Faceplant

Things you shouldn't do. Especially twice

If you see someone misusing tools, appliances or small children apparently unaware of how stupid they're being, please tell them. And write it up here, at the top where new entries will be read, in the hope that someone else will learn, too. No need for names (unless, of course, you want to).

MakerBot

Is an expensive, delicate piece of equipment - get training for it!

Drill Bits

There are various types of drill bit depending on what it is you want to cut a hole in: masonry, wood or metal. The 'Space has examples of all three. In general metal drill bits are a simple spiral and often labeled HSS (this is often engraved, along with a diameter on the barral of the bit, don't always trust the box). Masonry bits will have a blunt 'spade' on the tip. Wood bits tend to have a small point at the tip and spurs, they can also be used for plastics.

In general use the right type of drill bit. If a bit is carbon steel it is probably too brittle for metal.

More info can be found here: [[1]] Also see the speed guide here: [[2]] which has good schematics of the drill bit types

Cutting Speed/Teeth sizes

The URLs below are very useful references:

but do keep in mind that some of the numbers are relatively high - a lot of our (semi pro) tools do not quite have the power (or are rigid enough) to hit that (nor do we have sludge cooling). So aim a bit lower and go slower.

Bandsaw

There are various sorts of saw blades for the bandsaw intended for wood or metal. Using the wrong kind of blade will, if you're lucky, just break the bandsaw. If not then, well, all kinds of bad things can happen when a fast rotating sharp edged band of metal snaps under stress. For the same reason - be sure to use the adjustments on the guiders. A simple rule is to check the blade against the kind of straight saw you'd use on your chosen material. If it looks like a hacksaw blade, it's for metal (maybe check against a tenon saw as some of the hacksaws may have wood blades). If it looks like a woodsaw blade, it's for (normal) wood. (Verify what to use when using exotic/harder types of wood). Changing the blade on the bandsaw is possible, but should only be done by someone who has the training.

Laser cooler

Don't run the laser with the lid off the cooler and a fan blowing on it. Sure, it will increase the cooling rate. It will also blow dust & muck into the system and it's supposed to be distilled water. BTW, the dead bee was probably there already.

Servers

Servers in the space (which include Doorbot, Babbage and the router) are shared. Do not restart them because you want to do a dist-upgrade or because it's running at high load. A large number of people use Babbage as an IRC bouncer and for playing with code, so you'll be killing their sessions. Doorbot and the router are sensitive and important to every member, so you should have a very good reason to touch them.

Soldering

You don't need to have the soldering iron in the solder station at full heat, it will melt the plastic bits on components, 270ish is good for leaded solder, 300 for unleaded.

Mill

Please put some wood under whatever you are drilling, don't drill down into the bed of the vice!

Network

Please don't go over the top when torrenting (or other p2p service) in the space, we have limited upload, reduce your upload bandwidth to e.g. 50Kbit.

Electronics

It's not simply good enough to read the datasheet carefully, you also have to be reading the *right* datasheet carefully.