In March there was a vote that passed to complete the CNC area. You can read the entire thread here https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/cincihackerspace/OBw7YK-TEZg or read my summary in bold below.
I made a proposal at the meeting last night on a plan to get our CNC area finished and ready for certification and classes. I have already talked with Dustin and Brad and they are on board with helping to get these things accomplished. I am giving us a time frame of 4 months (through the end of July) with the hope we can finish sooner.
Here is what I propose:
Finish the CNC machine by finishing up the wiring, endstops, and auto squaring.
Organize and clean the space so everything is easy to use.
Create/make a CNC station to hold the computer and all tools that you would need while using the CNC.
Work with Dustin to create a clear path to certification along with direction and materials to reference while using the machine.
Large sign to display the steps needed to have a successful cut
Videos to show each step
Written handbook to also provide these steps
Have a budget of $200 to be able to purchase miscellaneous items like small tools, endstops, etc (I will provide receipts at the end of the project to show all money spent on the project.) This budget was above and beyond the Warden budget
If you have any questions or input on this proposal please let us know as we are open to suggestions.
John2pt0 suggested that we enclose the CNC tower
Not long after this passed Brad, Dustin, & I got to work and started working on layout designs for the CNC area. In our floorplans we included using the “Medium CNC” that I currently own that sits next to the dust collector (we do not plan for it to sit there). After some members saw that we were including this machine in our layout they expressed concerns for having a member owned tool in our space that our group would be responsible for any maintenance/repairs. Once these concerns were expressed all further planning was halted until we could figure out a solution that our membership could agree on. This was brought up at the meeting last night and below are a list of some pros and cons that were mentioned. I am for having both machines so I have provided rebuttals for the Cons listed below. I encourage everyone to also voice their opinions in this thread so we can have a good discussion on how we should move forward.
Cons
We only need one large CNC because we have a limited amount of space.
With a new layout and some organization it’s my opinion that this space will be much more utilized than before.
We do not want to be responsible for a machine that breaks that isn’t ours.
If someone misuses a machine it’s going to break no matter what. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Hive’s CNC or mine. The machine we are talking about keeping has cheaper parts (spindle, steppers, drivers) and would be cheaper to fix if any damage occurred. To date I believe most of the damage that has been caused on our CNC has been due to lack of training. Hopefully having a proper training course will curb any future misfortunes.
We do not want to spend any money on upgrading any machine when it could leave the space at any time.
I do not think we should spend ANY money updating this machine. Also as long as I’m giving training classes and the machine is getting used I have no plans to remove/sell it.
Some members believe the Hive should get away from having any member owned machines.
In the past we have been very open to non Hive owned equipment being on loan to our members. If we decide to remove all non Hive owned equipment then at that time we can discuss if this machine is needed and if we would like to purchase it or a similar machine.
Pros
Having two machines will make it much less time consuming to give classes to multiple people. In our classes we plan for people to be able to each make their own item (yet to be determined) to bring home. I’ve taken a CNC training class at The Manufactory and it’s kind of a buzz kill to wait on everyone to make their first cuts.
Sometimes using the CNC can be time consuming and cuts can take hours at a time. Having two machines would allow for multiple people to work at once OR allow one person to be making two cuts at once.
When new members come to our space it seems that there is a large percentage interested in learning about the CNC. If this trend continues along with some community outreach to teaching classes, it’s my opinion that we may have a real need for multiple machines.
At the end of the day I’m not asking for this machine to be here permanently, though I’m not against it either. I would just like the ability to continue working on our original plan to make our CNC machines safe to use, organize the area, create a curriculum, and hold regular classes for current and prospective members so everyone can properly use these machines. Once everything is complete, and after several months of training and classes we will have a better idea if a second large machine is really needed. If it's not getting used and just collecting dust I'm the first person that will suggest that we should remove it. It’s easier to keep it here for this trial than to find another one down the road after it’s gone and we decide we want it.
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I agree with Dave that there are a lot of solutions for having member-owned equipment here if that is what we decide we want as a group. It's my understanding that most other hacker spaces have member owned equipment, including I3 where they also have a member owned CNC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIPus-kr6VM (8 min mark). We have focused on the disadvantages of member owned equipment but there are some advantages as well. I'm very indifferent about this topic and think it should be discussed and could possibly be decided on a case by case basis and voted on by the group. Having a blanket policy saying we will never have these kind of tools seems a little shortsighted. With that being said, I totally agree that it does not make sense to upgrade someone else's equipment unless it can easily be removed and repurposed or sold. As far as repairs go I think that is just something you deal with. If we bought a new tool and repaired it we are still out for the repair cost so why does it matter who made the initial investment? Repairs are just something that goes along with maintenance of all equipment. If the member who loaned equipment decides they need to have it back and it’s something that the members actively used I do not see why at that time we would not vote to replace that tool with Hive funds.
Recently, a lot of discussion at Hive13 has centered on the large CNC machine and the greater CNC area. In heated discussions regarding floor plans, tooling, software, hardware, and other details of implementation we have lost sight of our larger mission. The resultant myopia may be leading many to not “see the forest for the trees”. Indeed, it is difficult for me to figure out what is truly in contention, and why some members of our community are so polarized.
At this point, I believe that hyperbole surrounding the use, implementation, and educational intentions of CNC only serve to destabilize our community. As we continue to split hairs about these issues we are losing sight of our greatest assets, triumphs, and worthy priorities. Further discussion in this manner will only serve a habit of always assuming that something is “wrong” or “worthless”, rather than even noticing what is working or what is right.
This leads me to asking myself why we are even faced with a vote that does not propose anything. Being an optimist by nature, I would like to think that it’s just another humorous accident at Hive13 (member self-governance leads to this often in any organization). However, it is more likely that this is born of pure frustration. Therein is the problem. One member is obviously frustrated, as are others at Hive13 (including myself at times). I cannot fault anyone for frustration, however, it is unproductive to dominate discussion with such negative sentiments.
We have an amazing community here, and we do some amazing things. Members build incredible projects of art, technology, and other wizardry; we taught about 1000 kids how to solder last summer; we participated in parades, classes, volunteer activities at libraries. We have now received a grant from a private trust to support our outreach goals, and more are inevitable. This weekend, we are LEADING power tool drag racing at the biggest, baddest, original Maker Faire in San Francisco. We have too many reasons to value ourselves and our community, and far fewer reasons to be frustrated or intimidated.
Regardless of whether Maker Faire short changed us by reduction of their payment amount is meaningless because we made it work anyway. When “Cindy-Lou”, the robot, could not be safely driven in the opening day parade, Jim just chose to pick up a rope and drag her along. I find this latter example extremely amusing, but it also reflects who we are. We are hackers. If a motor, or a cog, or anything else won’t budge, hackers are unafraid to grab a rope or lever and pull. Likewise, we’re willing to take thousands of pounds of equipment to San Francisco, buy our own flights, build our own crate, and follow through with Maker Faire even if we were shorted $10,000. This is the only organization I belong to that wouldn’t give up in such a circumstance. Because that’s the way hackers do things.
There are some things we are not cut out for, or are just plain bad at. There are many examples of shortcomings in our space, failures of equipment, lack of resources, lack of organization, etc. It is easy to find fault. Change here is slow, and never follows a stable or predictable pattern. It is often excruciatingly hard to motivate the group or set forth an agenda one is invested in. Hive13 just continues moving slowly toward an intangible, obscure destination. The only thing we can be certain about is that none of us really has control of that direction. When we initiate something at hive, the plan always changes course and ends up being consumed by the group; the result often becomes quite different from the vision proposed. This is the nature of organizations and communities such as ours.
I urge all of us to continue doing what we do so well -- sharing. In speaking about what I value about Hive13, I have spoken of people, not tools. Community is the wellspring of our ingenuity. Relationships, however, are gossamer; community is as fragile as it is complexly beautiful. The tools in our space are only made valuable by the people who use them. Creation is the product of the mind, the will, the hand… We must not continue bickering over tools and money (which is also a tool).
Our organizational mission statement states that our purpose “is to promote technology through education and collaboration.” Of late, our meetings have made our organization resemble something else. An anonymous reviewer of the $6,500 that Hive13 received in collaboration with my class commented on their reservation in awarding the hive with funds last august: " ’Community’ has a vastly different meaning with this [organization]. For other [organizations], the focus was on the under-served, under-privileged. This proposal's focus is on technology and the people who can afford it.”
Let’s prove them wrong…
Promoting technology through education and collaboration.
Lorin Edwin Parker
Board Member, Hive13 Hackerspace.
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I also vote yes.
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