Maker Works is an Ann Arbor, MI-based group with a 14,000-square-foot space for makers interested in electronics, metal, wood, and crafts.
| Location | 3765 Plaza Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108 |
| Members | 60+ |
| Website | www.maker-works.com |
Read about what Co-Founder Dale Grover has to say about Maker Works.
Tell us about your space!
Currently 14,400 sq ft, including a full metal shop, wood shop, electronics (PCB engraver), plastics & fabric, and workstations. “Garages” for parking member carts for storage. Over 3,000 sq ft of office & fabrication space rented to start-ups and small businesses. We are a triple bottom line company: people, planet, profit. We even run a 5-day bootcamp on how to operate a makerspace, which draws from all over the country.
What tools do you have in your space?
Soldering stations, oscilloscope, 3-D printer, woodshop, CNC, and a data center.
Are there any tools your group really wants or needs?
The next items we are looking to add are powder coating oven and a gas-fired forge.
What’s the craziest, most exciting, and/or most innovating project your group or group members have completed?
The Great Maker Race, a no-rules race we run at Maker Faires and other events. Attendees use custom-built hot-wire foam cutters to shape cars, then attach wheels and race them down a hilly track. We’ve had kids builds thousands of these cars. Arduino-based timer uses piezo film sensors for finish gate.
Do you have any events or initiatives you’d like to tell us about? Where can we learn more about it?
Each month we have “Fix-It Friday”. The general public is invited to bring in things as a last-chance to get them fixed. We’ve repaired many lamps, chairs, and a fair amount of consumer electronics. Monthly geek show and tell meeting called GO-Tech meets here (going since 2007): https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/notbago/info. Lots of great electronics, CNC, basic physics, historical technology, etc.
Can you tell us about some of your group’s recent tech projects?
About 4 FIRST robotics teams use Maker Works as their build location, so we always have interesting robotics going on. Other members design their own controllers for RC helicopters. The shop is working on a third generation of an RFID system for monitoring tool usage (ESP8266). Many projects shown on our Facebook page.
Read more about Maker Works on its website.
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