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Got broken stuff?  Bring it down to the new Brickyard Repair Café and learn how to fix it, help fix it, fix it yourself or just watch it being fixed!

Too much stuff goes into the dumpster, and a whole lot of it could be repaired.  We have a crack team of volunteers who can fix just about anything, and not only that, they can teach you some of the skills, too.

What can we fix?  We can repair, mend, patch, rebuild, remake and restore almost anything.  We are a makerspace, after all!  How does it work?  Go over to this page, The Brickyard Repair Cafe, read the Fine Print and submit the form telling us all about your repair.  We’ll get back to you and confirm your appointment.  When do we run the Repair Café?  One Saturday afternoon a month.  Check the schedule here for the next one.  What does it cost?  It’s free, though if we need parts you’re going to have to pay for them, and a modest donation is encouraged to keep our happy Repair elves, well, happy.

Gather up your broken stuff and come on down!  We’ll get the next Café scheduled within the next day or so…

A little pitch for some help…

We opened our doors in February, and rented all our floor space memberships by March.  We’ve got over $100,000 in equipment, and we’re signing new members at a rate of about 4 per month.  We have 35 members now, and are growing fast to our break-even goal of 50 full members.  We’re growing remarkably fast.

…but we still need a little bit longer runway.

Money’s tight, and it limits how quickly we can grow our offerings and our facility.

We’re looking for just a few key backers.  We need, at least, some cash to cover a few months of expenses.  At best, we could use enough to give us that boost we need to get fully off the ground.  Whether it’s a donation or a loan, it can make the difference between taxiing along on the runway, or taking off.

Can you help?  Do you know someone who might love what we’re doing and lend us a hand?  Share this post, along with this document: Invest in.

Contact us here to learn more.  We’d be happy to discuss the details – business plan, financial records, projections…  we’re well above our target goals.

Of course, we always welcome any donations you can make, large or small!  Use this PayPal link – any major credit card accepted, no PayPal account needed:

The folks at Eastern Bank like to say “Join us for Good”, and, well, they backed it up this week with a grant for The Brickyard through their Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation!  A HUGE shoutout and thanks, and in particular, thanks go to Mr. Gregory Giacopelli, VP of the Business Banking Relationship department for his kind support and guidance!

To learn more about the foundation, go here: Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation. They’re on the Facebook and Instagram too!  Give them a Like and a Share, and tell ’em The Brickyard sent ya!

We have a lot of stuff.  We also have a lot of really talented people who know how to use it.  Want to get something done?  Want to try something out?  Take a look at “Brickyard Gigs” – a sourcing tool for you to get in touch with one of our members who’s a specialist in whatever you need.

Here’s a short list of what we can do:

• Rapid prototyping with 3D printing, our laser cutter or our CNC router.
• Wood and metal work – any project, from small to enormous.
• Robotics, coding, electromechanical design and production
• Finishing (paint spray booth)
• Photography, video creation, editing, production
• Electronics design and repair
• Computer repair
• Letterpress design and production
• Micromanufacturing production runs
• Piecework, assembly and fabrication

Some projects we’ve worked on:

We repaired a 1940s vintage variable speed motor for one of our letterpresses.  Here’s what that looked like when we tested it in the shop:

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One of our friends needed a motor-driven “chandelier” – a hoist-operated lift to adjust his lighting in this studio, and make it easier to replace bulbs –

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We have a full letterpress studio and the printmasters who know how to use it.  Have a letterpress project you’ve been wanting to tackle?  Take a look at some samples:

We have pretty impressive 3D printing capabilities as well – whether it’s a part you’ve found and downloaded, or you’ve designed, or you need us to design or modify, we can do it – here’s a custom phone case being printed:

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Some of what we do is just free – we love making stuff, and we’ve done more than a few projects just because we have fun doing them.  Some are more commercial, and our members will “make for hire”.  Submit your project here, and see what we can do for you!  Brickyard Gigs

For a look at who we are, and what we’re able to do, take a look at our Maker Profiles, here: Meet the Maker (category)

Joining us at The Brickyard Collaborative doesn’t have to be a big commitment of time and money – maybe you need a laser cutter, but don’t have the time to learn how to use it?  That’s where we can help!  Drop us a line about your latest project today.