Member Meeting Minutes for August 20, 2019

Call to order

• Vice-President Sean called the meeting to order at 7:45 PM

Attendees

• Simon Heath, President,
• Sean Guzek, Vice-President
• Becky Zajdel, Secretary
• Bethany Klick, Treasurer
• Adam Longwill
• Alex Reasinger
• Kris Kunihiro
• Gil Tygart
• Phil Garrow
• Tom Fetherston
• Charles DiPasquale
• Rob Bedel via Google Hangouts
• Geno Soroka via Google Hangouts
• Morgan Hartley via Google Hangouts
• Ezra Juliar via Google Hangouts
• Steve Owens via Google Hangouts
• Kevin German via Google Hangouts

New Members/Visitors

• Nikhil Shinde
• Jason Toliopoulos
• Emilio Incerto
  • WELCOME!

Quote of the Day

• I always thought HackPGH was a home for the weird and broken people with above average intelligence who were cast out by the rest of society. -- Geno Soroka, hero of Ukraine

Treasurer's Report

• As of the end of July, HackPGH had $25,636 in assets.

Old business

• Grants
  • Becky has officially submitted the final application for the $5,000 outreach grant to McAuley Ministries
  • We will hear if we have been approved in October, but if you would like to volunteer to teach or help with marketing, please let Becky know!
• Heat Safety project with Uptown Partners
  • Becky is still collecting monetary donations and NEW fans
  • We accept cash, check, online donations, and/or new fans. Please donate! We can provide receipts.
• Drone Club!
  • Simon Heath would like to re-start Drone Club. It will be held once a month and dates can be changed regarding demand.
• Gravel for parking lot?
  • Dale has offered to purchase gravel for our parking lot.
  • Phil has offered to rake it out.
• Makernet updates
  • None at this time. We will get updates from Chad and update the members at the next meeting.
• Our coasters for Fresh Fest were a HUGE hit! We even had businesses try to place "orders."

New business

• Alex will discuss:
  • CNC Machine updates and call to Forest Scientific
  • They are offering us a $10,000k grant for one of their large CNC machines. They are pre-built, no kits required, and they are in-Pennsylvania and can offer support if we have problems. The two options of machines:
  • Maker-Fab Series RMF 48" x 96" CNC Router $20,000 (our price $10,000). This one is made of steel and more rigid, durable, etc.
  • Titan Series 48" x 96" CNC Router $17,000 (our price $7,000) This one is made of aluminum and has bolted connections.
  • We had a live call with John from Forest Scientific. He answered the following questions:
    • Q1: Alex indicated that the base model came with a router spindle. Is that true?
    • A1: Yes, but there is a negative in that it is a little louder. The positive is that they outlast routers and spindles from foreign companies.
    • Q2: What is the limit on material, can we cut aluminum plates?
    • A2: Yes. Ideally the machine can cut woods and plastics, but it can cut aluminum as well. It's all a matter of coming up with the right speeds and settings.
    • Q3: What is the collet size on that router?
    • A3: 1/2 and 1/4.
    • Q4: What kind of motion control system does it have?
    • A4: Central control, made in Pennsylvania. It can smooth out a 3D object. Rack and pinion motion control. Over time, the rack and pinion can do better than the ball and screw controls. There is an anti-backlash system that requires less maintenance and less oiling.
    • Q5: Advantage of buying from them?
    • A5: They are local (two hours away) and thus (unlike a Chinese machine) they can add or change things down the line for us.
    • Q6: Any issue with warranty or us doing our own maintenance?
    • A6: There is a three-year onsite warranty. We call them and they will guide us through any repairs and modifications. They do prefer that we confer with them regarding any possible modifications.
    • Q7: What size motors
    • A7: They tend to restrict them between 300-500. That way in public situations it will keep it in the healthy torque and safety areas.
    • Q8: Do you really have onsite training included in the price?
    • A8 Yes! When the machine gets delivered, Forest will do a "train the trainers day." They work with schools and Maker Spaces worldwide.
    • Q9: Will it run VCarve?
    • A9: Yes, and any other commercial software.
    • Q10: What about shipping?
    • A10: Free!
      • We will have a vote (open for two weeks) on which CNC machine to get.
  • Pottery Wheels
    • Alex has been researching pottery wheels and has gotten us a few quotes.
    • He reached out to the Ceramics Shop, and they sent us back three options (with three price points)
      • Artista tabletop Pottery Wheel ($410) 3-year warranty, does not have foot pedal
      • Brent IE Pottery Wheel ($1,048) 10-year warranty
      • Brent EX Pottery Wheel ($1,521) top of the line 10-year warranty
    • Why get a pottery wheel?
      • We currently have a large kiln, and it will go up to cone-8.
      • There has been interest in getting pottery equipment, and we can offer new classes!

Shop updates

• Thanks to Phil and Simon have fixed our Sound System.
  • We are going to do research and get a kit to repair them
• Trash rules
  • We cannot throw out large amounts of "construction refuse" like wood and metal in large clear bags.
  • Rule 1. We must use black/opaque contractor bags.
  • Rule 2. We must break huge heavy construction refuse into smaller bags.
• Powder coating?
  • We need a powder coat gun. Phil has researched quotes from different companies.
  • The prices are $86 and $172. The advantage of the more expensive gun is that it's a dual-wattage gun.
  • A regular oven would finish and dry the powder coat.
  • Do we want to pursue powder coating?
• Becky will look into making sure that the fire extinguishers are inspected.

Voting items

• We will put out a vote for the CNC machine

Project updates

• Phil has cleaned up the corner! Thank you!

Events

• Shop clean on Sunday, August 25th 2019. Please come and help out!

Move to adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 8:57 PM

Meeting minutes written by Becky "The Icebox" Zajdel