I’ve recently come up with a new wall proposal based on suggesions from my father for discussion on Monday
It’s 2 stages
The first stage was already posted to telegram but raised some concerns over eating into the members storage area
The second stage may compensate for that by giving us more space up above
Extend the metal area with a 7ft hight area for the lathe to sit in
This gives us more space in the metal area for welding etc
Place a artificial ceiling about 7ft high extending the extension from the metal area across to the woody area
It can be fully open at the front and be as deep as you want it to be, with perhaps a ladder or something to get up there to be used for storage.
I’ve decided to stay off telegram for a while, just because it’s getting to difficult to negotiate what people want.
The putting the thing up part (if people want it) is actually easy
The negotiating / discussing / explaining / arguing / shouting / throwing stage is the part I’m struggling with (too many cooks and too stressful). Ideally I could do with someone else to make the final call as to what’s wanted.
If you just want a flat wall instead of the above then someone will need to decide if there should be a door, if it’s a firedoor, and if a door where the door should be located
Hey Richard, Thanks for all the work you’ve put into building this area, i know how difficult it can be sometimes dealing with mutually exclusive feedback from all angles
Personally, I’d rather it was just a flat wall, as it increases the usable area of both the metalwork area and members storage significantly. We’ve also discussed adding a ‘printing’ area, where the 2d and 3d printers, and the vinyl cutter can be permanently set up in the nook between members storage and the electronics shelves.
I don’t think an additional door is needed. In a hypothetical situation where a fire is bad enough that the entire 8 foot wide doorway from the metalworking space into the space is unusable, i’d personally be willing to take the risk and use the not-a-fire-door to escape.
I’m also not personally sure storage-at-height is a good idea for the hackspace in general - it limits who can access machinery and materials to people who are able bodied, good with ladders, and strong enough to get things down from there. I think its only really suitable for storing things that are very rarely used (tools owned by the hackspace where we have a better version on loan, parts for long-running space projects, stands and exhibits for exhibitions)
Current situation for the usable area of the metalworking area. Because of the second doorway a large proportion of the space along one side of the area isn’t usable.
Proposal with a flat wall along one side of the metal area. Usable area in members storage increases significantly, as does the usable area in the metalwork area. The printing nook can be created with sockets run from the top of the metalworking area, and more room can be dedicated to both the CNC machines (only one is currently usable - it’d be nice to get the space to get the other one up and running for aluminium work) Given a shallow workbench along one side, and freestanding equipment like the lathe and bending brake along the other, this would still give enough floor space for welding up a double bedframe.
I agree with Bob - I would also suggest a rule that the metal door must be unlocked and open before metalworking is allowed - meaning the “not a fire exit” is just push to escape and provides a means of getting out if need be without having to slide bolts and pull open a huge door.
Add in a contactor to enforce this if we must.
Okay we now have walls up
Its the thick stuff so feel free to attach shelves to it etc
also we didn’t cut the osb down so we can always re-use it later on if needed, there’s a small bit of wood that was originally intended for shelves used to fill the gap at the side
