Comment by tdeck

Comment by tdeck 4 days ago

3 replies

> If anyone in Seattle does have meetup groups they enjoy, I'd love to hear about it! Hardware, electrical or software; I'd be up for any of them.

I'm looking for the same thing, maybe we can compare notes!

I've been going to the Capitol Hill Tool Library lately, which is my local makerspace. The space is small but they have a lot of traffic and people are generally very friendly and helpful. Also they have woodworking tools which I would never have in my apartment.

In terms of makerspaces specifically I imagine the limiting factor is rent. When rent is too high you end up with a smaller space and less cash left over for equipment.

quasse 3 days ago

Yeah, the cost of facilities is real. The best makerspace in Madison was run by a really forward-thinking guy who worked for like 10 years to get enough grants to buy a industrial space instead of rent one. Unfortunately that would be pretty much impossible here without support from a huge tech company or something.

Out of curiosity I looked at the cost of a rental industrial space in SoDo and the prices absolutely blew my hair back.

  • packetlost a day ago

    > The best makerspace in Madison was run by a really forward-thinking guy who worked for like 10 years to get enough grants to buy a industrial space instead of rent one

    Oh, I'm not familiar with that one. What's it called?

    • quasse a day ago

      Sector67 - run by Chris Meyer. They used to rent a building on the east side off Winnebago street (now demolished). They purchased an old warehouse off Corry St. in 2017 and did a really extensive renovation (almost entirely performed by members): https://isthmus.com/news/news/sector67-finds-new-home/

      I spent a lot of hours welding, using the wood shop, and working on my car there.