[hackerspaces] Equipment maintenance, costs, training, allow/deny access.

[Ben Hibben]

We setup an email address called broken at lvl1.org that goes out to a list of
volunteers who have asked to help fix things.

We're fortunate in that we've been able to grow a decent savings up to
handle unforeseen events.

Blenster

On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 4:05 PM, Joshua Pritt <ramgarden at gmail.com> wrote:

> We just now recently have enough members to cover the rent and bills so we
> have a little bit extra each month to save.
> We just also very recently had to use all of that little bit of savings to
> buy a new power supply for our laser cutter.
> Then we had to wait several weeks for the one or two members that know
> their way around the laser cutter enough to take it apart and replace the
> power supply in a safe manner.
>
> We also rattle the donation box in front of anyone that uses the more
> expensive equipment to toss in an extra buck or four to help cover these
> kinds of repair costs.
> We charge 10 cents per gram for 3D printed things and have a little scale
> next to the printer for people to weigh then toss the money in the nearby
> "piggy bank" that just goes for filament and 3D printer repair.
>
> The volunteering is the hard part because it relies on people's schedules
> for their day jobs and travel and other stuff that happens in "real life".
>
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 3:57 PM, michael howard <mik.howard at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Many members are getting frustrated, complaining too much is broken down,
>> missing parts, etc. Some mention losing interest in participating.
>>
>> How do most hackerspaces manage the cost and labor of maintenance to
>> equipment, and the supplies?  In particular expensive and/or dangerous
>> equipment?
>>
>> It takes a lot of work. Few are capable and/or have time.
>>
>> 3D printers, laser cutters, multimeters, even hand tools are easy to mess
>> up.
>>
>> We do allow many people to just come in and use things, not demanding
>> anything in return, or refusing access to anyone.
>>
>> How do you keep some minimum proportion contributions/volunteering, at a
>> level sufficient to keep things mostly working?
>>
>> Thanks for everyone's hard work and experiences!
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>
>>
>
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>
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