misuse it.
          Good pair of diagonal wire cutters.
          Dremel tool.
          Bins to put different projects in, rather than leaving them out on the bench.