Things you shouldn't do. Especially Not Twice
Everybody using equipment in the space is expected to look after that equipment. That means finding out how to use it properly. If you break something and there were guidelines here that would have avoided it, that's not just an unfortunate accident, it's YOUR FAULT. Take responsibility. If the warnings were wrong or insufficient, correct them. That's your responsibility too.
If you see someone misusing tools, appliances or someone unaware of how their actions might damage a tool, please tell them directly, explaining the potential consequences and how it could occur. And write it up here, at the top where new entries will be read, in the hope that someone else will learn, too. Be gentle, but don't keep quiet. It isn't helpful to let someone else suffer their own mistakes, and even less helpful to cause other people to suffer your mistakes.
Floor and benches
Are for working on, not storing stuff. When you've finished, please put away all the tools, throw away any rubbish and put useful leftovers in the storage. Leave the work area better than you found it.
3D printers
Are an expensive, delicate piece of equipment - get training for it!
Drill Bits
There are various types of drill bit depending on what it is you want to cut a hole in: masonry, wood or metal. The 'Space has examples of all three. In general metal drill bits are a simple spiral and often labelled HSS (this is often engraved, along with a diameter on the barrel of the bit, don't always trust the box). Masonry bits will have a blunt 'spade' on the tip. Wood bits tend to have a small point at the tip and spurs, they can also be used for plastics.
In general use the right type of drill bit. If a bit is carbon steel it is probably too brittle for metal.
More info can be found here: [[1]] Also see the speed guide here: [[2]] which has good schematics of the drill bit types
Cutting Speed/Teeth sizes
The URLs below are very useful references:
but do keep in mind that some of the numbers are relatively high - a lot of our (semi pro) tools do not quite have the power (or are rigid enough) to hit that (nor do we have sludge cooling). So aim a bit lower and go slower.
Bandsaw
There are various sorts of saw blades for the bandsaw intended for wood or metal. Using the wrong kind of blade will, if you're lucky, just break the bandsaw. If not then, well, all kinds of bad things can happen when a fast rotating sharp edged band of metal snaps under stress. For the same reason - be sure to use the adjustments on the guiders. A simple rule is to check the blade against the kind of straight saw you'd use on your chosen material. If it looks like a hacksaw blade, it's for metal (maybe check against a tenon saw as some of the hacksaws may have wood blades). If it looks like a woodsaw blade, it's for (normal) wood. (Verify what to use when using exotic/harder types of wood). Changing the blade on the bandsaw is possible, but should only be done by someone who has the training.
Servers
Physical and virtual servers providing services in the space are shared. Do not restart them because you want to do a dist-upgrade or because something is running at high load.
Soldering
You don't need to have the soldering iron in the solder station at full heat, it will melt the plastic bits on components, 270ish is good for leaded solder, 300 for unleaded.
Think about the plastic used in connectors before putting boards in the reflow oven. They may have a low melting point, and youĺl end up having to replace the connectors having carefully peeling the mess from your tiny surface mount components.
Mill
Please put some wood under whatever you are drilling, don't drill down into the bed of the vice!
Network
Please don't go over the top when torrenting (or other p2p service) in the space, we have limited upload, reduce your upload bandwidth to e.g. 50Kbit. Don't expect high bandwidth or p2p services to work on unauthenticated networks. We value our network connection so any dubious activity by users of our networks is investigated.
Electronics
It's not simply good enough to read the datasheet carefully, you also have to be reading the right datasheet carefully.
Appliances
Treat appliances with care. People use these without caution as a matter of routine, and don't expect them to be hacked, damaged or immersed in water.
Freebies
If you find something abandoned, please don't bring it to the space, and definitely don't hack it until you've determined from the original owner that they're happy for you to have it. The more valuable something is, the less likely it is to have been abandoned.
The Plague
Don't bring anything to the space that might be infected, infested, radioactive or toxic, without checking first.