{"id":8952,"date":"2014-09-04T07:37:34","date_gmt":"2014-09-04T11:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/?p=8952"},"modified":"2014-09-07T10:08:38","modified_gmt":"2014-09-07T14:08:38","slug":"create-make-fabricate-do-makerspaces-hackerspaces-techshops-fablabs-oh-my","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochestersubway.com\/topics\/2014\/09\/create-make-fabricate-do-makerspaces-hackerspaces-techshops-fablabs-oh-my\/","title":{"rendered":"Create! Make! Fabricate! Do! { Makerspaces, Hackerspaces, TechShops, & FabLabs… oh my }"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Community<\/a>
\nThe following is a guest post submitted by Joel Helfrich<\/a>.
\nSubmit your story today<\/a>.<\/i><\/small><\/p>\n

Born from a new age of information sharing, as well as a recognized need for communal spaces where people can \u201cimagine, innovate, and inspire\u201d come makerspaces. Makerspaces (and hackerspaces) are not a new idea. However, they are fairly new in the United States. But as one makerspace\/hackerspace proclaimed, these \u201cspaces\u201d are catching on \u2013 and there are more being established on a regular basis. Including a few right here in Rochester…<\/p>\n

\"These<\/a>
\nThese are spaces we\u2014builders\/designers\/tinkerers\/creative types\u2014like. They are spaces where instruments of history, in the form of tools such as lathes and table saws, as well as ham radio equipment, are utilized alongside the latest knowledge and technologies, including 3D printing. <\/p>\n

In the United States, the Rusty Lake Belt dominates in the formation and expansion of what are essentially publicly accessible creative spaces: Syracuse Innovators Guild, Squidwrench (Poughkeepsie), Erie Makerspace, Milwaukee Makerspace, The Makers Alliance (Cleveland), SYN\/HAK (Akron), i3Detroit, Lansing Makers Network, and DHMN (Appleton, Wisconsin), to name a few.<\/p>\n

In a way, these spaces are the libraries and parks and \u201ccommons\u201d of the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n

\"Makerspace<\/a>
\nFor me, these places are the technology and woodshops of my youth\u2014places where I learned how to make stuff like that wood tic-tac-toe board with plastic cover for the holes in the side that stored marbles, a plastic calculator stand, a wood shelf, a metal armed contraption that was able to grasp and move small items, a flashlight, or the alarm system that was surprisingly loud. I went to summer camp as a child to build some of these items, as well as ceramic pottery, continued building and creating in \u201ctechnology\u201d and shop classes during school, but then stopped having these opportunities in high school.<\/p>\n

It is my firm belief that at some point in our lives our inherent, creative energies as artists get suppressed or worse, crushed. Few people seem to restart their artistic and creative passions.<\/h3>\n

\"Interlock<\/a>
\nBut there are efforts underway to keep humans thinking, creating, tinkering, inventing, and \u201cdoing\u201d in ways that are useful and beneficial. I had a great experience last Thursday night when I visited Interlock Rochester \"external<\/a>, one of two local hackerspaces\/makerspaces. <\/p>\n

I was there during Interlock\u2019s free, open-to-the-public 3D printing event at their space in the Hungerford Building \"external<\/a>. Interlock has about 30 members paying dues of $25 (for students) or $50 per month who utilize the various equipment and facilities: electronics stations, a ham radio shack, woodworking tools, 3D printers, et cetera.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>While at Interlock, I met Skip Meetze, a retired systems engineer who once worked for Xerox. He is a self-professed \u201cmaker,\u201d not a \u201csoftware geek.\u201d But he is certainly an inventor. He built his own 3D printer from a kit for $500, but by personalizing and improving the design likely has $1000 total invested in it. When I visited Interlock, Skip and I discussed the ipad stand \"external<\/a> he developed, open space hardware (see www.thingiverse.com \"external<\/a> for example), especially the HandleStand he printed on his 3D printer, and RepRaps \"external<\/a> (Replicating Rapid Prototypers).<\/p>\n

[ Read more about Meetze\u2019s ideas on \u201cmaking\u201d \"external<\/a> ]<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>
\nI promised to return soon to Interlock Rochester, possibly to print some much-needed shark-shaped chip clips \"external<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Rochester<\/a>
\nWyatt McBain, one of the co-organizers of Rochester Makerspace \"external<\/a> (formed last year) told me that his group is all about tools and makers. The organizers have created an all-inclusive space in which they ultimately hope that children will participate in making, 3D printing, and other activities. <\/p>\n

According to McBain, Rochester Makerspace is like a \u201cgym membership for people who like to create and make.\u201d The founders of the group envision a space where people can \u201cshare knowledge and learn within a diverse community.\u201d<\/h3>\n

“That there are now two spaces in Rochester where the general public can tinker, build, create, invent, and learn is amazing,” says McBain, “especially given that Rochester, like many places along the Rusty Lake Belt, is a ‘smaller’ city.”<\/p>\n

\"What<\/a>
\nWhat separates Rochester Makerspace from Interlock Rochester is the former\u2019s emphasis on making versus hacking. In fact, Rochester Makerspace has two spaces within their building at 850 Saint Paul Street \"external<\/a> in Northeast Rochester, one of which is a 1000 square foot woodshop. Rochester Makerspace is also all volunteer-run, with its non-profit status pending. <\/p>\n

The group currently has 25 dues-paying members (dues are $40\/month), but courageously hopes to have 100 people signed up by this fall, as well as a great amount of planned programming and classes.<\/p>\n

McBain\u2014along with Rob Roll, an at home machinist and hobbiest, and several other interested folks\u2014hopes that Rochester Makerspace can eventually provide the community with something similar to Artisan\u2019s Asylum \"external<\/a> in Somerville, Massachusetts, a publicly accessible creative space that in the last three years has gone from a 1000 square foot operation to a 30,000 square foot warehouse with paid staff, individual rent-paying tenants, 50 classes per month, and the cooperation of the city.<\/p>\n