[Swansea Hackspace] What next

[Gerrit Niezen]

> One of the main reasons for trying to have the uni as a base is because
> there are various things which could be borrowed for little or no money
> (e.g. fancy 3d printer comes to mind) which would provide a real
> incentive for people to join.

Which uni are we talking about? I'm working for SU, and I haven't seen these fancy 3d printers you're talking about.. :P As others have already stated, there is a lack of space on campus, so I doubt they'll be able to provide us with room. I'm hoping someone from the Met is on this mailing list, as I've seen that their Institute of Sustainable Design (http://www.isdwales.com/en/our-facilities.htm) has 3d printers, CNC mills, vacuum casting machines, kilns etc.

> As soon as there are premises, we'd need public liability insurance, and
> also someone has to be in charge of health and safety. That means making
> sure that only people who've had suitable instruction can use certain
> items of equipment, it means dealing with COSHH and checking mechanical
> and electrical equipment are safe to use on a regular basis. So there is
> a fair amount of responsibility for anybody taking this on,

These are valid concerns, but not insurmountable. For example, Nottingham Hackspace's meeting minutes of 2011/11/09 (http://wiki.nottinghack.org.uk/wiki/2011-11-09_Minutes), indicate that they had to consider these same issues. Thankfully they are open and transparent so that we can learn from them and other hackspaces. Rule nr. 1: http://wiki.nottinghack.org.uk/wiki/Do_Not_Be_On_Fire. ;)

Cheers,
Gerrit
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