March 2022 - Board Meeting

3/2/2022 Area 515 Board Meeting

3/2/2022 - Area 515 Board Meeting

Attending:

  • President: Dave

  • Treasurer: Meg

  • Secretary: Brad

  • Director: Carlin

  • Director: Tom

  • Director: Ryan

Absent:

  • Vice President: Jake

Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting

Vote to approve minutes from February board meeting

Yes: 6

No: 0

Result: Passed

Old Business

  • The front sign needs to use the CNC. Tom is working on that.

  • No updates on a TIG welder

  • A potluck special gathering would be a neat thing to do in late April/ early May

Financials

  • We have money

Current Membership: 85

  • A new member will be in to pick up his key. It's in an envelope in the electronics room.

  • Ryan added a new member

Red Bull Soap Box Derby

  • Officials came and spoke to members at the space. A number of members expressed interest in participating, including our President. Rules are only 2 people to a car. The plan is to make our entry a giant 3D printer, perhaps using spray foam for the extruder.

Membership Automation

  • Have been testing it for awhile. It's time to make it go live.

Space Updates

  • The forge has been placed outside in the courtyard

  • A buyer has been lined up for the old lathe. Some other stuff will be listed to sell as well.

  • Metal Shop stewards want to rearrange the metal shop going forward.

  • Carlin is working to get a shipping container to go in the courtyard for use as an all-purpose area.

  • There's some wood in the courtyard that needs to be thrown away.

  • Compressed air available needs to become available in the Metal Shop. The compressor is in the auto area. We need to measure so pipes can be put in to route the air. Our landlord has plenty of pipe for the job. Previously one of our members spoke of bringing in a scissors lift that could reach the ceiling. Ryan said he would reach out and see if that offer is still available.

  • Jason has not yet set a new date for electrical work. (The old date fell through due to snow.)

Trello Review

  • Tool Stewards will be encouraged to use Trello to keep track of their areas. The Trello board can then be reviewed at each board meeting to check for progress/ways to assist.

  • Each area has its own column in Trello. Items in each column can be dragged to "Done" once they are completed.

Notable Trello Items

  • Laser cutters now have static IPs

  • Progress again being made on vacuum former

  • An extra table for the Electronics room was discussed. Dave said he will ask Caroline about moving one.

  • We have the necessary equipment to run the Metal Surface Grinder, but the machine first needs a final location. (See note about rearranging Metal Shop above.)

  • Metal Shop drill press got even more broker.

  • The status of the Spectrelight is unclear. It needs to be finished, but only Caroline knows if any more parts are needed to finish it. It's been sitting on a desk in the Metal Shop for 2 years.

  • Metal Shop wants to swap out wood tables for metal ones.

  • Metal Shop has been getting progressively cleaner over a time span of years.

  • Getting the Piranha CNC working is Brad's currenty priority.

  • A new Prusa for the 3D Printing Area is in transit. Should arrive in 6-8 weeks.

    • The fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine was discussed at this point.

  • Dave is planning to rearrange the Auto Shop work bench.

  • The auto lift needs to be inspected soon.

  • An "In for $10" was started by Brad for a 3D scanner. Not enough funds were raised so Brad refunded the donations.

Important Discussions

  • There was a Coca Cola plant in Germany before WWII broke out. Once the war started, the plant switched to making a drink called "Fanta." Once the war was over, it started making Coca Cola again, but the Germans got mad so Fanta came back.

  • Crystal Pepsi was very popular in Russia. In 1989 the USSR negotianted a deal with Pepsi that would have made Pepsi into the 6th largest navy in the world, at least on paper. The deal included 17 submarines, a frigate, a destroyer, and several oil tankers.

    • After doing further research after the board meeting. It's unclear whether or not the deal went through. Some sources say the USSR collapsed before the deal was closed. One article stated that the American government was unhappy that Pepsi amassed such a fleet, to which the Pepsi CEO responded "We're disarming the Soviet Union faster than you are."

  • The results of shooting various computer equipment with various firearms was examined. It was generally agreed that the most satisfying results are obtained by using the largest caliber ammunition fired at the slowest speed.

  • It was established that a "Swedish Nut Lathe" is the same thing as an adjustable wrench.

  • Conversations about zombies come up surprisingly often in knife making circles. Generally it is agreed that ability to maintain your distance is a key skill in avoiding blood born pathogens.

  • Subsequently, Amazon's offerings for zombie weapons and various wrench & hammer combinations were reviewed.

Meeting Adjourned

  • It was decided that Jake voted "Nay" to this.

  • "Precision just means using a smaller hammer."

  • Employees at a company were all given little envelope openers of appreciation and told "It's impossible to cut yourself." To which Tom replied "Don't tell that to a group of engineers."

  • "I think I see a pattern here." - In reference to the totally amazing and completely coincidental fact that Brad seems to be around every time the CNC goes down.

  • The story of a former coworker was recounted. "This member, we'll call him Brad for fun..." the word "Brad" became synonymous with things being broken, as in "Oh no! My bike is all Braded up!" after crashing it.

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