kwartzlab makerspace

Apr
14

kwartzlab adds 1400sqft Toolroom

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So… we had a pretty busy weekend :-)

I’ve not gone mad in this pic: I’m just cutting a hole in the wall from the adjacent unit into our lounge area. That’s right: we’re expanding! We’ve been working on lots of projects and really needing some space for all the large tool donations that were queuing up. We just needed the room to stand them up. Our new Toolroom includes:

  • router
  • compound mitre saw
  • bench-top drill press
  • bench-top bandsaw
  • circular saw

On the way is:

  • CNC circuit board mill
  • CNC mill for larger work (plywood, MDF, etc)
  • table saw
  • kiln
  • floor-standing bandsaw

Come and check us out on Tuesday Open Night 7-10pm. If you have tools you can donate, ping me.

More after the break…


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The…

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new…

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space…

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was…

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a bit of a mess.

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But we’re no strangers to mess. So after getting the keys Friday night, a bunch of us (including Pawel, Alex, Kyle, and Ed) attacked the cleanup job starting at noon on Saturday.

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By 4pm, we had carted 1.5 metric tonnes of junk to the dump in my van, Ben’s truck, and Doug’s hatchback, and were sweeping the floors and making a door-sized hole in the wall. Why go slow?

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Now we’ve got some walking around room…

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and more importantly…

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space for tools!

Tonight (Tues) we had a jam-packed Tuesday Open Night, and all our visitors got to see the very first tools moving into The Toolroom and check it out in person.

Many thanks to: Pawel, Alex, Kyle, Ed, James, Gus, Ben, Ale, Eric, Michael, Doug, and Karl for gutting it out with us on the Saturday cleanup. You made this possible! Much appreciated. (lemme know if I missed your name: it was a hectic day).

I’d also like to thank the Board of Directors and other members who contributed to the discussion around this expansion to support large tools. We make these moves very deliberately, always thinking about sustainability and member value while building out our capabilities. There is always a ton of activity happening below the surface to get us to any given point, much of it non-obvious. Lease negotiation, agreement document creation, financial scenarios, contingency plans, and relationship building are all part of the foundation under our house.

As Gus says “We made this!”, to which I’ll add “and now we made more of this!”

Join us.

Happy making,
DW

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