Despite there being an inordinate amount of techies and tech companies in the Washington, DC/Northern Virginia area, there aren’t really that many hacker/makerspaces, or really anywhere else for tinkering, building, and generally futzing around with a soldering iron. [Zach] thought it was time for a change and is now organizing the second Make DC an informal get together to show off your latest projects and builds. Here’s the best part: Hackaday is coming, and we’re bringing some sweet swag.
Right now [Matt] has two talks lined up focused on bringing APIs into the physical world. There’s space for plenty more speakers, so if you have something to show off be sure to sign up.
The event is scheduled for Wednesday, March 19, 6:30 PM, half a block away from the Dupont Circle Metro station. Be there. You’ll get a sticker at least.
Jay a sticker! ;)
I imagine real estate in the DC area is too valuable for landowners to allocate property to anyone who isn’t burning through hundreds of dollars a minute. (sigh!)
Oh, and the high concentration of lawyers would “make” things scary for hackers…
HACDC.org
HacDC was the first space I every physically set foot in, and it’s a large part of the reason I’ve been so involved in i3detroit. I would hope they’re still a going concern!
Yeah I hate to be negative so I won’t be. I am asking that instead of just saying there aren’t really that many hacker/makerspaces in DC, go ahead and include the ones that are around and then also include this post. I know there have been a lot of changes around here, but a little institutional memory goes a long way. I first heard about HacDC through Hackaday on this post http://hackaday.com/2010/10/25/hacker-housing-rally-to-restore-sanity/ Thanks Brian Dolge for posting the other ones in the area.
Looking forward to this! I am moving to the DC area soon (I’m actually waiting on the movers as I type this), and I was concerned by the lack of hacker spaces in DC. I’ll definitely be there!
In Baltimore:
baltimorehackerspace.com
baltimorenode.org
unallocatedspace.org
bugssonline.org
In North Va.:
Nova-labs.org
You didn’t search very hard. There are tons of resources in the DC and Northern Virginia area, one of which: nova-labs.org is one of the organizers of the first area Maker Faire – Maker Faire NOVA (http://makerfairenova.com) on March 16th.
I’ve been thinking about doing a baltimore trip and doing a tour of all of them in one go.
I guess you hadn’t heard about the telescope-making workshop at the Chevy Chase Community Center in NW DC. We are open two evenings a week and have optical, metal-working, and wood-working tools and materials and expertise. Plus a vacuum aluminizer to put a bright reflective coating on the mirror you just polished and geometrically to perfection (or the dirty, tarnished mirror you took out of an existing telescope).
We have a wood lathe, two metal lathes, a mill /drill, SawStop table saw, numerous hand tools, an optical testing tunnel, lots of glass mirror blanks and partially completed mirrors, grit, pitch, polishing compounds, computer programs to help you decide if your mirror is 1/4 lambda or better, a friendly atmosphere, and an eclectic selection of music…
Come check us out, Tues & Thurs 6:30-9:45 pm every week except when the center is closed by snow, holidays, etc.
Oh yeah we have soldering guns and blowtorches and a lot of Korean-War-era surplus lens and prism blanks. Would love to meet folks with electronics expertise — most of us are complete duffers in that regard.
I had never heard of this, pretty awesome.
Listing such things on hackerspaces.org might help more people hear of them. :)
TechShop is opening a location in Arlington, though I know the pay-to-play format is uncouth in some circles.
They’re most likely hiring instructors right now, so if you want to get paid 20/hr and teach a minimum of 12 hours a month, you can get a free membership there.
Not exactly DC but other parts of Maryland are also starting up Makerspaces. In St Mary’s County, there is PaxSpace.
Since you’re coming to HacDC, why not make a try to visit different ones in the area (kinda like you did in your Euro tour, what no love to for the States?)
Small detail but DC isn’t a state.
The “States” as in showcasing a tour of makerspaces/hackerspaces in America…
Are you freaking kidding me!
NOVA Labs
Reverse Space
HackDC
FredHack
Frederickswerken
TechShop
This is a great idea but middle of the week just doesn’t work for many people specially those of us who live several hours away and have to work the following day.
Wednesday at 6:30, that’s rough as it’s still rush hour. Ok for people in DC at that time but most people live outside of DC. Really should have chosen a later time like 7:30 and/or on a weekend. Like 1 pm at HacDC.
HacDC is a great space, ‘specially for noobs. There are a lot of “experts” in almost any venture you are partaking in and if there isn’t one people are interested in learning with you. I am particularly fond of the 3 axis cnc there.
As founder of fredhack, board member of frederickswerken, honorary member of novalabs, and associate of reverse space, I will be there to at least represent the fact that we do exist in spite of hackaday’s inability to search the Hackerspaces.org wiki.
Book your flight in/out of Dulles and let someone from NOVA Labs know. We are about 10 minutes from IAD on the way to/from DC.. http://www.nova-labs.org
There a group of us at The University of Maryland, College Park is making a student hackerspace, Collider.