We are open from noon until 6pm, Monday to Saturday. We are often available outside of those hours, but it is not guaranteed.
Occasionally we are not open during these hours: if the weather is absolutely terrible, we may declare a Weather Day for the safety of our staff.
After extremely big events, we may close the building for the next day to let everybody recover. We always post about it on our Facebook page.
902 Leonard Street NW
Grand Rapids MI 49504
It is just past the corner of Leonard and Alpine, on the Northwest side of Grand Rapids.
We have a large assortment of tools available for members to use! Our non-inclusive list of them starts with:
- 8-foot panel saw
- Floor standing Jet Drill Press
- 13" Wood Planer
- 6" Wood Jointer
- Large Table Saw
- Assortment of small Drill Presses
- Pearling Machine
- Bench Grinder
- Portable Induction Heater
- Router Table
- Bench Sander
- Large assortment of hand drills, portable saws, vices, clamps, etc.
And of course, the CNC Equipment!
Any member can use the equipment after being cleared by a staff member. Some of the items are common sense, some of them require a few minutes of instruction before using the first time.
The only pieces of equipment that require intensive instruction before using on your own is the CNC equipment. Everything else can be learned easily within an afternoon.
No!
We would love you to come to our shop and help you make your part, but we can't allow anybody to bring in GCode unless you have already passed the Machining classes and have been given permission to do so.
It is common practise that even after generating GCode that looks perfect in simulation, re-generation will be required. Sometimes this can be done with an editor such as NCPlot, but sometimes it requires starting over
with the CAM software to regenerate it completely (a good example would be if we need to use a completely different tool, with different cut depths and diameter).
If you want to make a part in the shop, either bring in a DXF/DWF file or a piece of paper with the dimensions written down so it can be drawn into a CAD format. If you want to do a 3d part, STL is our preference.
From there, one of the staff will help you go from drawing to GCode, and will do so on software in our facility allowing it to be re-worked as necessary.
We generally do not fabricate parts for clients. We have CNC equipment (along with a full machine shop and woodshop) available for members to learn how to use.
It is not intended to be a shop for us to make you parts. We would be happy to discuss your parts with you and give you a referral to another shop, if we can.
We have three machines made by Haas: a SR-100 3-axis Gantry Router, a TM-1 3 Axis Mill with 4-Axis Rotary Head, and a TL-1 2 axis Lathe.
Membership is available to anybody of any age.
The ability to use the Leonard Street Labs, however, is restricted by age.
Some of the events and classes will be open to younger age groups and will be advertised as such.
Use of the general facility is 16-and-up unsupervised and on a case-by-case basis for the younger geeks. For all underage geeks, a parent or guardian must sign some paperwork allowing them to participate in the facility.
A few items around the labs are restricted to 18-and-up, and the staff is very diligent about monitoring access and competency.
In the first half of 2012, we will be rolling out Charter Memberships. These are corporate memberships
and will give your business a fluid, exchangeable membership that can be distributed
however you wish amongst your employees or group.
Membership is free to any and all persons with a sincere and passionate desire to learn.
Paid membership is available to persons who wish to use parts of the facility, and is 100% optional.
Please see the MEMBERSHIP BREAKDOWN for details.
Website (Forum) membership is always free.
