Category: Community

All things to do with the greater makerspace hacker space community as well as our local community

Bob’s Guitar Journey

Introduction

Out of Ace’s list of members, Bob M is definitely one of the more unique people to walk through the workshop doors. Nowadays, Bob is most known for his custom-built guitars and basses, and the reason why this is goes back all the way to his high school days. I’m Carter Jenkins, and I had the chance to speak with Bob about what he does at Ace as well as a little more about how his life has led him to this point.

The Beginning

In high school, Bob originally aimed on becoming a violin craftsman. However, that path didn’t work out and Bob had to explore other areas. For 20 years, Bob held a job as a professional juggler while still exploring his passion for playing guitar. One day in 1989, he paid someone to do some repairs on a bass he had. The job was completely botched, leaving Bob thinking, “I could do so much better than that.” After a little mechanical ingenuity and some tinkering, Bob quickly discovered a new skill.

In the early 90s, Bob opened up a hand-crafted guitar shop to both satisfy his guitar fix and to have a career. Unfortunately, he soon shut down the operation. The money wasn’t the biggest problem, rather Bob “couldn’t stand the sales relationship that the job required.” Wrangling what you love into a money-producing machine isn’t a great feeling, and after only a few years of operation, Bob walked away.

2 partially completed guitars

More Recent Years

In between 1997 and 2017, Bob didn’t do a lot of making or tinkering. However, in 2017, he went to the Ace Building for a Fusion 360 CAD software meeting. During his visit, he took a guided tour around the facility where his attention was caught by the CNC machine and the woodshop. While Ace wasn’t the entire reason he got back into making, seeing the necessary tools that Ace offered with an affordable membership compared to other spaces Bob had looked at was a big part of it. Nowadays, Bob still makes custom guitars, no longer for the money but rather for the affection he has for the craft.

The silver bridge of a guitar with a cartoon character drawn into it
A bridge with a drawing inscribed

Advice for Other makers

Towards the end of our meeting, I asked Bob for any advice he had for makers looking to turn a passion into a business. Bob says that if you have a passion, don’t try to monetize it unless you know you can succeed. Take guitar building for instance. The market for that kind of thing is heavily over-saturated, with new builders investing all their money into a business that will last a few years before shutting down.

Bob got out of the business for a reason, now he spends his days doing what he loves, not doing work. If you have something you want to pursue, he recommends finding a group of people that have a similar interest to you and then finding opportunities to put your skills to work through there. A big enough community will be able to supply you with answers to your questions and will also help you grow as a person.

Mauricio’s Big Build

Overview

Mauricio Salmerón has been working on a project recently. What started as a joke request to a friend has now spanned into a multi-month project that is now nearing completion. I got a chance to speak with Mauricio over a weekend and he shed some light on what other workshop members saw as two large pieces of wood glued together.

Mauricio has been an off-and-on member of the Ace Makerspace for a few years now. He used to own a furniture-making shop called “The Furniture Space,” where he did woodworking to create all kinds of custom furniture such as tables and sideboards. After that, Mauricio found Ace to be the best place to continue honing his craft.

A while back, Mauricio was talking with June, a friend of his. The conversation eventually drifted to June’s need for a new bed. After discussing how June’s search hadn’t been successful, Mauricio jokingly offered to build her a bed frame. The two laughed, and the conversation moved on. However, a month or two later June took Mauricio up on his half-serious request.

A half completed bed frame
The bed frame, later in its construction phase

Mauricio worked on the project on and off, but many months later it’s nearly complete. Throughout his build process, Mauricio used many workshop tools to complete the project. The table saw, chop saw, router, drill, and planer to name a few. He estimates “another 10 hours of work and headboard assembly” and the new frame will be ready to send to June. The entire assembly consists of 5 main parts that can be put together to complete the full platform-style bed. June, of course, will have to provide the mattress, but it seems that the bulk of the work has been completed.

Process

  • Early pieces
    • Oak boards were surfaced through the joiner and planer, then dimensioned with the table saw
    • The boards were clamped together and glued to make the large sides of the bed, the tops to the sides with pocket screws
    • The three main pieces were completed by now, each with its own plywood support frame
  • Later pieces
    • The surfaced boards were put together with pocket screws and clamps to create the headboard
    • The last piece, the middle mattress support, was made with plywood, glue, and pocket screws
  • Final assembly
    • The three large oak pieces were attached with latches, the headboard had cleats and bolts to attach to the side pieces, and the middle mattress support piece

Tools and materials

  • Tools
    • Table saw
    • Chop saw
    • Router
    • Circular saw
    • Drill
    • Planer
    • Joiner
  • Materials
    • Titebond III wood glue
    • Pocket screws
    • Plywood and Oakwood
    • Cleats
    • Bolts
    • Latches

Introduction Ace Booking v1

Ace Booking is the custom open-source software we developed to support us operating in a COVID safe way. This software supports:

  • Occupancy limits in each room
  • Members booking the time they need
  • Occupancy Tracking in case of exposures
  • Remote staffing

We couldn’t ethically consider re-opening without it.

What’s New

There are many upgrades and changes to how the software looks and works.

  • You can now book in 15 min. increments! You no longer have to book by the hour
  • The user interface is very different, now choose your start and end time and the system can tell you about availability
  • The user interface now has a calendar view. If your desired booking isn’t available you can check and see the next closest availability.
  • The late check-in window changed to accommodate the new 15 min. windows.
    • You can check-in 5 min. before your booking (if space is available)
    • You are considered late at the 5 min. after your booking mark and will start to get notifications.
    • You are considered as ghosting at the 15 min. mark after your booking, if you haven’t checked in, and your reservation will be canceled and the space made available for others. (you can always do a new reservation.
    • You will get a notification via email and slack reminding you to check out starting 5 min. before your expected check out times.
  • New remote staffing controls include
    • The ability to book spaces for maintenance without having to make personal bookings.
    • The ability to cancel user reservations for maintenance blocks
    • The ability to remote checkout people who didn’t check out
    • The ability to make bookings for members on maintenance crews
    • Reports on use trends

What to do if things break for users

While the team did our best to anticipate how folks could use or break this software there may still be a glitch or two. And we know our members are some darn creative users. If our members have trouble or the system doesn’t’ behave as anticipated they report the issue on slack and include photos if at all possible. Report on #general or #amt-software

Affordable Anti-Racist Workshops for Makers in January

We are doing our Anti Racist Workshop Series for Makers again. After our successful October pilot, we are excited about offering the series again.

All Workshop courses are priced at a sliding scale of $5-20. Scholarships are available upon request. See below for information on the courses. We hope to see you there!

Schema of Makers

Saturday January 9th, 2021   |   11:00AM – 12:30PM PST

$5-20 sliding scale   |   Tickets

Who defines what a legitimate maker is? Explore how different types of makers are valued and have an influence on how the community is shaped.

Communities are like ecosystems — living things that change and evolve over time. We will unpack different maker identities and the dynamics of those identities and their influence on how our maker space community has evolved… for good or for ill. This workshop will explore both what the identity of makers has been as well as explore what it could and should be.

Makers Say What

Sunday January 10th, 2021   |   11:00AM – 12:30PM PST

$5-20 sliding scale   |   Tickets

How the language we use to share maker knowledge interacts with race and inclusion.

When it’s easy to lean into jargon as a way to communicate intelligence and experience, one can quickly conflate the words we use with who belongs and who doesn’t. And when it comes to talking about issues of race and gender, there is often a fear of saying the wrong thing. This workshop will explore how to be inclusive with Maker speak, as well as how to avoid the pitfalls of inaction by the fear of talking about race imperfectly.

You’re Too Comfortable

Saturday January 16th, 2021   |   11:00AM – 12:30PM PST

$5-20 sliding scale   |   Tickets

Recognizing when comfort is an indicator of white supremacy manifesting itself. Explore how to take action when it does.

One way white supremacy protects itself is by eliminating stressors of those who are in proximity to it. Things are easier, quicker, more accessible, more abundant, less risky, and more. This workshop will examine how comfortable you are and explore where your own discomfort might be putting up barriers to equity and inclusivity. This examination also includes a critical examination of biased systems we might be participating in. Then we’ll talk about what can be done about it. We will uncover what actions can be taken when we discover white supremacy manifesting itself.

Taking Care of the New Guy

Sunday January 17th, 2021   |   11:00AM – 12:30PM PST

$5-20 sliding scale   |   Tickets

Taking care of the new guy when the new maker isn’t white or a guy.

How then do we take care of new individuals when they are not like us or having a much different experience in the world. How can we support and include black, indigenous, and other POC people in majority-white spaces? Being successful at either can be complex and confusing. We will explore all the ways we can practice harm reduction as well as examine how our own biases and fears may be holding us back. This workshop will leave participants with skills to do just that including positive accountability.

About our Facilitator

crafty rachel photoRachel “Crafty” Sadd
She/Her/Hers

Rachel is a Bay Area based artist, activist, and maker. When she is not making she is the Executive Director at Ace Makerspace. She leads program development for equity and social good projects. Participating in rapid response to the COVID-19 public health crisis has been her main focus since March 2020. She is equally engaged by beauty and utility and she creates projects which span genres and challenge ideas about art, craft, and culture.

Learn More about Rachel’s DEI work

ace makerspace banner

Anti-Racist Education for Makers

Ace is thrilled to introduce 4 workshops in October that explore how to be anti-racist in our maker communities. Working with an amazing peace activist and facilitator, Emily Bowen, these workshops have been crafted to be broadly relevant to the maker community and Ace Makerspace specifically. 

Schema of Makers

Sunday, October 4th  |   Noon – 1pm PST

$5-20 sliding scale  |  Tickets

Who defines what a legitimate maker is? Explore how different types of makers are valued and have influence in how the community is shaped.

Communities are like ecosystems — living things that change and evolve over time. We will unpack different maker identities and the dynamics of those identities and their influence on how our makerspace community has evolved… for good or for ill. This workshop will explore both what the identity of makers have been as well as explore what it could and should be.

Maker Say What

Sunday, October 11th  |   Noon – 1pm PST

$5-20 sliding scale  |   Tickets

How the language we use to share maker knowledge interacts with race.

When it’s easy to lean into jargon as a way to communicate intelligence and experience, one can quickly conflate the words we use with who belongs and who doesn’t. And when it comes to talking about issues of race and gender, there is often a fear of saying the wrong thing. This workshop will explore how to be inclusive with Maker speak, as well as how to avoid the pitfalls of inaction by the fear of talking about race imperfectly.

Taking Care of the New Guy

Sunday, October 18th  |   Noon – 1pm PST

$5-20 sliding scale  |   Tickets

When the new guy isn’t white or a guy. We will explore where there is an opportunity to connect with people different than ourselves. 

Black people, and other people of color as well as Indigenous individuals, generally experience trauma because of microaggressions or just a lack of welcome in majority-white spaces. So to do female, femme, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming folx in majority male spaces. How then do we take care of new individuals when they are not like us or having a much different experience in the world.  This workshop will leave participants with a checklist to do just that including positive accountability.

You’re Too Comfortable

Sunday, October 25th  |   Noon – 1pm PST

$5-20 sliding scale  |   Tickets

Recognizing when comfort is an indicator of white supremacy manifesting itself. Explore how to take action when it does.

One way whiteness protects itself is by eliminating stressors of those who are in proximity to it. Things are easier, quicker, more accessible, more abundant, less risky, and more. This workshop will examine how comfortable you are and explore where your own discomfort might be putting up barriers to equity and inclusivity. Then we’ll talk about what can be done about it. We will uncover what actions can be taken when we discover white supremacy manifesting itself.

 

About our facilitator

Emily BowenEmily Bowen, MA ABS  (they /them)
The Peace Nerd

Emily trained as a psychotherapist, as well as earning a graduate degree in leadership and organizational development from Bastyr University (LIOS) in 2009. Since then they have worked as a Holistic Leadership Consultant and Educator. Emily is a founding member of the Peace Innovation Network (a collaboration between Stanford’s Peace Innovation Lab and The Hague). They studied Racial Equity for Adaptive Leadership at Leadership Eastside with Nikum Pon. And they are certified in Gracious Space – a framework for courageous conversations that was developed by the Center for Ethical Leadership.

Emily likes to help the people they’ve partnered with to seek a better understanding of their challenges and to find creative, equitable, and sustainable solutions. They possess an easy, natural confidence, insatiable curiosity, and a sense of humor that can be useful in guiding people in their growth and success. They bring essential skills in adult education, facilitation, coaching, innovation, and communication.

festival mask

Hack your mask with valves

The “dirt-bike” or sports dust masks are really popular. A lot of folks know them from using them at events like Burning Man and Coachella. The issue with a lot of “dirt bike” style masks is the exhalation valves which are totally unfiltered. This makes these masks pretty useless for COVID-19 safety. You can read more about what the CDC says about masks with valves.

Everything I used for this 2-min hack:

  • CLUX Mesh Black Face Mask with Black Carbon Filter by Continental Luxury (amazon)
  • small (not tiny) rubber bands – one for each valve
  • Scissors
  • Non-Woven Polypropylene Fabric (woven fabric will work too)

I assembled the mask according to manufacturers’ directions. I cut the filter fabric to go over the valve with a very generous overlap – you can always cut off the excess. Then I slipped the rubber band over 2 layers of filter fabric to secure it to the Valve. This covers the valve and any leaky spots around the opening.

sport mask disassembled
Sport mask as it comes all disassembled. Most of these require assembly.
value hole on mesh part of the mask
The valve hole in the mask without the “hardware”
fabric, mask, and rubber band
Assembled mask with quick filter materials
filtered valve
the filter “value-cover” takes about 3 seconds to put on.
filtered valve close up
the “valve-cover” close up
respirator and tools

Respirator Hack for Covid

So the issue with a lot of respirators and dust masks is the exhalation valve which is totally unfiltered. This makes them pretty useless for COVID-19 safety. You can read more about what the CDC says about masks with valves.

Everything I used for this 5-min hack:

  • 3M Rugged Comfort Half Facepiece Reusable Respirator 6502QL (Medium)
  • Electrical tape
  • Scissors
  • Non-Woven Polypropylene Fabric (woven fabric will work too)

Check out the gallery below to see how I added a filter to my valve. I specifically added it to the outside so it would last longer before getting moist and so others could see it. I used two layers of material for the filter.

tool bucket

New Habits for Keeping Safe

The new reality around COVID-19 safety has us all scrambling to create new habits while we go about the business of making things. We are currently trying and experiment with tool caddy’s. The idea is:

  • Come into the shop, and pick up a caddy
  • As you use hand tools put them in the bucket
  • Once you are done sanitize them and but them back

This way you don’t have to stop and sanitize with every tool and we avoid cross-contamination. Each bucket also has a small spray bottle of surface sanitizer and a personal pump bottle of hand sanitizer.

We are not sure if it will take all the sting out of the needed cleaning. We will see where the experiment leads!

Win Six Months of Membership at Ace Makerspace: Logo Needed

We have the name… Now we need the look!

Ace Monster Toys has recently rebranded as Ace Makerspace, and we are looking for a new logo to drive our new identity! Submit your logo idea to us. Winner will receive 6 months of membership at Ace Makerspace.

Guidelines:
  • What are we looking for? We need a logo that is clean, readable at many scales, and easy to produce in black & white or color. Think good for laser, good for clothing, works with stickers, printed materials, websites, etc. This logo should represent our personality of “Playful, Approachable, Curious, Open, Welcoming, Community”
  • Does it have to be perfect? Absolutely not! We are looking for a great design. Napkin-sketches are fine if they convey a great idea. We don’t require a production-quality image/files for you to submit an entry.
  • Who owns the artwork? We respect that your work is your work. By submitting an entry, you are agreeing to give the design to Ace only if it is selected as the winner.  You retain ownership of any designs not selected.
  • Who can submit an entry? This contest is open to everyone, both current Ace Makerspace members and the public.
  • Can I submit more than one entry? Sure!
  • If I win, can I gift the membership to another person? Yes, this can be arranged.
  • Will I get recognition? Of course – you will be celebrated in our newsletter and an announcement on our website.
  • Why aren’t you contracting with a designer to do this work? We would love to, are you a designer who wants to barter for membership? If so, send us a quote for the logo development and a link to your portfolio.

Please submit your entry through the form. The deadline to enter is June 30. Winner will be announced by July 5th assuming something works out.

Submit an entry

Relief Fund Update: More than $50,000 Raised 

As of June 2,

Donations received to date: $53,932.34

Money disbursed to date: $33,740.53

Funds available currently: $20,191.81


Access the full dashboard here

Mask, with instructions

Thank you to everyone who’s donated to our efforts, especially our friends and community members who’ve shared the proceeds of their crowdfunding campaigns! As of today, we’ve collected nearly $54,000. 

At Ace, we’ve kitted 1250+ face shields and over 1100 masks have gone out from the space so far. Another 250 masks are going out this week! 

If you have feedback or suggestions, please connect with [email protected].