This is the page with the lowdown of what you get as a member of the Iowa City Fab Lab. It also is the page that says what you don’t get as a member. Sometimes that is just as important to know!
What do I get with my membership?
- Free safety/basic training on everything
- Door access card (it will automatically let you in when your membership is active)
- 25% off all paid classes (anything not listed as ‘Basic’ in the class list
- Use of computer lab or classroom for meetings (with prior scheduling for large groups)
- Access to software like Adobe products, Solidworks, etc
- Access to an electric kiln (Ceramics, glass), casting kiln (silver, copper), enameling kiln
- Access to all tools and areas (after safety training)
Speaking of tools and stuff, do we have a list of all the tools that a member can access? Yup.
Tool Bays and tools (click the triangles for an extended list. Click the circles to be disappointed in a lack of response)
Wood shop
Woodshop
Table saw, bandsaw, chop saw, drill press, Router table, full size router, finishing router, flattening table, jigsaw, glue-up table, bed sander, drum sander, spindle sander, clamps, motorized hand tools, hand tools, etc.
Lathe (3′ length, 6″ radius) (Separate training class)
Jointer (6 inch, 2 blade) (separate training class with planer)
Planer (12 inch, 2 blade) (Separate training class with Jointer)
Table Planer (4′ x 4′, 2″ depth)
- CNC (4′ x 4′, [temporarily unavailable])
Fiber Arts
Fabric Studio
Sewing machine (7 total, standard modern machine)
Surger
Cricut
Tufting
leatherworking tools
Enkle loom (small)
Spinning wheel
Cutting table
Iron/ironing board
Embossing tools (paper, leather, etc)
Sublimation printer, sublimation heat press (fabric, coffee cup, espresso cup, hat, and plate attachments)
- Embroidery machine (15 string, computerized)
Silkscreen area
Silkscreen Studio
4 screen press
Spray-out booth
Extra large press
Darkroom/lightbox
limited ink supplies
photoreactive screen goop stuff
Laser cutting area
Laser Cutting
60 Watt CO2 laser (18″ x 27″ bed size)
150 Watt CO2 laser (Boss 3655 36″ x 55″ bed size)
Computer Lab
Computer Lab
10 computers (windows 10 OS)
Standard inkjet color printer
projector/teaching computer
Software access for all software needed to run all machines and tools in Fab Lab
Intranet file transfer system
ImOn Wifi
Tech Area
3D printing
Anycubic Mega S (x5) (0.1mm z height, 0.4mm nozzle 10″ x 10″ x 11″ volume)
Anycubic Cobra (x2) (0.1mm z height, 0.4mm nozzle 10″ x 10″ x 11″ volume)
Anycubic Cobra XL (0.1mm z height, 0.4mm nozzle 12″ x 12″ x 16″ volume)
Anycubic Resin Printer (50 micron layer height, 6″ x 10″ x 10″ volume)
Iligoo Resin Printer (50 micron layer height, 4″ x 4″ x 6″ volume)
Electronics
Oscilloscope
Power Converter (just like Luke wanted at Tashi Station)
Soldering station
Breadboards
Arduino/Raspberry Pi units
EagleCad software
Desoldering wire, alligator clips, limited selection of resisters, capacitors, etc.
- Vinyl Cutter (4′ width, 0.1mm accuracy)
- Large format printer Full color inkjet, up to 3′ width (Temporarily down for maintenance)
- Foam cutting table (cosplay, large molds, etc)
Stained glass mobile studio
Stained glass cart
Glass cutters, electric grinders, safety gear, nippers, hippos, soldering station, light table, etc.
Ceramics area
Ceramics
Electric wheels (x3)
Wedging table
Sculpting tools (community use and for sale)
Electric kiln (we fire at cone 6)
Clay (for sale onsite in 25lb bags)
Drying space
a random selection of glazes (we do not stock them, they are what is left after class or donated, so don’t count on a glaze being there)
Jewelry area
Jewelry tools
Sheet flattening
Sheet cutting
Wire pulling
Cleaning station (ultrasonic)
Soldering area (oxygen-propane mix)
wax mold station
dremels/shaping tools
hand tools, jewelers saws
wrist, round, and ring mandrels
ring sizing tools
stone polishing
- Enameling
- Burnout kiln
- Vacuum caster
Classroom
Class materials
Tables/chairs (comfortably seats 20)
AV cart/TV
Whiteboard
Bonus Features
Awesome Bonus content!
Indoor plumbing (Now with Flushing Toilets!)
A box that makes cold air and can preserve food (WOW!) a slightly smaller box above it that can make water into rock! (SCIENCE!)
A third box that sends magic rays into food to make it hot (get this..) WITHOUT FIRE!
Human style chairs and tables in EVERY ROOM!
Floors made of flat stuff (NO hills anywhere!)
and an amazing special upper-wall that keeps out the sky, even when it rains! Talk about a deal!
This all sounds great! But can you bring a friend in?
For the most part, yes! If y’all are hanging in the computer lab, or chatting during a project, or studying for a test, it is totally cool. Your membership gets you in the door and gives you access to the equipment, but that does not mean we want to keep everyone else out! Friends, parents, well behaved siblings/children (of an old enough age to be trusted around equipment), etc. are totally welcome to come and hang out with you, the member. They can’t use equipment. Your membership covers YOU on our insurance, once you are trained. That does not transfer to anyone who comes in the door. But hanging out here is totally fine.
Things you don’t get with your membership:
As promised up top, this is a list of things that you do NOT receive with your membership. We do our very best to make sure that every member is taken care of, but there is a difference between taking care of our members, and our members taking advantage of us. Please read these and be aware of them so that you don’t accidentally make us sad.
The supplies for your project
While we do have some supplies, such as some screws, nails, wood, plastic, wood glue, sand paper, etc. There is no guarantee that we have the right type of supplies. Even if you saw it around before, it may have been (probably is) someone else’s project material. Also please think about ALL the types of material you need. Nails, glue, the right paper for the sublimation printer, the right filament for your 3D print… If it is something that gets used once, or used up, then it is probably up to you to bring it. There are some exceptions we will go over during member training.
Someone cleaning up after you
The Fab Lab is an expensive place to run, and we can not afford a janitorial staff. Everyone should clean up after themselves. It is not our sawdust. It is not our 3D printing support material, and it is not our cutoffs from other projects. Please be respectful of the community space and remember to make time to clean up after yourself. If we continually must clean up after you, there may be consequences, from additional charges to cancellation of membership.
Unlimited help
There are a lot of great people around here. You are probably one of them! Those great people many times will have good advice, will provide a helping hand, and will gently guide you through tough things you have not done before. After your safety/basic trainings, we are always happy to give advice, make suggestions, and help lift the heavy things. However, the projects you create are YOUR projects. There is a point at which the amount of work someone else does (usually Fab Lab staff) gets to be too much, ESPECIALLY when the staff has to teach the same lesson to the same person over and over again. If you want someone to do the majority of the work, or you are not interested in retaining the information from the classes, the Fab Lab is happy to take commissions on projects. Those commissions are negotiated and paid for individually. They are not a benefit of membership to the Fab Lab. We already have a lot to do.
A guarantee that all equipment is up and running at all times
Much like the cleanup, There is a lot to running a Fab Lab. As you look at the list of tools and equipment that is available to you, imagine being able to maintain, fix, or replace every. Single. One. Of them. The Lab has two employees, and a lot of volunteers. It also does not have a giant budget. While every effort is made to make sure the tools and machines are maintained, there are some times where stuff is down. Sometimes we need to order parts. Sometimes we need to schedule hours of repair time. Sometimes there are other things that need to be done before the repair can happen. If you have experience in maintaining tools or machines, let us know and we will be happy to have you help if things are broken or need to be fixed/sharpened/adjusted. Also if you DO break something, PLEASE don’t just hide it. Let us know so it can be fixed.
A guarantee that the equipment you want to use is available right away
For the most part, the equipment is first come, first serve. With very few exceptions, there are no scheduled times that you can ‘reserve’ any equipment or space. If there is a class in the space, that space is usually closed for members, or the members must work around the class. Our calendar always has the latest classes so you can see if the time you need the computer lab is open hours or has a ‘how to make memes’ class scheduled. In the future when there are so many members that scheduling becomes needed, we DO have a plan to phase it in. That time is not yet, so it is first come first serve for everything. Check the Calendar to make sure there are no events in the way.
Super-specialized equipment or accessories for standard equipment
We have a router, router table, and finishing router. We might not have the router BIT you need for your project. We might have it but it is super dull from long use. It might have been here before but it was a members, and they took it home. Anything that is put INTO a machine as a bit or attachment is not necessarily something the Fab Lab has, or will provide. There are exceptions. The table saw will always have a table saw blade in it that is reasonably sharp. The drill press will have drill bits (maybe not the right size, but we have some), the random orbiting sander might not have the right grit of paper, but we have some sandpaper around to use. The lickable wallpaper does have peach, but does not have snozzberry flavor. If it is something like a screw, sandpaper (even the rolls for the bed sander and the belt sander), bandsaw, router bit, jigsaw blade, or specialty screwdriver bit, you may need to purchase it yourself. You can feel free to donate it after you are done with it, but we can NOT be expected to have every exact thing at all times.
We can’t guarantee a fast turnaround
Sometimes there are things you need US to do before your project is complete. We need to do a kiln firing, for example. The way we do these is by waiting until the kiln is full of projects. We run the kiln, and we fill and empty it. The Fab Lab staff is in charge of this process. We can’t be held responsible if you need this glaze fired by Friday and it is already Tuesday. Not how it works. Much like the maintenance of the equipment, sometimes there will be wait times. This is true for 3D printing, vinyl cutting, embroidery machine, etc. Your membership allows you access to the tools and teaching, but does not in any way allow us to bend time and space, or create funds for unexpected repairs. We have tried.
Some other things to expect at the Fab Lab
Classes
We have classes for all ages. We also have camps and group tours and events. Every day the Lab is open for members, and other things are also happening. Sometimes we will have an after school class, so the computer lab is packed with 8th graders. Sometimes we will have a weekly class for six weeks every Tuesday night, so the classroom is filled with Mildew Enthusiasts. Please understand as a community space, sometimes community OTHER than the members are going to be here. If you are in doubt about something, check our calendar on the website. It will have the information.
Summer Camps
During summer break, we have summer camps all day. Our summer camps run from 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday all summer long. The classroom and the computer lab are almost always full during those hours. That does not mean you can not use the other spaces. Just that it might get a bit more crazy during the summer. Also realize that the staff is very busy during the summers, so give them some grace on getting other things done. If you want to help, you can always volunteer your time. That is how this place works.
Sales (you selling stuff you make)
You can sell stuff that you make at the Fab Lab, up to a point. If you are making paper mache earrings to sell on etsy, or crafting a chessboard out of nail clippings and sock lint, so you can sell it to that one weirdo (I’m looking at YOU, Tarantino!), that is fine. You don’t have to be all sneaky about it. Selling a project or two is totally cool with a normal membership. The thing you can NOT do at the Fab Lab, is treat it like a shop with customers. If you bring a client in so they can see how their bedside table looks halfway through construction, that is fine. If you plan to have a rack of merch and hold the door open so people can waltz in during ‘business hours’, that is not fine.
You also can make TOO much money to be at the Fab Lab. If it is for a bit of extra scratch for your yarn collecting habit, that is all good. If your entire life and business DEPENDS on a membership to the Fab Lab or you can not make a living, then you are in a different class of membership. That is now a Business Membership, and is Much More than our regular membership rates. This doesn’t mean that you can not do it, it means that you need to enter into a contract with us to make sure it is fully square with the Federal and State Laws for a “For Profit” Business Entity working with a “Non Profit” Business Entity. There is a lot of paperwork, limits, terms, conditions, and expectations that will need to be met. Trust us on this, the IRS is extremely serious about this case, and so are we. That being said..
We are a business incubator
We have helped several businesses start up and shine! Over the past decade, there have been several success stories, from a 3D printing startup to a Multi-national Corporation, which started at the Iowa City Fab Lab and grew too large for us to contain anymore. That is part of what we do. We provide the space, tools, and access, but you also get to a point where you grow larger than we can support. It is a feature, not a bug. So while most members are here for fun, for their hobby, for their joy, and for their passions, we also are doing our part to make sure that new businesses can grow and thrive. Those businesses all became Business memberships once they reached a critical point, so don’t be afraid to take that chance. Make that Jump To Conclusions Mat.
We work with other nonprofits
We love to work with other nonprofits and help them fulfill their missions. That is part of fulfilling ours! If you have an idea for how we could help an organization, please let us know! There are many things we can do to help support a cause, whether it is charging a much lower rate to make things (like t shirts or prizes), or hosting an event, from a full day hoopla to donating a meeting space once a month. We can build things that are needed, help repair things, design events, products, or projects, and much more. There is a lot of talent in this place, and we love to help others. In the past we have worked with American Cancer Society, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, DVIP, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, various area churches, community theaters, robotics clubs, Rotary, School Science Nights, PRIDE, Habitat for Humanity, and the list goes on. We would love to hear about any events that we may be able to help with.
We take donations, but not all donations.
Sometimes we have to say no to things that people want to donate. There are various reasons for this, but the short list of reasons that we usually run into are the following:
- It is broken, but could be fixed. We have a lot of trouble keeping up with our current stuff. We can’t accept something that might work with some TLC.
- It is working, but older. Many times that drill still works, but it is from 1995 and the battery lasts about 10 minutes. It is more stuff to store, and unfortunately we have a hoarding problem already.
- Sometimes it is perfect, but we already have enough. The common household sewing machine works great, and is pretty new! Unfortunately it is not the same type we already have and that means we need to have a different bobbin, training class, needle set, presser foot, etc. Sometimes we have many of the same type of tool to cut down on the accessories needed to keep it running.
- It is barely haunted at all. Yes, we agree it is a very cool porcelain doll. The lace is lovely and the whispers inside my head are soothing, but it won’t let go of the knife and it is weeping blood. We don’t think it will work out. Try Goodwill.