BOTLab Quarterly Members' meeting Q1 2024

Bristol Open Technology Lab C.I.C general meeting

Date/time: 19:00, 9th January 2024.

Location: Bristol Hackspace, with online option.

Trustees report

• Charity process - Felix

Committee report

• Hot works update - Alex, Felix
• Tool access control - Sam
• Reminder of storage changes

Incidents and complaints review

Open proposals

• Wood shop reorganisation.
• Shapeoko 3 CNC.
• Discourse check.

Election of committee member for supplies

• I have resigned from the committee. Therefore, the position is vacant if anyone would like to run for it - Alex R

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AOB

• Discussion about the wood bandsaw. - Sam C

• Felix has submitted charity application. Charity Comission has given us many more questions to answer.
• No detailed report available, but finances are looking healthy.

Alex and Felix were working on this but unfortunately they're busy so we're looking for volunteers to finish the project, mainly just painting and installing the apark arresting grill. Dave W has offered to help out.

The table saw trial has been in place for over a month now with no major issues. Sam P is working on a productised version of the system which will probably be another month or so, but suggested we may want to do a hybrid system with padlocks to get other machines on the system and clear the backlog.

A comment was made that people may want to do the induction quizes remotely and that there may be a capacity issue with a single PC.

Reminder of the new sorage rules (30 days short stay, 90 days project box). There has been a minor improvement with the new system, but the storage area is still quite full.

None

See proposal on forum for specific details.

The aims are:

• Remove rubbish storage (broken drawers).
• Free up bench space.
• More tools on the extraction system.
• Better signage.
• Create a fancy hand tool cabinet.
• Move power tools to underneath the new bench.

We will be winging it slightly on the storage. Will figure out specifically where to put stuff on the day.

Question: what do we do with the step at the back of the room? Currently there's no plan, but maybe consumables could live there.

There was a suggestion to redo the dust extraction at the same time as it's currently leaky and the best time to do it. General agreement here.

It was noted the CNC will be rough on the extraction. Ensure in induction that extraction is emptied both before and after using the CNC.

A vote was held for this proposal. Majority voted yes, 1 abstained. This proposal passed.

Fraser described the wood CNC (see the forum post for details as it was mostly a repeat of that).

Question: what is bitrunner? It's an addon that allows the CNC to control the router power.

Question: what will the induction look like? Refer to Carbide3D for most of the training. Can probably be an online induction due to the interlocks that will be installed.

Question: Will there be any import duties? Luck of the draw unfortunately.

Caitlin says it's the best proposal she's ever seen.

A comment was made that the CNC must be attended due to how quickly things can go wrong.

Question: Is it a UK supplier for the bits? Yes: Ooznest.

Question: Can the software be run elsewhere? Carbide Create can be run anywhere, yey. Carbide Motion is only for the machine.

Question: Will users be trusted with non-default bits? Users should do their own research and try and use defaults where possible, but must at least understand the limitations when using their own (for example a down cutting bit will put additional load of the machine, so may have to cut slower).

Question: Will the materials be limited? Yes. Wood and maybe plastic only for now.

Question: Can the metal CNC be used for wood? No. Wood dust will contaminate the bearings. Cutting fluids etc will contaminate the wood too.

The committee did consider the wood CNC in the CNC room however there were a few issues with this:

• No room ventilation which would lead to dust buildup.
• Noise due to close proximity to the main room.
• No extraction system. Would have to install a separate system just for this tool.

A vote was held for this proposal. Unanimous yes! This proposal passed.

Alex has resigned. Dave W nominated for the role. Unanimous vote yes for Dave W to become the new quartermaster.

What do we think of the bandsaw? Many responses including:

• It's crap.
• It doesn't cut straight.
• Feels like it's trying to do the job of two saws:
  • Resawing.
  • Delicate work.
• Maybe someone putting something too dense runining the blade setting.
• Faff to change blades
• Issue with the design using guide plates instead of bearings.

There was much discussion about whether to dispose of it. No conclusion, but can try with a single blade for now (no swapping).

We have two scroll saws. A vote was held to dispose both of them. Majority voted yes, 1 votes no. This vote to dispose the scroll saws passed.

Matt G asked what our thoughts would be on having an upstairs space as new units are unlikely to be on the ground floor. After a bit of discussion the general concensus was:

• Accessibility is very important.
• We could put some storage upstairs.
• Desk space could be moved, but must leave some downstairs for accessibility.
• No tools upstairs, again for accessibility.

The conversation moved onto the purchase of a new building. With our current cash flow this could be possible in 3-5 years.

It was noted that if we do get a second space then it's unusual for both spaces to do the same thing. It may be worth managing them separately.

It was noted that the hackspace membership was ever increasing. This is something that is on the committee radar constantly.

The committee can throttle this to an extent through ticketing (which has been working quite well and has made open evenings a lot smoother).

A discussion started regarding solutions to monitor occupancy with the purpose of allowing members to choose times when it's not quite so busy. A few suggestions were made including:

• Using the access control boxes to infer occupancy
• Install an occupancy sensor (e.g. PIR)
• Chris C had an over-engineered RF based idea.
• Decided to take this discussion online.

It was noted that the metal bench is cluttered and hard to use. Shall clear up and tidy, probably on the same day as the wood shop reorganisation.