Rochester Makerspace

A wallet made in our leather working class. This class will teach you how to use a number of different leather working tools and you get to take home the wallet you make! This class has a $25 materials cost.

Interested in learning how to use the sewing machines in the space? Take our intro to sewing class! In this class you'll learn a number of different sewing techniques and make your own little bag to take home with you. This class is free to makerspace members.

The makerspace has 3 CO2 laser cutters that can be used to cut and/or engrave acrylic, wood, and other materials. We also have an intro class that's free for members to learn how to use the laser cutters!

The makerspace recently acquired a Brother PE900 embroidery machine! Interesting in learning to use it? Sign up for our intro class to learn how to set up and run the machine as well as how to create your own design files in inkscape.

Thanks to hard work by the area manager, Paul Carter, the 4x4 router is now up and running!The CNC router class will include both machines.

Note: the computers attached to the routers require an individual login code, which you’ll receive at the end of the class.

There are different codes for each computer, so if you took the class before the 4x4 was available, you can contact Paul to get the second code.

Just a reminder that we're having our town hall meeting on Tuesday evening! All members are welcome and encouraged to attend, hear what's going on, ask questions, and share ideas.

We're hoping to also have a Zoom stream of it, but that will depend on all of the technology behaving the way it should....

Town Hall Meeting Join the board and officers of the Makerspace to hear about recent changes in leadership, ask questions, and share your ideas!

Greetings, Makers!

As many of you know, there’s been a lot of change happening at the Makerspace over the past few months. Our president, Dave Duckles stepped down from his role so he could go back to more making and less administrating. You’ll still see him around the Makerspace, however, since he’s taken on the role of secretary of the organization.

In addition, some of you may already be aware that our operations assistant, Pete Lake, resigned from his role last week. We wish him all the best moving forward-he’s been a valuable member of our community, and he’ll be missed by many. Our treasurer, John Szybist, has also announced that he’ll be stepping down in six weeks.

We’re planning to spend the next few weeks considering the best strategic approach for leadership moving forward. Because we obviously can’t just put the whole Makerspace on hold while we do that, we’ve recruited a few members to volunteer as t̶r̶i̶b̶u̶t̶e̶ interim leaders over the summer.

Liz Lawley has agreed to serve as interim president until August 15th, and Scott Sommer will be serving as interim VP of operations. In addition, Michelle Laterrade has volunteered to step in as our operations associate. We hope you’ll be patient with all of us as we work through this interim period.

It’s important to us that we hear from you as we consider the best path forward for the Makerspace. You’re always welcome to talk to us in the Makerspace, or send us emails—but we’d also like to invite you all to join us for an open town hall meeting at the Makerspace on Tuesday, May 10th, at 7pm. You bring the questions and ideas, and we’ll bring the coffee and doughnuts. :) While you’re not required to register for the town hall, we’d be grateful if you did, so that we can make sure we bring enough food!

As a membership-driven organization that’s managed primarily by volunteers, we rely on all of you to keep the Makerspace running—and that’s more true than ever right now. We need not just your voice, but also your help as volunteers as we move forward. Our most pressing needs right now are for a new president to take over at the end of the summer, a new treasurer to take over by mid-June, and a new wood shop manager (ASAP!). We’re also always looking for instructors for our classes, particularly in the electronics area.

Two things that we’ll be telling you more about at that meeting are the upcoming classes on our new CNC router, and the brand-new industrial-level SawStop that we’re getting ready to install!

In the meantime, if you have questions, our existing email addresses continue to be the ones to use. If you’re not sure who should be answering your question, start with the [email protected] account. If the question is about routine maintenance or supplies, it can go directly to the [email protected] account. In addition, if you have ideas you’d like to share and can’t make it to the town hall next week, you can contact the board directly at [email protected], or Liz Lawley at [email protected].

Thanks so much for being a part of our Makerspace community, and we hope to see you next Tuesday!

The Rochester Makerspace Board of Directors

Matt Eldred, Chair
Josh Hudak
Mike Moll
Chris Murillo
Ryan Shafer
Bridget Sheehan
Andrew Spong
Liz Lawley (who will be on a three-month hiatus from the board while serving as interim president)

Town Hall Meeting Join the board and officers of the Makerspace to hear about recent changes in leadership, ask questions, and share your ideas!