Frequently Asked Questions

also see the public FAQ on the homepage

Sure! To stop being a member, stop paying the membership rates.

If you are just going away for a month or three, feel free to pause your payments until you get back (or not!)

Keyholder membership is £25 per month. It is open to anyone. Beforehand, the membership should be assured that:

• You are not at risk of hurting yourself when working alone
• You are not going to steal tools or equipment

Generally, we determine this by asking people to be regular members and attend open nights for at least 3 months before becoming keyholders. To apply, speak with any of the directors directly, via discord, or via email at trustees@sheffieldhackspace.org.uk.

You will then need to: fill out a paper form (you could print your own ) with a few personal details; get three members to co-sign it; show a director some photographic ID with your address on it; and bring it back to a director who can onboard you as a keyholder :]

Go-boxes are £20 per year, paid on the 1st August. If you want a box – and are willing to pay this – then:

1. find an empty go-box or ask to swap with someone
2. put your name on the go-box
3. add yourself to go-boxes

If it is before August, you do not need to pay anything until August, when you ought to get an email asking for payment. If it is after August, it is expected you pay the £20 when you take residence in your box.

Temporarily, yes!

Within reason, items for projects that are ‘in progress’ can be stored. Items need to be clearly marked with the name of the owner and the date that they were deposited (with a piece of masking tape or sticky label). Anything that was more than six weeks past the label date (or prior to the date!) would be available for others to use, or for disposal. This is intended for small amounts of material used as part of active projects. If you're actively working on your project, you can update the date.

The two caveats to this rule are items in someone's Go Box space. The list of current go boxes and their owners can be found here. However, anything stored in an undesignated go box space is subject to the normal rules for storage. Secondly, anything marked as hackspace or hackspace infrastructure is for use only in agreed infrastructure projects and can remain there indefinitely.

Please use common sense and courtesy when claiming free items. If someone's sticker has clearly fallen off, put it back on. If something is just out of date, message the person on Discord and ask.

Please edit it! This wiki is a resource of information for everyone at the space, by everyone at the space. You should be able to edit most pages if you are logged in using your Discord account.

There is a Facebook Page, and Instagram (listed on the website). alifeee has access to both.

Consider writing a blog post!

The blog is for everyone! If you'd like to make a post, then here are a few steps:

1. come up with idea! (made something? visited another maker event or space? researched something interesting?)
2. write some text! (and potentially find images)
3. create a pull request* on the GitHub repository

*if you are not comfortable with GitHub, send alifeee a message or post in the Discord on #the-website channel, and we will be more than happy to upload the post for you.

Probably, yes! See laser restocking (or below) for the general process, or ask someone ;]

Things that usually need refills:

• laser cutter sheets
• label_printer
• various bits of electronics
• snacks

Feel free to order refills of obvious items and ask for a refund to finances@sheffieldhackspace.org.uk

Yeah! If you notice stocks are low, go ahead any buy replacement snacks/drinks/etc at a unit price lower than they are sold for (bonus points if it's in bulk or from Costco!).

Then submit a receipt to finances@sheffieldhackspace.org.uk to be reimbursed.

Sure! Either “donate” a box/packet of snacks and pick a price to see how popular they are, or ask a director to give you a small “exploratory snack budget”. If you think they go down well, chat to a director about making a more permanent place for them.

Sure! If you have a specific item, let one of us know, and we may put it on the agenda. If so, you could attend for that item. Do get in contact with a director.

Yes, please do! We have developed a list of questions that may be relevant to a proposal for a new piece of equipment or other development - please see Proposal form. If you provide as much information as possible and pass this on, or better still discuss it, with one of the directors then it will be considered to see whether it is something that can be done within our existing resources or whether further information or investigation are required.

Proposals are usually read out at the monthly directors' meeting. See examples on the minutes page or the proposals page