Guides/GettingStarted

Welcome!

Kzoomakers Makerspace is a place where people who like to create things can come together. We have a workshop with machinery for woodworking and metalworking, as well as electronics equipment, a lasercutter, and other tools. We are also a community of hackers, makers, scientists, and artists, with subgroups that focus on specific interests.

We don't have a formal training program, but there are many knowledgeable people who can help answer your questions. If you are willing to learn by trying things, reading up on them, and asking for advice, you will probably do well.

Kzoomakers Makerspace is run entirely by volunteers and governed by the community. We rely on donations to keep the space running and expect our members to be involved in the community and help maintain the space.

Just looking?

Not sure you want to be a member? Check our discord to get a feel for us; come along on a Saturday or arrange (via discord) to come along at another time.

Guides for New Members

• New Members Guide
• History about the space and how it came to be
• Video documentary (10mins, YouTube) about Hackspaces.
• Some info on Reddit that may one day become part of a FAQ

Events and Workshops

The space hosts a variety of events, including a number of recurring meetups and workshops.

Most Workshops are free, some come at a small cost (especially those that supply equipment). Workshops usually have limited attendance, so register early!

If you want to run your own event have a look at our documentation for planning an event, it's not hard. Anyone can organise a workshop, it can be a 30 minute 'lightning talk' on what you do for a living (thats how the biohacking subgroup started) or a much longer, full weekend teaching session (eg the Arduino workshops).

If you want to request a workshop: ask about it on the list, and then put it on the request list.

Projects

The main project page is here. In general projects progress when people work on them; if there is a public project you are interested in read the wiki page for it, ask around on IRC or the mailing list then go for it.

No matter what the project (personal or public) these pages may help:

• Suppliers lists local, national and internet based suppliers for all sorts of things.
• Guides contain assorted "how-to's" (and some "how-not-to's") for tools around the space
• Equipment, what we have. Be aware some tools require training (notably the laser cutter and the Makerbot, these are delicate, expensive, tools: if you don't know how to use them please ask).
• Our library contains a range of books (many more than listed here) that are free to use and cover a range of topics, members can borrow books but must list what they've borrowed on the page (at the very bottom).
• Our workshops page covers upcoming workshops as well as those passed; the individual pages often contain much useful information (as well as possible contacts), for more see below.