return of the mobile hackspace obsession

Last summer I went into a deep obsession with the idea of having a mobile hackspace. I’d decided that running something like the Sparktruck project would be a great idea. I did a lot of research including asking people to recount their experiences of using tools in schools. The main issue for me was I couldn’t work out what I wanted from the mobile hackspace project. I’ve little interest in teaching kids (it’s a thankless task and there are lots and lots of people doing it) but much more interested in people teaching themselves and putting tools into peoples hands to try (and fail) and try again (and succeed).

As I looked into it more and more I got distracted by the vehicle needed. I went through a full range of ideas and counter ideas from special Land Rovers to Luton sized vans. Next I got overly worried about financing the project the insurance costs and kitting it out. I’d just gone part time at work with the idea of going fully freelance… it wasn’t going well I needed to work on things that made income and I couldn’t really workout how to make a living with mobile hackspace or even IF I should be able to. Other projects came up to swamp my obsession and I more or less threw in the towel putting the project on hold indefinitely.

Indefinitely, that is until I got re-inspired by two things. The Electro Magnetic Wave event and the London Hackspace LHS Bikeshed. I really enjoyed making and selling t-shirts all day at EMW and I saw how effective a caravan was at being converted into a starship and how roomy it was inside really. Caravans can sometimes be found cheaply, maybe even for free, I figured. I already have a little van, all I need do is add a tow bar! Yesterday a good friend of mine John Crouchley (one of the very earliest members of Nottingham Hackspace) offered me his old Sprite CI caravan sending me the following pictures.

The next steps are to go and see the “van” (TIL that no one in the world of caravans calls them caravans, just vans) and see if it’s salvageable  It’s not been moved in 6 years and looks rusty in parts. If it can be moved I’ll be finding a yard somewhere to store and work on it. Hopefully as close to the hackspace as possible. Next I’ll check the interiors and workout what I want to keep and what I want to remove. I’ll overhaul the inside and the outside, ensuring all the windows have good seals and repairing any rotten wood and sealing up any leaking joints and whatnot. I’d like to get the exterior a custom vinyl finish (I know a guy) if it can be cleaned up.

Then I’ll be looking for sponsors and I’m going to fill that van with tools…. not overnight mind…

View my imgur album of caravan pictures. 

visiting london hackspace 3.0

360 panorama of London Hackspace spot Bob @thinkl33t of HacMan

I was lucky enough to be offered a bit of FREE PARKING for my van prior to the EMW event at the new London Hackspace venue, at 447 Hackney Road in the London borough of Hoxston, just a little further east than their old haunt at the Cremer Street Business centre.

Of course a good look around the new 6,600 square foot venue was a must. The infrastructure team had done a cracking job of putting up and painting partition walls, painting and sealing the workshop floor and running power all over the place. One of the most noticeable things about the new Hackspace is the zoning, with areas dedicated to welding, quiet work, electronics, woodworking and so on. The two floor unit has a shop type street frontage (not currently being used), a large yard at the rear that you could park ten or twenty cars in at a push, a loading bay with roller shutter door and a goods lift. Thankfully the LHS team are keeping parking at the space to a minimum and possible usage outside will include a small garden, BBQing area as well as the obligatory bike shed!

During my visit Tom Wyatt (@fridgehead) and Charles Yarnold (@CharlesYarnold) were working on LHS Bikeshed, a bike shed only in name. Tom, Charles and Hipster (aka Chris Paton) have been working hard on the starship simulator. It has more Starbug than Star Trek about it but it’s a super bit of work. Inspired partly by Artimis Starship Bridge Simulator and SpaceTeam the lads have been working hard (when not spearheading the infrastructure team at Hackspace) on what was described by Cory Doctorow as “Darth Vader’s Caravan”. They picked the old caravan up cheap from an events company that like to destroy them in what I can only imagine is a testosterone fuel “Top Gear” homage. The LHS Bikeshed did good service at the EMW event and will make an appearance at the London Hackspace Open Day on Sunday 12th May also.

During my visit founder Russ Garrett (@russss) fired up the BBQ, since my visit to TOG in Dublin in June 2012 I’ve been very keen to have outside space for the Nottingham Hackspace. Having a BBQ when the weather is nice is one of the best social events a Hackspace can have (in my humble opinion).

It was clear that the team are still settling in at LHS 3.0 with boxes of stuff everywhere and a shortage of worktables and usable chairs. I’m certain that this new Hackspace will be as cosy as the old one and twice as functional.

The LHS has an excellent Flickr pool and Wiki pages and you can go and visit them on their Tuesday night Open Evening any week of the year. Some of the members their are getting very good indeed at organising event. More about that in my next post – Electro Magnetic Wave.