So, the big question is, what is the most you could commit to paying in monthly dues for access to a workshop space, today and continuing for a year? I'm still under-employed, myself (though things are looking up, longer term) so I'm not taking this question lightly.

Please check out the poll! We need to get some idea of what we really have to work with.

(We'll be asking the Studio Bricolage folks about this, as well.)

hey folks, this is KEY to us figuring out if we can get a space soon and if/how we partner up. if we have 100 folks say they're in at 20$ we can figure that 2k a month of earned income is doable, but if we get only 10 at 60, we're looking at someone's basement or garage.

keep in mind that if you vote for 80$ you'd of course be saying lesser amounts are ok too, but if most folks are aiming higher, we'll want to set our price point up more. 100 at 20 is not as nice as 80 at 40, but we can't begin to ponder setting dues in the bylaws until we've got a notion of what works for folks, and we know that most folks can't make the meetings.

I would be willing to pay up to 80 per month, provided that we were able to set up some sort of automatic deduction. I hate writing checks. Another option I would consider is paying for the entire first year up front, but I would only be able to go up to 60 for that (so, $720/yr).

personally i'm thinking something along these lines for basic fees/dues: (price points are relative so you can get an idea of relations between them)

20~40$ "shop class" required for everyone. orientation, what tools you can use at basic, rudimentary tool safety, acceptable use, maybe 2-4 hours plus a handbook.

~20$ 72 hour access. for folks who want to do a project or two a few times a year but can't/don't want/need/afford anytime access.

30~60$ a month of 24? hr access get 10$ off first few months to recoup your class fee. retake shop class if you lapse for more than 2 consecutive months.

300~600 a year of 24? hr access payable in 3? 4? monthly installments, includes basic shop class and two advanced shop class.

anyone who's membership lapses for.... more than 3 months? must retake the basic shop class (updates/changes in tools/ safety things, etc)

advanced shop classes would be things like safe use of the big wood shop tools, or training to program a CNC rig, things that you could do serious harm to the facility or yourself if you don't have a notion what you're doing. nominal fees in the 20~40 range.

Serious Harm... I think that's what we should name the shop.

maybe that's the armour making class.... or the fire organ...

I said 80, sounds good, but I think we could also have the "starving maker" category or a starting category as well.

p.s. anyone can make polls now!

My own vote assumes that I'd be doing a lot of work for the shop & group, teaching, materials donations, etc. I can't really do much in plain old cash right now.

bump. come on folks, only 10 of us are actually able to kick in 20$ a month or more? this isn't a commitment, but a measure of interest.

Theo, thanks for this post.

My vote of $60/mo is to represent what sounds like a good, general level for most. I can meet this at startup, even though I may be unemployed or underemployed after April. If the shop really takes off and becomes a valuable part of my life, I can and will commit more.

I also like the idea of membership savings based on pre-pay of a year or two years.