Vancouver Hack Space

Vancouver Hack Space

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HACKER MOVEMENT BLOSSOMING IN VANCOUVER

VANCOUVER – DIY is alive and well in Vancouver.  On June 1st, the Vancouver Hack Space (VHS) will relocate from the Downtown Eastside to a new home at “The Bunker”, 270 East 1st Ave.  Amidst ongoing evictions and closures of community organizations, the Vancouver Hack Space is picking a careful path to sustainable growth.

“We’ve been growing steadily since 2008,” said Jeff Davis, a VHS Director. “We moved to successively bigger spaces in 2009 and 2010, but we’ve been bursting at the seams for a while now. We finally found the right space to keep growing in.”

With rent being so high and condos so small, many people in Vancouver don’t have a space to explore their creativity and build things — lots of roommates, no garages, and no basements. A shared space like VHS is an essential part of keeping Vancouver creatively interesting.

With Vancouver Mini Maker Faire — the brainchild of VHS members and the local Maker Movement’s largest event — coming up in June, VHS is expecting another influx of new members. Last year, VHS saw a 60% increase in membership immediately after Maker Faire. “This is a natural evolution for VHS – we’re doubling every 20 months with no signs of slowing down,” said Dan Royer, VHS member and president of Marginally Clever Software.

“This new ground-level, wheelchair-accessible space on a well-lit street should help VHS become more welcoming and inclusive,” said Colin Keigher, VHS’ Head of Social Engineering.

VHS has become known as Vancouver’s techno-friendly crafters’ paradise, providing a shared workspace, tools and materials, and frequent skill-sharing workshops. The member-funded organisation has amassed an industrial laser cutter, free-range 3D printers, CNC milling machines, and crafting supplies including electronic components, fabric, and thousands of wheels. Member projects are diverse, and include laser-cut sculptures, autonomous robots, nerf guns, puppets, and homemade root beer.

VHS is a member-run non-profit society which has a wide range of tools for anything from crafting to electronics prototyping and robotics. It aims to provide a physical space where almost anything can be created, and like-minded people can gather to share knowledge, skills, and equipment in a collaborative atmosphere.  Read more about VHS at: http://hackspace.ca.

For more information, or to schedule an interview, contact VHS Press Relations at http://vancouver.hackspace.ca/wp/contact-us/

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VHS at 45 West Hastings St is officially out of commission – there is virtually no equipment remaining, power to the router, switches, etc has been disconnected, there are no chairs, and there is no table space. Our move to 270 E 1st Ave is still in progress, and you will not be able to do much work in that space either yet (everything’s in boxes, on palettes), but if you’d like to give us a hand with the build-out and setup of the new VHS location please come on down!

The Bunker is located on 1st Ave, 1 block east of Main St. To get there via the skytrain, get off at the Main St/Science World station, walk 1 block south along Main St to 1st Ave, then walk 1 block east to 270 E 1st Ave. It’s also directly on the bike route, and there is free (and plentiful) street parking. The main entrance is at the rear of the building, but we will have the roller-door at the front open too.

To summarize:

• 45W (OLD VHS): Decommissioned!
• 270 E 1st Ave (aka The Bunker, NEW VHS): Almost operational!
  • But don’t expect to be able to work on your projects at The Bunker just yet.

Tuesday open nights are still happening at the old location. Now with added bonus challenge excitement.

Want to sit in a blue chair? Too bad! Want to use the MAME box? Nuh-uh. Want a screwdriver with interchangeable bits? I don’t think so. Fridge to keep your drink cold? Not any more!

(The amazing thing about the word “but” in a sentence is that it negates everything that came before it. For example:)

BUT!

If you want to 3D print or solder, we got you covered. If you want to craft, draw, drill, saw, bend, glue, cut, or invent, we’ve got your back. If you just want to put things in boxes so the movers can go quicker, that’s cool too. Maybe you’d just like to sit on that grey couch one last time and soak up the ambiance. Please, here, I saved you a seat.

Doors officially open from 19:30 to 11:00. Bring your project or your curiosity, just git on down to la Ve Hash Hess.

Dan has a blog post about moving the big equipment to the new space.

Details

After 18 months of searching, VHS has finally found a new home!

Our space behind 45 West Hastings served us well, but we’ve outgrown it and it is time to move on.  As of June 2013 our new home, affectionately dubbed The Bunker, is at 270 1st Ave E, Vancouver.  The new space is 2800 square feet of ground floor, wheelchair accessible, solid concrete awesomeness.  We share the building with the offices of Kokoro Dance and with Catriona Jeffries Gallery.  The Bunker is on a designated Vancouver bicycle route, it’s an eight minute walk from the Main Street Skytrain station, and it has onsite and free on-street parking.

Look for this sign

Schedule & Coordination

We’re busy moving this month. Tuesday open nights are still happening and will be very strange. Please follow our mailing list and watch our events calendar to make sure there’s someone at either location when you visit.

The weekend of the 4th we plan to move all the big gear – the fridges, the MAME machine, the couch, the stuff in storage.

The weened of the 11th we plan to move all the less used but still sizeable tools – lathes, desktop CNC, drill press, and so on. We also plan to recycle anything we’re not taking to the new space.

The weekend of the 18th we plan to gut the old space down to the studs. This is where we will need the most people.

And You

We’d love your help to get the new space ready or to move stuff to the new location. Join us for some making, hacking fun!

You can find out more about the move by reading our Wiki page.

If you want to help and can’t be here in person then please donate to help offset our move costs.

VHS needs boxes!
More boxes than you can box a box at. Seriously, it’s a lot. Anything bigger than a fat house cat or a microwave, smaller than a dishwasher.

Friday the 10th is recycle night
Come down and help figure out what we’re getting rid of and how we’re getting rid of it.

Friday the 17th is box & label everything night
If your stuff isn’t out it will be labelled “Property of VHS” because I’m lazy and indifferent.

Saturday the 18th is the big move day!
We’re stripping the space down to the studs and moving every small thing to the new location. Do you have a van, truck, rickshaw, or blimp? We want you!

Read the Wiki page and join in.

Let’s recycle some 3D printer plastic.  Good for the Earth.  Good for each other.

The last 3D printer meeting was so much fun we’re doing it again, but extending to include all things CNC and CAM also!

Bring your printer, bring your enthusiasm, bring your questions, bring your curiosity, bring a snack. We’ll be talking about the future and learning from each other. Come see what the molten edge of technology is all about.

Goals for next month’s meeting:

• Get the Makerbot running
• Get SolidWorks up and running so we can design and print a part on the spot
• Document the processes for using Makerbot and Tantillus in the Wiki so people can learn on their own
• Finish the Prusa sitting above the arcade cabinet?
• Learn how to use the small CNC milling machine

More pictures

What: Raspberry Pi Night, including how to use a character LCD with the rpi!

Where: VHS (45 west hastings alley entrance http://vancouver.hackspace.ca/wp/about/)

When: Wednesday March 27th @ 7:30pm

Why: Pete Lomas of the Raspberry Pi Foundation will be at VHS next Tuesday, so let’s be ready!

Who: Anyone and everyone, members or non members, guests, etc..

Bottom Line: Richard Sim