The tour of this makerspace just outside Denver and Boulder, Colorado took place in September 2019, long before COVID-19 flipped spaces like these on their heads. However, as of today, TinkerMill is open for business, albeit with several precautions in place.
Take a peek inside this massive, and well-equipped space in the video below with our delightful and most excellent tour guide, Joe Augustaitus.
I’m very sad to report that Joe unexpectedly passed away March 9 of this year. More on him can be found at the end of this article.
COVID-19 Restrictions
For the most up-to-date information on precautionary measures surrounding the coronavirus, you can check this page. As of today, some of these rules include wearing a fabric face-covering and maintaining 6 feet of separation from others at all times.
Ron Thomas, Executive Director of TinkerMill:
“It’s so incredibly important that everyone do their part with isolation, social distancing, and mask wearing. I’m so proud of all the TinkerMillians who have pulled together to keep our community safe.”
Tours
In-person tours are back on, although with a very limited capacity and with the new COVID rules applying to all participants. However, for the most up-to-date information, it’s probably best to drop them a line here before stopping by.
Now, onto the good stuff.
Toys
I’ve been to quite a few makerspaces and fablabs around the world, and TinkerMill is definitely one of the most impressive. They have all the typical tools you’d expect. Plus, if you have an urgent need to do some glass-blowing or to forge a metal sword, as we all do at times, they have you covered.
3D Printers
Filament for the 3D printers is supplied by TinkerMill and users weigh what they’ll use and pay by the gram.
The current list of available machines includes the following:
- Da Vinci 1.0 -2 units
- Flashforge Creator Pro – 2 Units
- Flashforge Creator (Makerbot Clone)- 1 unit
- SeeMeCNC Rostock Max Delta Arm- 1 unit
HAM Radio
Those with an amateur FCC radio license can get approval to come into the “HAM Shack” and use it at any time. The site at Tinkermill is registered and has its own call letters, which has been used to make contact with over 70 countries.
You can find out more on the Wiki page here.
Photoshop
Here, you’ll find 2 photo printers with a color-corrected display screen. You can also develop old-timey black-and-white film at TinkerMill, capture the negatives digitally and produce prints from those negatives. Plus, Adobe Photoshop is available on the computer in this space.
Electronics and Robotics Lab
Basic electronics fabrication gear like soldering irons and oscilloscopes can be found here.
In a separate building, there’s also a pick-and-place machine if you want to assemble a bunch of boards. Additionally, you might find their very active robotics group skunkworks-ing it up in the lab.
Read the rest at SolidSmack
