Donations

See also Rules_and_Regulations#Shop_Storage.2C_Donations.2C_and_Parking_Tags

Can I donate?

Yes! We are a 503(c) registered nonprofit, so all donations are tax deductible. You don't have to sign up to donate. Come by at a public event, drop it off, and get a board member to sign off on it. That said, we have a limited amount of space and we aren't Construction Junction, so some things we can't/won't accept.

Things we like:

• Weird electronics (Got a NeXTCube or old server? We'll find a good home for it somewhere.)
• Machine tools (Engraving tool from an old watchmaker's shop? We're down for it.
• Hand tools (wrenches, screwdrivers, electric drills, etc)
• Old weird stuff (the power hacksaw from the 1920's is always fun to mess with)

Things we have enough of:

• Scrap lumber
• Old furniture
• Tables
• Broken office chairs

Things we can't/won't take:

• Clothes
• Exciting chemicals
• Most things much bigger than a desk -- If it's something real useful we might take it, but it would have to replace something we already have

Corporate/In-Kind Donations

This section is for listing suggestions and ideas for in-kind donations for us to ask for.

For example, with the recent expansion, some donations we could ask big box stores like Home Depot, Lowe's Home Improvement, and CostCo for:

• paint, for lots of uses, for walls, for shelving ew construct, etc
• floor paint for concrete floors, i.e. the "dirty" shop area
• shelving for the storage room; all three of the examples above have these
• plastic bins for better storage/organization
• doors, do we need any?
• light fixtures (for both sides), Costco has these too
• flooring/floor coverings of some sort for the "clean" side
• materials/etc for dividing walls
• glass for big windows in the dividing walls

Possible Donors

Just a short list of companies that might be worth inquiring to.

• Home Depot
• Lowe's Home Improvement
• CostCo
• Harbor Freight

Of course, when you start talking about serious donations, the sky's the limit. Which isn't to say we'll get them, but it may be worth pursuing:

• Sawstop
• Tool manufacturers (Bosch, Fein, etc)
• Electronics manufacturers
  • Components
  • AV equipment (video cameras, etc)

Thank You!

This section exists as a thank you! for everyone who has donated equipment, resources, etc. to the shop!

The shop wouldn't be what it is today without the generous donations of many benefactors, both members and non-members.

While we are trying to make this page complete, it was was started in December 2011 and many donation records are already lost to the mists of time, and for that we apologize.

Broadley Donations -- Oscilloscopes, etc., books, parts bins for days -- October 27th 2009

If you've been following the #HackPGH on Twitter, you've probably seen pictures of the massive equipment donation that just arrived at the shop. These tools, ranging from an 8-ton metal punch to a large collection of oscilloscopes are gifts from the family of William Broadley. Broadley, an electrical engineer who co-founded the Three Rivers Computing Company, and later built hardware for Westinghouse and Respironics, recently passed away, leaving behind an impressive workshop. His family was kind enough contact us at HackPittsburgh, seeking a place where this collection of equipment could be put to good use.

On Saturday, a handful of us took a U-Haul truck out to the workshop, and the Broadleys loaded us up with as much equipment as we could carry, as well as telling us about William, showing us several of his project builds, including a vector graphics display for a PDP-11 that he'd built, identical to some used by George Lucas to plan out camera runs for filming models in the original Star Wars movies!

In memory of William Broadley, and in thanks for this incredible gift, we should make sure that the donated equipment is well cared for and put to good use. We plan to send updates to the family as we get everything integrated into the shop, and we should consider putting together a plaque or some other kind of memorial.

Hans Schlarer IOBridge -- IOBridge Modules and Sensors - November 13th, 2009

Hans came into the shop to give a talk on, and demo of, IOBridge 'internet of things' devices. He also donated the IOBridge IO-204 prototype module and the sensors which we are using to read the shop light and temperature levels, still used on our home page to this day. On August 19th, 2011, Hans was back in the shop to talk about the new probducts they were coming out with, and at that time donated a humidity sensor (which is not shown on the front page).

Dean -- Table Saw -- January 2010

Golan Levin? -- Old Schoole PayPhones -- ?? 2011

... donated four olde schoole style payphones for our hackerspaces phone network. One is in the shop, the other three are to be donated to other shops (Interlock in Rochester, our first connection. Node in Baltimore, and ???)

David Kraus -- many spools of wire -- June 30, 2011

Gribenas Donations -- LEDs, lights, etc -- Nov 15, 2011

My husband Rick Gribenas was a local artist & teacher, and after he passed away in 2009 I was left with a large amount of misc art making supplies. He made light/sound/installation art, so I have all sort of LEDs, wire, low pressure sodium street lights, and more things than I can even identify. Id be really happy to pass them along to people who can MAKE things out of them! --charissa hamilton-gribenas

Jack Kingsley -- Power Supplies, exhaust fans -- December 26, 2011

Working status is TBD.

Deb LaDonne -- Books -- December 29, 2011

Donated 26 books whose topics cover Computer Engineering, Electronics, Programming, Graphics, OS, Calculus, Chemistry, Phsyics, Electronics. We're free to keep the ones we need/want and donate or sell the ones we don't.