Please take a second on which you think is more important to the space. As it stands right now the board feels comfortable furnishing one of these options but our funds don’t allow us to do both at this time. These are both large improvements to the building and would not be easily taken with us if/when we move.
0 voters
I would note that painting can be done in a variety of places. The plasma cutter is a much more unique resource.
Quick clarification, wouldn’t the ventilation also be required for welding inside? Just wondering if not having ventilation effectively shuts down the metal shop?
Definitely the Plasma Cutter - people have been screaming for training about that for several months and I was supposed to teach it after I got out of school this Spring, and I need it up and running so that I am satisfied / comfortable with the operation myself.
JAG “Armor Plate Your Vehicle For Dallas Traffic” MAN
Welding is fine, but a different solution for its ventilation is being considered outside of this ventilation. It is cheaper and it should not be a consideration in this poll.
Apparently not. In several of the member/board meetings it has been mentioned that the marshall doesn’t find the welding machines to be as much of a concern. Apparently they are easier to ‘filter’ or otherwise deal with.
Painting can always be done outdoors. Just take some newspaper to put on the ground before spraying paint.
The fire marshall apparently decided the fumes from welding were not cause for immediate concern, as only the plasma was to be shut down until repaired.
Disucssion here
and here
Pure speculation on my part, but perhaps because if you are overcome by welding fumes, you’ll stop welding. If you’re overcome by CNC plasma fumes, it does NOT care.
I keep a tarp in my personal storage box at the space for just this type of need.
Please note that spray painting is NOT allowed indoors and that “the variety of places” should be outside and considerate of the surroundings.
Is it a safe assumption that the poll is to determine a priority because of the costs involved? Meaning that we could ultimately have both over a long enough period of time, but that one has to come first?
I was thinking in terms of “at home” or “not at the space”. Certainly not inside the space, as that has been clearly forbidden by the fire marshal.
Incidentally - how much are we talking for these projects ? I don’t have a good handle on what such things cost.
correct, but we will not guarantee a time line on the second, could be 3 months could be more than a year, could be never.
Also of note. This is with the current plasma cutter. Any training will have to be figured out by the membership. Just because we get ventilation it doesn’t solve all of plasma cutters issues.
Lastly, please tell people to come and vote if they do not check Talk often.
Thank you,
I am really not wanting to invest in a Plasma Cutter that is buggy and we don’t own it. I would rather DMS purchase a new CNC plasma cutter solution than spending money on a broken system.
It will be a while though as it’s going to be approx 50K everything said and done as well it will still need owners.
But in the end that’s the goal of this pole. To get a feel of what the membership wants.
As far as painting outside this is also an issue of the few that really screw it up for the rest of us. We already have paint stains because of people painting outside directly on concrete.
If a car “accidentally” gets painted we may be forced to restrict painting entirely…
One is more expensive than the other, but we are looking at 10K- 12K for one or 16K - 20K for another. Hence why we can do one or another. I don’t want to sway just on cost. I would like to look at utilization as a key metric. Which would benefit the whole membership more.
A new system would likely also need ventilation.
I’ve been waiting on the plasma cutter since I joined in January. Looks like it works well enough to me based on the samples I’ve seen. An upgrade would be great, but that would not seem to be an immediate option.
The plasma cutter is also one of the tools that prompted me to Join as well. As far as I know the tool itself isn’t ‘buggy’, but the computer software/hardware may be. It also sounded like @JAGMAN was in the process of preparing a class for this. So I think that address @Robert_Davidson other concerns, but I could as always be wrong. 
Personally, I’ll just do my painting at home. If/when we get a paint booth with something more then rattle paint cans I would of course use the tooling at the space, but what we had before wasn’t something that appealed to me, nor was it a factor in my decision to become a member.
I’ll be available to do some training on the plasma if we can get it up and going.
Correct a new system would need ventilation.
Cost of new machine is approx 30K
10K in Misc
10K in ventilation
Painting is a much more common need and would be used a lot more than the plasma cutter