January 2025 - Board Meeting

01/01/2025 - Area 515 Board Meeting

01/01/2025 - Area 515 Board Meeting

Attending:

• President: Dave

• Vice President: Jake

• Treasurer: Meg (remote)

• Secretary: Brad

• Director: John

• Director: Chris (remote)

• Director: Matt

Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting

Vote to approve the minutes of the December board meeting

Yes: 6

No: 0

Result: Passed

Financials

• Meg had some difficulties accessing our bank account as the bank still had a previous member's phone number as contact information. Brad said he would help with that.

• Once Meg has access again she'll email us a year end account.

Current Members: 76

• Our total member population has been shrinking

• We need about 70 members to stay in the black, so we have enough members to continue for now.

• We've had a number of transient members using the Auto Shop lately.

Space Updates

• Jake proposed a number of things we could do to make the space look "less haggard."

  • Sell the current Prusa 3D printers and purchase new ones (4S model)

  • Get a Core1 printer which is designed with an enclosure

  • Get the Jet planar running in the Wood Shop

  • Get the CNC router table working again

  • Finish the metal mill

  • Purchase a bigger, better laser. Either apply for a grant or purchase something ourselves in the $5k range

  • Jake is building a Milomill, a small open source CNC machine specifically for soft metals. It will use some of our old CNC parts that aren't currently in use.

• Brad got the go ahead to put improved OpenBuilds end stops on the Piranha to make it less janky.

• Matt will be going to a Des Moines Woodworkers Club meeting in May.

• In the Wood Shop, Chris has plans to use the band saw that's on loan from Charlie. One band saw will have a large blade for rough cuts, the other a small blade for fine cuts.

• Chris will also email Jason about taking his planer home.

Sandblasting Cabinet & Air Compressor

• A member proposed a number of upgrades for the sandblasting cabinet. The board decided to leave it up to the Metal Stewards for how to proceed.

• This sparked a discussion of our current air compressor. We have been planning to run metal pipe from the air compressor (in the Auto Shop) over to the sand blasting cabinet (in the Metal Shop) for a number of years.

  • The next step in that project is a plan detailing how much pipe we need to buy and exactly what fittings we're going to need.

  • It was also suggested that we could move the existing air compressor into the Metal Shop, reuse the tank but replace everything else. A new 5 hp Ingersol Rand motor would be about $1400 plus several hundred more in accessories.

New Laser Grant Application

• Last year we applied for, but did not get, a grant from Prairie Meadows for a new laser. We received notice that Prairie Meadows is accepting new grant applications until 2/28.

• We definitely want to apply again. To that end, Isaiah's mother has a lot of experience writing grants and Isaiah agreed to ask her how we could improve our application.

• Most grant organizations look favorably on grants where other people and organizations are contributing too, so we discussed possible ways to raise more money for a new laser.

  • Another maker space raised money for new equipment by finding companies willing to pay for the service that equipment would provide. In other words, we could find companies willing to pay for their stuff to be laser-ed on our machines, and members would have to be willing to put in the time. It was noted that we would need to check on the tax implications of this.

  • One of our members, Deb, played a large part writing our grant application last year. Brad said he would reach out to her to see if she was willing to help again this year.

• Ultimately, it was agreed that Brad would take point on the new grant application, and both John and Chris agreed to help as well.

3D Printer Purchases

Vote to purchase 2 new Prusa Mk4s printers (which each run $730 plus tax and fees) and sell our 2 existing Prusas and the Ender. (The Revo printer will stay.)

Yes: 7

No: 0

Result: Passed

Miscellaneous

• Jake offered to help Meg update Tool Fees

• One member apparently paid both the Tool Fee and a Yearly Membership fee together using the "Donations" button on the website because his information didn't autopopulate on the Current Members sheet.

• The space needs to file its biennial report with the state of Iowa to maintain its nonprofit status.

• The idea of giving Ward his own parking space on the grass was discussed, given his walking difficulties.

• Brad told the story of how his mother passed away.

Meeting Adjourned

• Did you know? Apparently there is more than 1 replica KITT car in the city of Des Moines! The Secretary is frustrated at his failure to ever spot one.