Wondering if some members were willing to babysit the lasers or 3d printers for other peoples’ jobs? This would be a good way to let lots of members “use” the space and have fewer contagion paths.
There’s probably some folks who are going to be at the space using different tools who could do a solid for another member who wants to 3d-print or laser cut something.
Anyone requesting a job would obviously have to describe the settings fully and be easygoing about any errors or flaws — so if you have a timeline or can’t afford to have someone else screw it up, probably shouldn’t ask (the person running the job might feel bad even if you don’t).
The requestor would drop off their material and share files on google drive, or a sanitized thumb drive in a paper bag, where only the files to print are in the root directory. We can make a discourse channel for describing the job and the estimate of time; that way when the job is done the babysitter could report it was done and how long it took, any issues, etc. We could also have a stock of the most common materials and let people tip in for them. I’ve got some 1/8 birch in blue and red sizes, and probably a bit of 5mm Lowe’s poplar that people could use in moderate quantities. (The settings on these are well known and it’s the best balance of cost and quantity). That would keep even more people away from the space but still productive.
As for the community dynamics of it,
- Anyone babysitting more than a couple hours of jobs should earn the six bonus volunteer hours per week
- As for which hours it can be reserved for babysat jobs, perhaps when we’re one day out all unreserved space goes to the babysitting queue? That would mean that if you want to claim a last-minute slot you’d also have to commit to running some pending jobs.
- I wouldn’t set a cap on the number of jobs requested; volunteer babysitters could choose fair scheduling according to their convenience and how long someone’s been waiting.