In preparation for the re-starting open houses in January of 2026, this is a short article sharing some information about the capabilities of the Makerspace metal shop.
The metal shop occupies half of the back section of the Makerspace and houses several functional areas:
- Machining
- Cold-forming and sheet-metal work
- Grinding, sanding, and polishing, and
- Welding
Each of these areas may have capabilities you’re unaware of. For example:
- The machine tools (lathes and mills) can be used to make or modify plastic parts as well as metal.
- The grinding station, which is on wheels, has a set of polishing buffs on a motor on the back side of the station.
- The welding table has a small anvil that, with a small hammer, can be used to cold-form thin steel as well as non-ferrous metals such as aluminum and brass.
- We have a shear/brake/roller-former that can cut, fold, and bend sheet stock into handy objects like the box in the attached photograph (it can also bend heavy wire and light rod stock).
If using any of these capabilities interests you or if you would like to discuss how the metal shop might be useful to a project you have in mind, please attend an open house! They’re planned for Saturdays starting in mid January. Hours are still TBD.
If you want assistance with any metal shop activities prior to the open houses, just send email to contact@melbournemakerspace.org and one of the shop stewards will get back to you.
See you soon!