Over the past few months, several members have been helping to build a new storage area. This is now effectively complete and can be found at the back of the Hackspace as you walk in. It’s just next to the old storage space, basically, and looks like this:
The previous storage space is in the process of being turned into a clean and tidy office/admin area.
The major consequence is that we have moved all members’ traceable property into new storage locations. Details are here.
Please note the new size for storage is 600mm x 400mm and maximum weight is 20kg.
The Pile of Shame
We also found a large amount of unlabelled, untraceable, possibly abandoned items. They are temporarily located in the main area of the space. If any of your property is here, please move it to a new home ASAP. That means take it home, store it in your allotted storage space, or store it (temporarily) in large members’ storage clearly labelled with your name, contact details, and a date when you will be moving it. We will set and communicate a deadline to move things from this pile, after which items will be disposed of.
Check that your property is where it should be according to this page
If you are storing things in an unclaimed location, please claim that location using the same page
If you have items in the Pile of Shame, please move them
NB: If your username is wavemaker or Quantum, please contact me. We were unable to assign you a storage location (long story), but your property is safe.
We’ll be emailing all members informing them about this news.
Work is still on-going along the brick wall btw, still need the MDF to be fit along the back of each row, as well as the remaining two sets of shelving are being installed. So there will be some slight disruption to members storage for columns 11 and up.
Just an fyi the storage space limits listed are from the old MDF & twin slot shelving. The storage limits for this racking is limited to half a shelf per member: 450mm Wide1, 500mm deep2, 430mm High3 .
The weight limit no longer applies but common sense should be taken, only lift stuff you can manage, the recommended maximum for an individual without lifting equipment is 15kg. For the high up shelves a set of portable folding step ladders can be found next to the fire door.
1 Some shelves have angle iron columns protruding in so their widths will be reduced to ~410mm at the front and ~100mm from the back 2 Items are allowed to stick out from the racking a sensible amount (~100mm). As laser material is 600x400 we expect this to be a common sight. Anything longer should be stored in large projects. 3 400mm high for ground floor (row A) spaces, top row limited by ceiling (currently row E)
Please be respectful to your shelf-mate and don’t encroach on their half.
If your stuff exceeds the size limits of half a shelf you must store it in large projects instead. Large project storage will be intended for members to use for on-going projects and will have time limits on items stored to prevent large unfinished projects accumulating and cluttering the space. This area is still being worked on and will have more information/updates in future.
To clarify on storage boxes
The board decided last year that we would no longer officially recommend boxes due to the size fiasco last year. Storage space is something that can change and isn’t always guaranteed to stay the same size. Members are advised to get storage boxes so their stuff stays together, but we won’t tell people what box to buy.
Sweet, we need to get this documented and put into the membership system so new members know the score - I’m volunteering to do that.
Q - Which spaces are limited width? We need to highlight these on the membership system so people know not all spaces are equal and to select theirs appropriately.
So to clarify before I write it up, in bullet form:
All active members are entitled to half a shelf storage space.
What is too big to be stored can be stored in large storage, if it’s being actively worked on, subject to space availability.
Belongings must be kept within your space.
A box is recommended for loose items - below are some suggested boxes. These come in threes so check to see if anyone has some spare they would sell to you. If not, maybe leave the spare boxes out for others to pay you back?
Check each space individually. Good for smaller boxes or loose items
Type 3 - Restricted Height - ground floor
450mm long x 600mm deep x 400mm high
Shelves are 500mm deep, but 100mm overhang is permitted.
Step ladders are provided for accessing shelves that are too high for you to safely access. Do use these safely, and return to their hanger.
Risk assessments -
We realistically also need to risk assess the new shelves.
Has this been done?
The top shelves extra height, limited only by the ceilings. We need to look at mitigating fall risks, top heavy items, loose items etc… If someone stored some aluminium round bars they could easily roll off and hit someone on the head. So we have to be explicit about the higher shelves, set expectations, and risk assess this.
We also should comment on the step ladders.(edited in above)
Columns: 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 19 and 20.
This is due to how the racking is assembled and couldn’t be avoided
I forgot there’s a fourth:
Restricted depth, the concrete pillar protrudes ~100mm into column 7
Could probably also list the board storage in the corner as a restricted space.
Would it be possible on the member storage page to list how many spaces are left available at the top? I know the table is highlighted green when its available but would allow us to see at a quick glance.
The table need updating as we’ve had to reduce the number of columns and rows since changing to the racking. We have 98 spaces available to members:
A1 - A20, B1 - B20, C1 - C20, D1 - D20 & E3 - E20.
I’ve been keeping the board spaces separate from the sequence to avoid confusion, they technically own 10 spaces so comparing to the told system we’ve increased to 108 spaces from 103.
No. Falling objects is definitely a risk (its happened to me while I’ve been building them), as is sharp objects protruding from shelves which was a known hazard with the previous arrangement around the Bar.
Something we should also record is that for inclusivity, if someone has limitations on access for storage, they can message the board so we can try accommodate their needs if something suitable isn’t already available. Obviously only applies to serious requests like people in a wheelchair can’t access Row E…
