We’re still here!

Hello! It has been a long time since we have communicated with you, and we wanted to send out an update on everything we have been working on this year. Due to the pandemic we have stopped our regular in-person membership meetings and open houses, but members still have 24/7 access to equipment, and we have recently restarted limited open house times. If you want a tour, see how you can visit. We are at 116 Spring Circle Dr, Unit 3, in Berea.

We are 1 year old!

In August we passed our 1-year-of-paying-rent date! To all of those who have been or are currently members, or who have supported us in other ways, thank you! There’s no way we would have made it to this point without our members’ support. We have understandably lost some members, and we have gained new ones, so right now we are hovering right around the break even point, and have been since February. We have enough of a bank account that we are not in danger of one or two bad months, which is great, but in order to expand our capabilities and offerings to our members and the wider Berea community we are looking to grow over the next year. Come join us!

See what is included in membership!

Earlier this year we collaborated with Kre8now Makerspace in Lexington to make and distribute almost 2000 face shields, distributed from Lexington all the way to Virginia, with plenty ending up in Berea. The gofundme we initiated shortly afterwards raised $1600  (including a generous contribution by Partnering with Abi) to help us get needed equipment for our wood and metal shops. See below for some of the highlights.

Upgrades

We have a sign! We are still working on having more information for people who walk up to the space and don’t realize we aren’t generally open to the public, and this sign that Jess made with the CNC goes a long way to improving the outside of the building. We’ll add open house and contact info soon.

Our woodshop is now fully equipped with all of the basic power tools and machines and we are still adding more and planning future upgrades, like a downdraft table, better table saw, hand tools, and more organization. Thanks to the donation from Partnering with Abi we added an oscillating edge/spindle sander, and Duane Kriebel donated some hand sanders. We also installed french cleats for organization and wood storage.​​

We also have a new welder! Our donated welder had mechanical trouble and never got off the ground, but we can now do mig, stick and dc tig welding in our metal shop. Also, Eric built an outdoor cabinet for fuel and we are installing a direct line to the blacksmith forges, so we don’t have to store fuel inside the building. The metalworking shop (including blacksmithing tools) has come a long way and is about ready to be opened up to wider usage. Training and orientation plans are in the works.​​

Future Plans

Plenty more space and equipment upgrades are in the works. We are planning an overhaul of our entry room to remove the bar and the carpet and tile flooring so we can better organize the vinyl cutters and 3d printers, and the sewing, kids, and general work areas. Jess has gotten a new large format 3d printer (450mm^3) that he is integrating into the space, and we need to make room for it!

We are also looking at what kind of classes we can offer to both members and non-members that would follow recommended health guidelines. Both virtual and in-person options are being considered. If there is something you or your kids would like to learn here, please let us know!

Membership

I mentioned it at the top, but hey, you’ve read this far, so I’ll say it again. Our community of members is the key to our success. We are entirely funded day-to-day by member dues, the decisions about the makerspace are made by our membership, and the energy to make things happen comes from our members’ passions. There is no makerspace or ‘we’ to speak of without the members who are paying to make it happen. So to our current members and those who have been a part of the space in the past year, THANK YOU!
Whether you are a maker at heart, want to be part of a maker community, or just have a project you need to work on, come be a part of what we are doing here and make the space your own!

https://bereamakerspace.org/wiki/membership

Berea Makerspace