Equipment we want and shared supplies

[Toby Catlin]

Hi all,

As you all know, we have applied for a grant to kit out the new room. I thought we should open up a discussion around what equipment we want to put in it assuming we had around £6000 to spend (probably less). 

This is my suggestion of things to buy if we had some funds to spend. Please add your thoughts and suggestions, remember we need things that will attract new members. I will probably break out some new threads of discussion and create a shared doc to summarise the conclusions. Room fit out, like electricity will be a separate discussion.

Laser Cutter

Just Add Sharks sells laser cutters and was started by the founders of Nottingham hackspace. London hackspace chose to buy a A0 Silvertail cutter from them after extensive research. They say the support is brilliant which will be super important. These machines need to be maintained & calibrated in a similar way to the 3d printers. So suitable training is vital.

I suggest we look at getting either the A3 BlackNose or the A2 GreyFin, they cost £3,000 and £4,200 respectively.

We can of course look at other options and there are cheaper alternatives available direct from China. These will require a fair bit of extra work to get them running. This includes building a cooling system and having to use whatever software they come with. I shall put a post on the LHS mailing list to see what they think of Just add sharks and ask for recommendations.

Electronics workstation

We have significant interest in Arduinos, RPi's, LEDs and other electronics projects. So I propose we look at buying at least one set of tools/equipment for electronics work. Something like the following list:

• Soldering iron station (temperature adjustable)
• Hot air Rework station (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10706). Used for surface mount components
• DC bench power supply (something like 0-30v 10A)
• Vice (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dremel-26152500JA-Multi-Vice/dp/B000QG79ZW)
• Magnifying glass http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B019RGM820
• Oscilloscope (Prolly a USB http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hantek-Digital-Storage-Oscilloscope-Portable/dp/B00EDFQ3EU)
  
• Screwdrivers & allen keys

Basic Component store

It is frustrating to be missing that 47k resistor when you need one. They cost fractions of a penny when bought in bulk so why not make a big purchase out of member funds. I think these would be cheap enough that they are taken as needed by members and replenished from Hackspace funds. Exact list to be determined.

• common value resistors
• capacitors
• transistors
• diodes
• potentiometers
• switches
• wire
• prototyping board
• breadboards
• IC sockets
• header pins
• Du pont connectors

Common/Useful products

As it takes ages to get things from China and expensive to ship from the US, I propose we bulk buy some things that we know will be heavily used. These will be sold at cost to members when they want to be used. 

• Arduino - Uno, nano, flora
• RPi's
• Motor controllers for DC & Steppers- like big easy and Pololu DRV8825 & A4983
• Bluetooth - Blufruit
• GPS - ultimate gps logger shield
• Power boost/buck converters
• LEDs & NeoPixel - rings, strips, panels etc
• Robot chassis
• servo motors

Computers

We should make sure we have some decently specc'd computers available. These would facilitate Arduino etc work and 3d design work. Items like CNC mill and Laser cutter will probably have their own dedicated PC. We may want a general purpose server machine for file storage. This probably means just getting some nicer bits for the PC's we have. Like Keyboards, mouse & monitors with HDMI and enough ram to keep them usable. Some Windows and suitable virus protection is also needed. Personally I think it would be great to buy one or two really nice monitors like a 30" Dell or apple cinema display

Cool toys

I am keen to keep our diversity, so other thing interests should be catered for, we could get a CNC knitting machine like Brother KH-950i these can be programmed to knit patterns. God knows how they work but might be fun.

Shapeoko have a much newer model to the one I have been working on. It has a much stronger frame and redesigned Z axis making it much better and machine aluminium as well as being more capable in every way compared to the current model.

Promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZKJnbgCphU

Cutting Alu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfYc35KeTEY

Circuit board etching. I have made my own circuit boards before and could teach others how to do it. This is the ultimate stage of designing your own electronics projects. We could for example make our own Arduino clone. What you need is a bubble etching tank, a UV box and some blank boards.

Projector for presentations and watching films. Maybe a smart white board

Please do have a really good think about what will get us maximum usage for our pounds. 

thanks

toby

[daniel herring]

Good list Toby,

How about Helping Hands? Solder? Cutting mats? Reference books? Now we have a road facing window can we add our own decal like MenShed have done, maybe something led based?

Dan

[Marion Catlin]

Good idea to start thinking about this as we will probably hear about the grant application to Town Close Trust quite soon. We asked for £6500 to buy a laser cutter and to set up the new space, and to enable us to attract new members.

So assuming we get it, we would have to buy a laser cutter - just depends which one. I agree that we should set up a good electronics workstation and get some supplies. We will need quite a bit around this to make it work ie instruction on use of a laser cutter, maintenance and replenishment and for electronics and 3D printing stock, a way of keeping track of what people have used - ie do we leave it all open for people to out money in a tin or do we have a kind of quartermaster session ever Monday? And do we have one or two people who are responsible for each piece of major kit.

Anyway I realise this is more about management than purchases. I agree with what Toby suggests but we may have to phase this purchase list. It would be useful to start a spreadsheet to manage costs

I also think we would need to put some money aside for future development of projects and for publicity.

I would like to see us have a couple of laptops or Raspberry Pis plus monitors to use for the Hackspace Junior Coding Club as projects such as that and the Hand project are what bring boost of funding within our reach.

Fingers crossed that we are successful!

Marion Catlin
3 Trowse House Cottages
Bracondale Millgate
Norwich NR1 2EQ

Telephone 01603 765353
Mobile 07946 261651

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[Toby Catlin]

Marion mentioned we should have some logos/decals made up. All for that. Some helping hands would be useful for sure.

I might well be in a minority but I think dead tree books are a waste of space. There are few books that will have a wide appeal and we are space limited. I have a shelf full of programming books I never use because you cant search and are out of date months after buying them. I'd say a well stocked Kindle is preferable but the I have never been a book person.

t

--

[Tristan Scott]

Hi all

In terms of disposable arduino-ish things, the ESP8266 is interesting, and ridiculously cheap. Limited in power (64kb storage) but enough for most sketches. Good for wifi-ing turning on and off a thing, for example. It'd be worth making up a programming breadboard to connect them to if they were in common use as programming it is a bit more faff (you have to start it with a GPIO pin held low)

I find programming books are never as good as internet - a raspberry pi with internet hanging from the back of a monitor with a keyboard and mouse connected would be far more useful, and cheaper than a book anyway.

Tristan

Tristan Scott
Softcraft Computer Services Ltd
07837 205829
01692 535355

[Marion Catlin]

Yes, I think we need some money for 'marketing' but also once we have the space up and running I believe that Ben has a vinyl cutter so we should be able to make our own stickers - looking forward to that!

I would also like to do some door posteers and directional signage and will be bringing that up at a meeting with Men's Shed next week. We may also want to think of some kind of equipment, content damage insurance

Marion

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

On 3 February 2016 at 16:59, Toby Catlin <to...@korfball.com> wrote:

[Marion Catlin]

It's true, much as I love books. Though sometimes books are good for inspiration but maybe we can just collect donated ones?

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

[Karl Ablitt]

Could we also purchase some nicer coffee???

[Toby Catlin]

Donated ones are even worse, the original owner though they were useless. It opens up the problem of somebody having a clear out and feeling bad about throwing them away so give them to the hackspace. We have not experienced space management problems at this point in our young development but most other hackspaces do. When you have empty space people will fill it, so we need to be careful that we are not overwhelmed with things that might be useful to somebody at some point.

t

[Toby Catlin]

I have a slightly less posh version of this:

I no longer use it and have been thinking about putting it on ebay. It makes a lovely espresso but I did pay £200 for it and was hoping to recoup that.

[Marion Catlin]

I brought the coffee Karl and I admit is was cheap granules but it was free and using it up but I must admit that as far as I am concerned, all instant coffee is not really coffee so I drink tea unless I can get at a proper coffee machine. I have a pod machine which I really like and a spare one that needs fixing. The pods are about 25p but that is still pretty cheap for a coffee. However, probably simpler is a jar of Nescafé or Gold Blend!

ᐧ

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

[Marion Catlin]

Toby, sell it on Ebay!

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

[Ben Norcutt]

I have the plates to build an ox cnc which is stronger than the shapeoko and also a usb cnc controller I'd we can fund the rest of the parts I'm happy to donate these items to the space.

I also have a controller for an smd reflow oven just needs to be fitted to a toaster oven.

Laser cutter yes to either of those.

Ben

[Neil Partridge]

Just bought this on ebay: https://youtu.be/o4Ok0LQx0Uc

Hope we have enough space.

Sent from my iPhone

--

[Marion Catlin]

I hope Tania loves you!

ᐧ

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

[Neil Partridge]

I bought it for Hackspace.

Sent from my iPhone

[Marion Catlin]

I hope we love you!

ᐧ

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

[Ann Lussignea]

I agree about the books, but perhaps we should also apply the same principle to buying equipment too, especially bulky or expensive things ( though I do think a laser cutter would be worth it).

Having said that I'd suggest rolls of different coloured wire, decent wire strippers and maybe a few things like cheap motors and wheels - things that we could use in a Hackathon. 

On the ESP8266 I have one broken out onto a board with USB port that only cost about £7 (cheaper from China), so you can plug into PC and program it via arduino IDE. I've used it to wifi control neopixel led strips from my phone without much difficulty - might be worth getting a few of these as well as the basic ones?

[Ann Lussignea]

Very thoughtful of you :-)

[Nathan Reynolds]

Hi all,

I've a spring-clean grab bag of components, including:

* Resistors

* Capacitors

* Rotary encoders

* SD card readers

* ATtiny85s

* Adafruit Trinkets (ATtiny85s basically, on a USB breakout board)

* IR remote controls

* LEDs

* Couple of other bits and bobs

Have been meaning to give them away, would they be useful?

Cheers,

Nath

--

[Ben Norcutt]

There's these ones as well http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sweetpeas.se%2Fcontroller-modules%2F10-esp210.html&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFzaHiLv8MIjKtdLUDmX_TZaFU-BA

And the oak from digistump.

Ben

[Ann Lussignea]

That's basically the sort of thing I have

[Marion Catlin]

I guess we should also remember our ambitions to sort out the door lock and should allocate some funds to make this happen, assuming we need money/parts etc that is

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

[Alan Childs]

Hello!
I managed to buy the model of the USB Oscilloscope mentioned off eBay very cheap (around £10 I think) and if you want a look I can bring it in Monday. I haven't had much luck with it yet, the probes seem to pick up lots of noise and the software seems buggy. For the money it's fine for some quick experimenting, and is interesting to watch capacitors discharging etc.

Someone (sorry I'm not good with names) also mentioned a PAT unit would be handy so I'll try and bring one along as well, I'm happy to leave it behind or loan out if needed.

[Nigel Waring]

I don't know if it works out better value for money than buying components individually, but something like this might be useful, especially if we plan to run arduino workshops: UNO Basic Starter Learning Kit Upgrade Version For Arduino

Also, I've been given a UPS unit which might be useful for the door lock project, so I'll bring it along to hackspace.

I'm with Ann on the ESP8266 - they've *very* cheap and easy to program from the arduino IDE.  Their built in wifi should make them suitable for the lock project...

N.

--

[Alan Scrase]

Nigel.

I looked at your link and just bought a 'upgrade kit' for myself. - looks like a bargain.  In 2 - 3 weeks we can hopefully have a look at it.

Does anyone know where to get a good components box as I ordered a load of resistors and jumper wires.

[Brian Norman]

Can I suggest
Power supplies for Pi etc
HDMI leads
HDMI monitors, or if we can get the monitors with DVI then HDMI to DVI leads

I have an old smartboard, will see if I can bring it along on monday so you can see if that would be useful.

I have a real coffee maker which I was given, so you can have that if it would be useful, again will see if I can bring that along monday.

[Marion Catlin]

A real coffee maker will be great when we have our own space (and own access to water). I am about to set up a Google spreadsheet, then we can price things up. I think we have spent £6k about three times! But t is really useful to get people's ideas and thoughts, even more when we can price them up

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

--

[Ben Norcutt]

Google spreadsheet will be good I may have started one before as we have talked about tools.

If the smart board or similar would fit in one of the alcoves upstairs that would be cool.

http://esp8266.co.uk/ found these guys as well for esp8266 stuff.

A full blown ups is overkill for the actual door but would be useful elsewhere.

Would like to see a mini lathe in the space wounds be useful.

The esp 8266 modules would be good for RFID access if we can get them to call an API URL which should be possible they could then be integrated as machine control i.e to run the laser you need to authorise it with your card.

Ben

[Marion Catlin]

Meantime, can anyone tell me how to export an stl file from Google Sketchup as it is only offering me a .dae file - or will that do for Cura?

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

[Ben Norcutt]

You need a plugin for sketchup to do it

[Marion Catlin]

If I send you a Sketchup file would you be able to convert it for me? Please?

I need to print a corner tonight. I would be grateful. 

Marion Catlin
3 Trowse House Cottages
Bracondale Millgate
Norwich NR1 2EQ

Telephone 01603 765353
Mobile 07946 261651

On 4 February 2016 at 18:49, Ben Norcutt <benno...@gmail.com> wrote:

You need a plugin for sketchup to do it

[Ben Norcutt]

Try this online converter http://www.greentoken.de/onlineconv/

Ben

[Ben Norcutt]

Just tried it through that converter and it didn't work, I don't have sketchup installed at the moment.

Did you design it in sketchup at 100% scale? to prevent malformed exports especially at smaller sizes it's best to design it bigger in sketchup and scale the resulting file down.

Ben

[Ann Lussignea]

Hi Marion

 

Try this.  Not sure what size you want it but it’s coming up a reasonable size in my version of Cura

 

Ann

[Marion Catlin]

Thanks Ann

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

[Barnaby Relph]

I've got an old-school 2ch Oscilloscope I'd quite happily site at the hackspace, as it doesn't get a lot of use at home!

I've also got a pod coffee maker that I don't use which I can bring in.

Also, I remember hearing Marion I think mention that there was shelving available. I was in Norwich on Wednesday and there was a skip behing the forum, opposite the police station with a large quantity of steel shelving from the library. I'm not sure if it's still there, but there was a lot of it!

Barny

[Ben Norcutt]

The delivery on a justaddsharks A2 cutter to us is £250 or we could hire a Luton van with tail lift and pick it up.

Ben

[Alan Scrase]

Just a thought, is the floor strong enough to carry 170kg load and how do we get it up the stairs?

Does it come apart.

On 6 February 2016 at 22:00, Ben Norcutt <benno...@gmail.com> wrote:

The delivery on a justaddsharks A2 cutter to us is £250 or we could hire a Luton van with tail lift and pick it up.

Ben

[Marion Catlin]

No it doesn't. We looked at the access today and the only way of possibly getting (the bigger one) it in is up the metal fire escape and taking the doorlining off (which is rotten anyway) - don't know about floor strength but if were to get the A2 it could only go in the main room as the other doorways are too narrow. So the choice of which one we would have if we had the money affects the plan although we can just leave a space free for now

Not sure how we check floor strength.

I did also suggest that we could possibly put one downstairs in our exiting storage area which could then be locked off - it might come to that!

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

[Ben Norcutt]

The best way to get either in is up the fire escape, the A2 one would have to be situated in the main room as it won't go through either of the last 2 door openings.

Even the A3 one will struggle going through they last door opening, I'm going to be doing some more cad layouts things week.

I should hope the floor will take 170kg otherwise it must be made of paper and we couldn't have more than a couple of people in the room in the same spot :)

But its something we should check, judging by how thick the walks are I think the construction of the while building is pretty solid.

Ben

[Ben Norcutt]

Google spread sheet with some initial costing's created feel free to add to it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19hoHnrmhkHzgPe_B5XEOsSYj4-c9evTBfDAUj6pf2ME/edit?usp=sharing

Ben

[Alan Scrase]

GCC world X252 laser cutter for sale £4,000 ono 18months old cost £6,500. Used for jewellery making. East London. 80watt tube.

http://www.gccworld.com/goods.php?act=view&no=24

--

[Ben Norcutt]

Does it come with the air compressor and water chiller?

Something like that would be an option if we were in a position to buy but at the moment there is still a lot of work needing to be done to the space before we could purchase such as electrics for one :)

Plus warranty on it and ease of repair / maintenance.

Ben

[Alan Scrase]

I am assuming (always a bad idea) that is complete and fully functioning as she bought it to do jewellery but is now changing direction.

Size is probably a bigger issue as it is larger than the Greyfin A2 although has the great advantage it has a through put bed so long narrow items can be passed through it.

I have e-mailed the manufacturer regarding maintenance and other costs so can see what comes back from them.

My wife 'knows' the seller as she bought stuff from her over the years. 
 

[Ben Norcutt]

If it's bigger than the Greyfin then I'd say it's too big for now unless we site it downstairs but then we would have reduced access to it.

The Greyfin will just go through the fire escape door upstairs and for now having the through bed won't really offer any advantage as it needs to go up against a wall.

[Marion Catlin]

Think I probably agree with Ben. If we get the funding it is part for a laser cutter (£5kish) and part to refurbish/setup the space.so I would not be keen to spend it all on one piece of equipment, plus the difficulties with space and getting equipment up there.

Also it appeals to get a machine from another hackspace and all the support they would give.So whilst it would probably be good value if we had a more established bigger space.

I have had a thought over the last couple of weeks - just to float across the group:

we leapt at the chance of the upstairs space but when I realised that it was the same size as the electronics area downstairs I did wonder whether we should have suggested that Dan went upstairs and we took over the electronics area. 

Then I thought that we wouldn't have the separate access so easily so forgot about it as an idea. But it could be a thought if we want bigger machinery and a more easy access to the downstairs areas and equipment.

Anyway, just a thought... swings and roundabouts ad they probably wouldn't go for it anyway.

Marion

Marion Catlin BA(Hons) Design PGDip Cultural Planning AD:UK Senior Fellow
Free range cultural development and communications professional 

specialising in arts, culture and heritage

Director The Shift Norwich: Culture Shift, Design Shift and Digital Shift

Developing and promoting Norwich as a city of culture

Arts Development UK East Regional Co-ordinator

Trustee Norwich Puppet Theatre and Chair C>Media

Project manager write2screen network

​ 

and Creative Futures

Steering group member Sistema in Norwich

Convenor: Music in Norwich and Art in Norwich Forums

Co-director Norwich Fringe Festival

​Founder member Norwich Hackspace and What Next? Norfolk​

Telephone office 01603 765353  Mobile 07946 261651
LinkedIn Marion de Mello Catlin  Skype marionecatlin
Twitter accounts marionofnorwich and norwichcultcity

Website: www.theshiftnorwich.org.uk

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[Ben Norcutt]

I see someone has added to the list which is great please have a look and keep adding.

Whilst I've put some formulas in to calculate finding left and it's now at a negative don't pay any attention we'll make final decisions as and when.

[Jay Zelos]

I think it's worth bearing in mind that it's a fairly small space that we could fill up very rapidly plus we will need some of it for general work areas and chairs etc.

I believe it would be best to prioritize for things that are guaranteed to get used like the laser cutter or are cheaper buying in bulk and storing like the basic electronics and ardunio bits (which can also be sold back to members). Toby's list seems a good starting point but I'd be wary of things like a CNC knitting machine unless someone is definitely going to use it as it may just end up sitting on a shelf. Likewise will a projector get enough use to justify the cost especially given the awkwardness of mounting a fixed screen or the space needed for a portable?. I think the money may go quicker than we realise.

 

Basic tools that might be worth adding to the list

• Stanley Electronics Vice  (Not quite as good as the Dremal I suspect, but mine is great for angling work towards you)
  
• £17 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stanley-183069-Multi-Angle-Hobby/dp/B001HBS0I0/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1454945264&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=stanley+electronics+vise
• Decent Multi-Meter (or two) with probes, croc clips and temp measurement (or/and frequency)
• One of the Fluke knockoffs perhaps at around £30?
• Pliers - Electronic, Jewellery, Long Reach etc. I'd get an assortment of these.
• Wire cutters        
• Wire strippers
  
• £10-20 (I have a CK pair and a cheap knockoff and there isn't a huge difference in performance)
• Track cutter                                               
• £5 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brimal-Stripboard-Cutter-Prototype-Circuit/dp/B0071KZVV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454946511&sr=8-1&keywords=brimal+stripboard
• Good set of tweeters                          
  
• £4 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolson-59102-Epoxy-Coated-Tweezers/dp/B0037UIVDS/ref=pd_sim_60_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41cMHFtW-GL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR137%2C160_&refRID=1707DZQHEHTMYWSYWYN3
• Crimp tools and assorted terminals
•  Heat shrinking                                          
• £4 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Am-Tech-Heat-Shrink-Assortment-Pieces/dp/B004OIHREQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454947164&sr=8-1&keywords=heat+shrink
•  Hot Air Gun/Hairdryer
• Gluegun + sticks                     
  
• £11 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KYQJ77W?psc=1
• Solder sucker
• Hammer(s)
•  Masking Tape, Blue Tape and Insulating Tape
• Mains Dremal + Tabletop pillar adapter
• Steel rule & measuring tape
• Micrometer + Callipers
• Assorted clamps (mainly small ones I guess for electronics)
• Assorted Files

 

Plus furniture type stuff

• Desks and/or workbenches
• Angle poise lights (Essential IMO)
• Additional chairs if required
• Additional shelving if required
•  Maybe some of those plastic containers that snap onto walls for holding components, can't recall the name.
  

 

Some slightly more obscure items might be

• Logic analyser for i2c, spi etc
• Heat gun (for temp measurement)
• Lux meter
• Labling gun
  

 

 

[Marion Catlin]

Yes, we will no doubt overspend. I am in favour of going for spend on larger items though such as a laser printer an dwhatever we need to refurb

Marion Catlin
3 Trowse House Cottages
Bracondale Millgate
Norwich NR1 2EQ

Telephone 01603 765353
Mobile 07946 261651

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[Marion Catlin]

I also think that if we put our heads together we can amass the more common item such as wirecutters and piers, hammers and the like - we don't need to buy them all.

If we allow £5k for laser cutter and then know that we have the rest to allocate to smaller items and the refurb we will be ok. We also need to reserve some for core costs. We are likely to need insurance as well plus an allowance for marketing items such as leaflets, teeshirts and badges, though admittedly not much.

I have added a sheet to the Google doc to start counting up refurb needs such as sockets and light fittings.

We were proposing putting the peg board up before wiring almost like wallpaper though it could be a good thing to hide wiring behind.

Marion

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Marion Catlin
3 Trowse House Cottages
Bracondale Millgate
Norwich NR1 2EQ

Telephone 01603 765353
Mobile 07946 261651

[Toby Catlin]

Good list there Jay. I thought about getting a bus pirate for the logic analyser

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9544

The idea behind this thread is not to buy everything that is suggested but to try and gain an understand of what people want. The standard way hackspaces work out if something is useful to the member is through pledges. For example the London Hackspace will not purchase much outright from Hackspace funds. They normally offer half/half or a contribution depending on what it is.

So for the last laser cutter they bought was a 50/50, with around £3000 coming in from members: https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/view/Pledge:_New_Laser_Cutter

Clearly they are in a different situation with more members and our grant is specifically to buy a laser cutter so I think we should buy that out right.

As for other bits of kit we should be looking to get them donated or scavenged before buying out of funds. 

toby

[Karl Ablitt]

Don't need all that stuff,  just a selection of large hammers!  Seriously though,  can we not make our own logic sniffer type equipment? One piece of equipment I think will be essential is an oscilloscope which could also be used for signal analysis etc.

[Ben Norcutt]

Please add to the spreadsheet Jay so it doesn't get buried.

Bus pirate etc.... is good ardunio's can be used for some of this type of functionality as well.

Micro probe tips would be good too.

[Alan Scrase]

5pcs 433Mhz RF transmitter and receiver kit for Arduino Wireless link Pair DEP

Has anyone experience of these?
At £2.80 for 5 (56p each) I am happy to get 5 and donate some to Hackspace, but only if worth it.
Alan 

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[Toby Catlin]

I haven't tried those but do have a bunch of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-2-5-10x-NRF24L01-2-4GHz-Antenna-Wireless-Transceiver-Module-For-Arduino-/310976731790

This tutorial (http://www.instructables.com/id/RF-315433-MHz-Transmitter-receiver-Module-and-Ardu/) says they are used for short range like car central locking etc.

[Jay Zelos]

I haven't added anything to the ss yet but i have picked up a cheap set of calipers and I've found my spare wire stripper (mains size). I also have a 42inch 1080p lcd that might suit as a cad screen, its got what i hope is just a broken backlight strip but otherwise works fine. And on the plus side it can also help to heat the room. As soon as we have some room ill bring them down.

[Marion Catlin]

Nathan, did anyone say yes please to this kit? It would be really useful as we are now getting down to some projects

Marion

Marion Catlin
3 Trowse House Cottages
Bracondale Millgate
Norwich NR1 2EQ

Telephone 01603 765353
Mobile 07946 261651

On 3 February 2016 at 20:12, Nathan Reynolds <em...@nreynolds.co.uk> wrote:

Hi all,

I've a spring-clean grab bag of components, including:

* Resistors

* Capacitors

* Rotary encoders

* SD card readers

* ATtiny85s

* Adafruit Trinkets (ATtiny85s basically, on a USB breakout board)

* IR remote controls

* LEDs

* Couple of other bits and bobs

Have been meaning to give them away, would they be useful?

Cheers,

Nath