Equipment

The Space is very well outfitted for only having been founded in 2016.  Here's a (mostly) up to date list of our equipment - we're adding more all the time, so if you don't see what you're looking for just ask.

• Woodworking Shop, including 2 lathes, large table saw, mitre saw, jigsaw, and large-fomat bandsaw
• Metal Shop, including mill, surface grinder, metal lathe, brake, media blaster
• MIG and Gas Welding Station
• Taz5, Taz6, and MiniTaz 3-D Printers
• Vinyl cutter and large-format printer
• 1000mx1000mm X-Carve platform CNCs for wood (and some soft metal)
• 80W Laser for cutting and engraving
• Electronics workbench with oscilloscope
• Pottery wheel and kiln

In addition to the equipment listed above, MakerSpace members also have shared access to a portion of the middle school's STEAM classroom space and resources.

• Two large art rooms
• Two computer labs with projectors and document cameras
• Video editing station
• Sewing room
• Culinary Arts classroom area

Hours of Operation

Unlike some other makerspaces we can't operate 24/7 (we have to share the space with the middle school), but the space is open every day of the week during non-school hours.

School Year Hours

• Monday-Friday, 5:30p - 11p
• Saturday-Sunday, 7a - 11p

Summer/Vacation Hours

• Monday-Friday, 7a - 11p

Affiliations

The MakerSpace exists as an entity of the Amherst Recreation Department - this affiliation was immensly helpful in the startup of the Space since the Rec. Dept. provides us with accounting and billing services as well as a blanket insurance policy to protect both the space and its users.

We are also closely tied with Amherst Middle School, and exist because of their gracious allowance of square footage within their facility - much of the MakerSpace equipment serves a dual purpose to help educate Amherst middle-schoolers during the day.  Two of our founders also happen to be employed by the school district.

History

The idea for the Amherst MakerSpace started with Amherst Middle School principal Porter Dodge along with two middle school staff members, Brad Freeman and Steve Opre.  There was a desire to utilize a mostly unused space in the middle school that had been a wood and metal shop area in a past life, but had become nothing more than a haphazard storage area in recent years.  In the spring of 2016 Brad put out a call for people interested in helping to get the MakerSpace off the ground and...voila, Amherst MakerSpace was born.

The first few months were spent mostly hashing out ideas, cleaning up the space, and visiting other nearby makerspace locations to get ideas on how to set up our Space.  Then, in late September of 2016 we had things sorted out well enough to start accepting memberships and here we are today.