What if you knew every printer, laser, and skill two streets away?
Hi everyone,
Long-time lurker, first real post. I'm an engineer, designer and maker (3D printing, electronics, a bit of robotics) and I've been chewing on something I wanted to put in front of people who actually get it.
The maker capacity in any city is huge but scattered: someone has a printer at home, a fablab has a laser, a neighbor runs a CNC in their garage, and above all, there's a ton of skill spread around. The weird part is we almost never know who has what two streets away. We end up ordering online something a neighbor could've helped us make in an afternoon.
So I built fem. (Catalan for "we make"): an open map of a city's maker fabric, where anyone can put their machines and skills on the map, find other makers nearby, and team up. It's part of my master's thesis at Fab Lab Barcelona (IAAC), so it's really an experiment about activating what already exists in a neighborhood, not a product. It's free, it's not a marketplace, and there's nothing to sell.
It's seeded in Barcelona right now, but the idea isn't Barcelona-specific, which is exactly why I wanted to ask here:
Would you use something like this where you live? Is anyone already doing it well in your city? What would actually make you put your printer and skills on a map, and what would stop you?
Link if you want to poke around: fem-barcelona.lovable.app
Honestly, what I need most is makers tearing it apart and telling me what's broken.
Thanks!
Mini-Poll : Would you map your gear and skills on an open maker map in your city?
A : Yes, I'd add mine today
B : Interested, I'd watch how it grows first
C : Only if there's a real critical mass of makers near me
D : Not for me, and I'll tell you why
Map? Definitely not. It's advertising to every thief where the expensive equipment is to be found.
Join a local contact list or maker group where the geography is not exposed until two makers need to meet - probably.
Last Wednesday I shared a (semi regular) pub lunch with a boat-builder/carpenter, a luthier, a furniture restorer and a hydraulic and power-systems engineer - all of us technically retired but still engaged in a wide range of projects although we mostly talk about fishing. All of us are willing to look at interesting repairs and builds including community programs.
None of us would like the location of our workshops publicly known.
Cheerio,
RE: What if you knew every printer, laser, and skill two streets away?
Don't want to be a Debbie Downer here but this is a dear borne idea. From my own personal experience with crowd sourced information management, I'm sure you'll never get a critical mass or, worse, nobody will ever update their information so after a while it's all just dead weight. One example is the Prusa world map itself. Hardly anyone enter their information, and a couple of times I checked things the information turned out to be outdated.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- https://foxrun3d.com/
RE: What if you knew every printer, laser, and skill two streets away?
Fair, and the workshop-as-target angle is one I hadn't weighted enough.
The part I keep coming back to is your pub group. That's the kind of network I'm actually studying, and it's interressant for my thesis that it works because it stays off the record.
If you're ever up for telling me how a group like that comes together and holds for years, I'd value that over any sign-up.
Cheers.
RE: What if you knew every printer, laser, and skill two streets away?
Don't want to be a Debbie Downer here but this is a dear borne idea. From my own personal experience with crowd sourced information management, I'm sure you'll never get a critical mass or, worse, nobody will ever update their information so after a while it's all just dead weight. One example is the Prusa world map itself. Hardly anyone has entered information, and a couple of times I checked things the information turned out to be outdated.
Formerly known on this forum as @fuchsr -- https://foxrun3d.com/
RE: What if you knew every printer, laser, and skill two streets away?
The Prusa map is a good reference point, thanks !
Every advantage mine doesn't have, and it still went sparse and stale. Though I'd say the scope is pretty different: that's one machine type, one brand's community. fem. is about the whole productive fabric of a neighbourhood, 3D printers, laser cutters, CNCs, sewing machines, but also the people who know how to weld, repair electronics, upholster, cast concrete. The goal is genuinely for it to work and be used, so I'm trying to understand how it is possible.
That said, the critical mass problem is real and I don't have a clean answer to it yet.
Thanks again for your knowledge and your help.
Cheers.
RE: What if you knew every printer, laser, and skill two streets away?
We've met the enemy and it is us, human beings. Imagine what could be accomplished if everybody was honest, altruistic, had spare time and disposable income, was in reasonably good health, was well rounded and interested in everything. Combine the skills and tools and almost any problem could be solved, great artwork created or maybe just have the greatest brainstorming session ever.
Instead, we have to worry about the dishonest and the people out for their own personal gain. Scammers and a hundred other things. And daily life. I fantasize about meeting people with similar interests, but it rarely happens. When it does, they're too busy to actually do anything. Or I am. Or they're not a personality type I want to be around. Or, more likely, I'm not a personality type they want to be around.
It's a good idea but very hard to implement so it works and so it continues for any length of time.
RE:
Besides the theft issue, there's also that of having your time wasted by people who want something for nothing, those who don't understand real world limitations, that their idea/design is inherently dumb, etc. If you've got your shingle hung out as a professional shop, then dealing with all the above and more is at least part of the job description. But as a hobbyist, no thanks.
Edit to add; in the US there is also civil liability to consider in all of its pernicious forms.