Millwood High Makerspace - need advice

[Lawrence Rigby]

Hi,

My name is Lawrence Rigby, I am a high school technology teacher at Millwood High School in Sackville.  I have received the okay from  Millwood High's principal  to turn an old industrial arts room into a makerspace for the school, my efforts are now focused on writing grants and trying to figure out how to get the space ready (I have attached a picture).   I'm guessing we have a little over 1000 square feet to work with.

I was hoping for some advice from this group:

1) What are essential pieces of equipment we will need to start a Makerspace (we already have one 3d printer)?

2) Does anybody know of any community partners or grants that we could contact/apply for to help set this up.

3) We are looking for a container (shipping/trucking) to store wood that is currently in the room...does anyone know where we could either buy a used one or get it donated?

4) I would really like to purchase a laser cutter, does anyone have any experience affordable options we could look at?

If anyone can think of anything else your input would be appreciated, we would really like to include the community and Halifax Makerspace with this project.

Thank you,

Lawrence Rigby

Millwood High School (CMT 11 & 12, Computer Programming)

[David Johnston]

 As far as equipment. It depends on where the most interest lies. For electronics you should already have access to a laptop cart which is one of the most expensive acquisitions. 

For basic arduino stuff kits could be put together for 15-20 dollars each. A lot of stuff like motors relays can be salvaged from scrap. 

The local MLA and councillor could be a good resource for specific items as they usually have some discretionary funds for these kind of projects.

Having a group project can help focus the makerspace initially. 

[Chris McDonald]

Laser cutters are interesting beast. The Halifax Makerspace owns a small Full spectrum 20"x12" 45w hobby laser. With accessories and shipping is came in around the $5000 mark. 

Laser cutters need dry compressed air, good exterior ventilation and water cooling. Ventilation will be your biggest challenge in a school. 

There are more affordable units available from China but they have no UL or CSA approval and take a fair amount of tweaking and a few upgrades to make use able.The lack of CSA or UL makes it a no go in many cases.

They are also significant fire risk. They shouldn't run un-attended and you will need a CO2 fire extinguisher at the ready. There could be other issues. You may want to talk with a fire inspector first.    

So that is the bad. The good is that they are an amazing tool. Students can draw up anything in 2D CAD or vector drawing and print to the laser software. From there each layer or color can be set to a different cutting speeds/cutting power. So blue can be a full cut, green can be a 50% cut, red can be a light etch. Acrylic plexiglass up to 1/4" cuts great with just 45W and looks amazing. Various woods cut good and acetal is a great plastic for mechanical stuff(gears, leavers, etc...). You can't cut metal or anything with chlorine in it(like PVC). Other materials just won't cut or will melt too much around the cut.  

Its great for a design build class. You can have the students design a part one day and cut it the next day. Depending on the part size and complexity it each part will take 5-10min to cut. Smaller items in thin material would even be faster. 

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Chris McDonald

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