Membership grants 24/7 access to the makerspace. You’ll be able to use the wood shop, metal shop, sewing room, 3D printers, laser cutters, and electronics lab to build your projects. You can attend classes for machines that require training or a safety orientation. You’ll get a shelf to store projects or supplies if you want.
Most importantly, you’ll belong to a community of makers, hackers, and nerds just like you! Protospace is ran 100% by the membership. Everything is done by volunteers. We have no owners, employees, shareholders, or staff. Actually, you might be the only one in the building at 3:00 am.
Dues
Member dues: $55 / month – (students or low income: $35 / month).
Membership Includes:
- 24/7 access to Protospace
- Personal storage shelf
- Access to all tools:
- Laser cutters
- 3D printers
- Full wood & metal shop
- Hand & power tools
- Sewing room
- Electronics room
- Access to workbenches / workspaces
- Vote on decisions at meetings
- Community of nerds
New member discount: pay for the first two months, get the third one free!
Payment options: cash, cheque, Square, PayPal or e-Transfer.
Cancellation: Pause or cancel any time, there are no contracts.
Membership Process
Outline:
- Attend Tuesday Open House 7-9pm
- Sign up
- Probationary membership
- Four week period
- Find two sponsors
- Attend New Member Orientation class
- Get vetted
- Full membership
- Take classes
Attend open house: Every Tuesday from 7-9 pm we host an open house (except Dec 24th & 31st). The public is welcome to attend, take tours, interact with the membership, and look at our gizmos. No need to book anything, just show up.
Sign up: When you are ready to join, you sign up at an open house. We’ll print some forms for you to sign and take your initial payment.
Probationary membership: You’ll be a probationary member for a minimum of four weeks. During this time you’ll only be able to access the space when a full member is present.
Four week period: After four weeks you can choose to get vetted, or continue as a probationary member indefinitely.
Find two sponsors: You’ll need to find two members who can vouch for your good character before you can get vetted. You can meet people during the weekly open houses, monthly cleans, or many of our classes.
Attend New Member Orientation: Before you can use any tool larger than a screw driver, you’ll need to attend an orientation class. It covers general shop safety and outlines the culture of Protospace.
Get vetted: After four weeks, two sponsors, and the orientation, you can get vetted. This usually happens on Tuesday nights. We’ll ask you some questions, make sure you’ve met the above requirements, and give you a key fob.
Full member: Once vetted, you’re considered a full member. You’ll have 24/7 access to the building, get the alarm code, be able to vote at the monthly member meetings, be able to sponsor new members, and get a shelf to store things on.
Take classes: Some of our machines require training in order to be allowed to operate them. Volunteers routinely run classes that you can attend for a small fee.
Member Duties
Our 3 guiding principles are:
- Be excellent to each other
- Don’t make us make a rule
- Don’t be on fire
We rely on our members to make things happen. Members are expected to pitch in to keep the place safe and tidy.
Membership FAQ
We receive a number of repeat questions in our inbox:
Do you offer day rates?
No, we are not set up to host and monitor users on a per day basis. We don’t have staff, everything we do is done by our wonderful and amazing volunteers!
Can I just join for a month to do my one project?
Not exactly, as a new member your first month is a probationary month where you are unable to use the space alone. Also, the training courses necessary to use certain equipment may not be offered at times convenient to facilitate this. That said, we are not a like gym and there are no contracts so you are free to cancel or pause your membership at any time with no penalties.
Can I get immediate/urgent access to your space to do my school project or that thing I left to the last minute?
No, all new members must go through the same new membership process described above.
I need to do just one small thing, but it’s urgent or I don’t have the skills to do it. Can someone do it for me?
You are welcome to post a commission request on our forum. However, please be aware that there is no guarantee that we have any members willing or able to take on your request. It’s up to you to work something out with a member.