December 2023 - Board Meeting
12/06/2023 - Area 515 Board Meeting
12/06/2023 - Area 515 Board Meeting
Attending:
President: Dave
Vice President: Jake
Secretary: Brad
Director: John
Director: Jason
Director: Carlin (by phone)
Absent:
Treasurer: Meg
Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting
Vote to approve minutes of November Board Meeting
Yes: 6
No: 0
Result: Passed
Space Updates
Jake is now a CNC Steward. Brad is now a Laser Steward (he was previously a Trainer).
Board Members voted by email to approve the purchase, from General Funds, of a $1100 Rotary Phase Converter that will be used to power the metal mill and metal surface grinder. Jake found a great Black Friday deal on the machine and had to act on it before the sale ended.
The spindle on the LeadCNC stopped working (see below) and a new spindle needs to be purchased. Jake and Caroline asked the board to approve funding for a new spindle and VFD (Variable Frequency Drive). The spindle is about $695, the VFD for it is about $300, so they're asking $1250 for the whole thing. The new spindle will be beefier and sturdier, to match the beefy upgraded rail system that the Lead CNC uses. It will also be computer controlled and run from 6,000 - 24,000 rpm. Jason will also design a safety circuit for the new spindle, since he sets up VFDs for a living.
Vote to spend $1250 from General Funds for a new Lead CNC spindle and VFD
Yes: 5 (Carlin's phone connection dropped)
No: 0
Result: Passed
Dave and Jason did some more work on the Vacuum Former. We now have all the parts for it.
The power supply on the right hand laser went kaput. (In technical terms, it "let the magic smoke out.") The Stewards will converse about whether to purchase a new one.
The CEC sent out their State of the Space survey to members via the Google group. They received a total of 13 responses.
John volunteered to work on applying for official non-profit status from Slack. This would open an array of new features to us.
The Electronics Steward plans to rearrange the Electronics room to accommodate stained glass work. Several new members have been using the room for that and it might be something we can grow.
Membership Update: 97
Unfortunately one of the CEC members will be moving out of the continent. John noted that the CEC could use some more members.
CNC Abuse
The member who broke the Lead CNC spindle, and who then broke one of the end stops after being told to leave the machine alone, has been suspended from using the machine for 3 months by the CNC Stewards.
Membership Rate Increase
Brad volunteered to write a notification about the change for the Google group.
At the time of the last increase, PayPal subscribers had to be cancelled and then sign up again. Members had to do this themselves. There was a reminder at the first Member meeting that took place after the rate increase. Then at the second Member meeting everyone was told the rate increase would be enforced.
Miscellaneous
There was some discussion of reviving Snow Day at the space. It was an annual December event for several years until stopped by Covid. The idea of holding it in January was kicked around, maybe on MLK day.
The last Member meeting was really well attended. Having food with it seemed to really help. (Thanks to Alex P for providing it.)
Since Dave started sending out personal invitations to Space Clean Up Days they have been much better attended. Unfortunately, no new members showed up at the most recent one.
Meeting Adjourned
(paraphrased) "This guy wanted me to make him a ghost dectector and I really didn't want to." "You should just ghost him."
Regarding the fact that only 13 members responded to the State of the Space Survey, Jason responded... "My opinion really counts a lot! I like this!"
Regarding the new array of soldering iron stations on display in the Electronics Room... "They look all organized and s^*%, which doesn't really fit the rest of the space."
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