My friend Brian has gotten together with some friends of his to launch another maker space in the Twin Cities.

The name of the new space is The Mill.

Here's a brief description from Brian:



and a list of some of their gear:

Epilog Helix 60w 24x18 laser
Shopbot 4x8 PrsAlpha 3phase spindle router
Stratasys Fortus 3d printer
Bridgeport cnc

Brian has said he'd like to figure out the best way to come up with some kind of reciprocity arrangement, where members of TCMaker could go to the Mill, and vice versa.

I'm really excited, I've thought for a long time that the cities could use more maker spaces, and the equipment they're setting up sounds like wicked good fun.

Brian is a member of TCMaker, and he'll be making a point of being around on at least one Wednesday night in the near future to talk to any interested people about what will be going on at the Mill.

Riley

I'm excited and want in! What's the reasoning behind being separate from tcmaker? Just curious...

great news. My only question is where is it at?

They're at the "getting the right space" stage.

As far as why separate from us, I'll let Brian address that when he's around.

I do have some thoughts as to why this is a good thing.

One of them is the whole issue of making sure that only checked out operators are able to use certain pieces of gear, and how to handle things when something goes wrong and a piece of equipment gets damaged.

We've been struggling with this issue since I've been a member, and don't have it solved yet.

Brian and his pals will be setting up a new space with measures already in place.

They come from a manufacturing / industrial background where handling issues like this is a solved problem, rather than a talking point while trying to reach consensus.

There is one really cool thing that struck me while typing this.

They've got a nice list of gear. When I compare my wish list for what I want to see at the space once we get grant money coming in, their gear is on my wish list.

With access to the Mill, we get to check out this gear, take it for a test drive, and figure out how it works.

This will be a big help in figuring out exactly what we want at tcmaker, what order to get it in, and what to do with it once it gets here.

One of the things that Brian has said from the get go is that he wants to make this a plus, a positive thing for the area, and for tcmaker to be able to benefit from having access to this gear.

If anyone has any ideas for how to help with this, let me know.

Riley

That's great, competition is good for everyone. I can't wait to hear more!

Looks like The Mill will be opening sometime in early 2012, they are close to signing a lease, or may have and are close to non-profit or have gotten it. Some equipment is owned/recently purchased including everyone's favorite a lazzzzor!

Where is the money coming from? Do they have a grant?

I haven't been able to find anything about them on Google.

-Jim Hart

The website should be up very soon! It will be located north of The Quarry Shopping area. Lease was just signed and build out starts in December. The hours of the space will be 10am to 10pm. The month rate has not been fully set but will be under $100. This is being funded by private donors and grant funds. Currently it is a not for profit corporation and is currently filing 501c3 so should be full non profit within 6 months pending irs. Please let me know if anyone has further questions on The Mill. This is going to be an amazing space and a great resource!

Can someone explain to my why we don't have this yet?!?!?!

they are working on it, kinda weird right? No webpage in 2011 makes it seem like it doesn't exist.