Blog
State of the expansion: 7/18/2018
So as you may be aware, we recently acquired another 3000 or so square feet of space off the wood shop. A number of members have been going like gangbusters last few weeks getting the new space ready for the metal shop, and the former metal shop ready for member storage to take over. I thought putting up some pics would be a good idea for folks who haven’t been around in the last month or so.
Oh, and did I mention we also replaced the air conditioner in the classroom? Because we did, and it’s now cool and comfy again.
Anyway, the pics:
Here’s the welding corner of the new metal shop. Obviously things are still getting set up, but we’ll have 3 welding booths back here. The welding curtains arrived late last week, just need to finish up hanging the curtain tracks.
The blacksmithing corner is mostly set up, and is very nice. There’s actually room to move around the anvils now!
Here’s the former metal shop, getting masked up for some painting. It’s been a long time since this corner of the shop looked so empty — ah, the memories…
So as you can see, things are moving along nicely. Here’s a few upcoming dates you should be aware of:
- This weekend (7/21-22): Painting the new storage area. We’ll need hands to work with sprayers, rollers, and brushes.
- Saturday, August 4: Quarterly Cleanup and Member Storage move. Member storage is planned to move on this date, so all of your stuff needs to temporarily go home so we can move all the shelving. See the previous post for details!
- Saturday, August 11: Painting in the wood shop expansion zone (old member storage).
Huge, huge, mega-mart-sized thanks to everyone who’s been working to get the expansion done. It’s looking great, folks!
Quarterly Cleanup 8/3/2018 Member Storage Closing for Move (EVERTHING must go)
Member storage will be closing for the department move. EVERYTHING must be removed and taken home, so member storage can be moved to the new location.
UNLESS YOU HAVE EXPLICIT WRITTEN PERMISSION TO STORE IT HERE, ANYTHING LEFT HERE ON 8/4 IN MEMBER STORAGE WILL BE DISPOSED OF. NO EXCEPTIONS .
Many of you have things stored in member storage please don’t allow them to become victims of the storage purge of 2018.
(The Dumpsters are coming, the dumpsters are coming!!! Grab your projects and Run!!)
Please don’t traumatize our storage manager by making him throw out your awesome projects. (Seriously there will be tears if we have to throw out some of the beautiful projects in storage so we can move things.)
Thanks for your understanding and your help clearing out member storage,
Shop Management
Shiny new storage*, shiny new storage rules
Update 2/6/2017: Storage rules are now available in the wiki. The links below have been changed to point there.
H
uge massive thanks to everyone who showed up today to help clean out the member storage area! It hasn’t been this clean since we built the room (and I’m not sure it was this clean even then). Shelves have been rearranged, and we actually gained some extra storage space thanks to the discovery of some unused shelving pieces.
There were enough people at cleanup that we were also able to get a lot of work done in the wood shop and metal shop, so double thanks to everyone!
The member storage area is now open for you to start bringing your tubs and projects back in. We’ve got new rules in place, so here are the highlights:
- Tubs need to be no larger than 29in x 27in x 19in. This is actually just a little bit larger than our previous loose guidelines, so check your tub. My old tub fits quite comfortably inside the new dimensions.
- There’s no storage allowed in the aisles between the shelves. Anything found in the aisles can be tossed out at the discretion of the storage managers, so please don’t put stuff there!
- You also can’t store anything in front of the door to the electrical room, or in the space for the door to be swung open. This area has been striped in red, you can’t miss it. There is no parking in the red zone!
- Open floor space right now (that isn’t a red zone or an aisle) is available for projects. Remember to place a fully filled out parking permit on anything you place in member storage. Anything without a parking permit will get red-ticketed; red-ticket items will get thrown out after two weeks.
The new storage rules are available on the wiki. If you’ve got any questions, concerns, or comments on these new rules, please contact storage management at storage (at) tcmaker.org.
Again, thanks to everyone who helped out today!
* OK, so it’s the same old member storage area. Sure looks new though!
Member Storage clean-out is coming in February
When you come into the shop, you’ll see some scary red signs all over the place:
The signs have got the basics on them, but you’re probably looking for more. Here’s a more in-depth explanation.
What’s going on here?
At our next quarterly cleanup, Saturday 2/4/2017, we’re going to completely clean out and rearrange the member storage area. All the nooks and crannies will be swept out, shelving rearranged, and probably a little bit more shelving added. To get this all done, we’re asking that everyone take their stuff home temporarily, by Friday night 2/3/2017. You’ll be able to start bringing stuff back in on Sunday.
Is member storage going away?
Not at all. We just need to get everything out of storage before we can get any meaningful work done. Also, there are new rules coming that changes the size of bin we’re allowing.
What? New bin size?
Yes. Bins will now be a standard model and size (Ikea Klämtare, which is 22.75″ x 17.75″ x 11.75″). That’s a little smaller than the 18-gallon size we allowed before, but not by that much. Having everyone use the same style bin makes them easier to pack onto the shelves, and ensures that everyone is getting the same amount of space. Bins will need to have their lids attached, no tall stuff poking up is allowed!
So where are these rules?
I’ll put a link up to the new rules as soon as they’re finalized. They’re mostly done, we’re just putting the last bit of polish on them. The basics stay the same: each member can have a bin; stuff that doesn’t fit in the bin has to be actively worked on; don’t store dangerous stuff in your bin. The new rules will formalize the process of requesting space for larger projects, and explain how we’ll be policing the storage room to keep things from devolving into chaos.
What if I can’t get my stuff out by the deadline?
If you don’t think you can get things out by Friday 2/3/2017, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible. We’ll try to work something out. We don’t have a lot of additional areas to move stuff around, so we’ll work out details on a case by case basis.