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The space at 48 S. Summit St. is clean, well-lit, and cluttered in a very organized fashion. A slightly metallic scent lingers above bare cement floors in high-ceilinged rooms devoted to different types of creation: wood shop, metal shop, electronics shop, bike shop, craft shop. A foyer lined with bookshelves and members’ small projects greets visitors to the narrow but deep one-story building.
Devin Wolfe, founder and president of Akron Makerspace, handles a small item he crafted in a 3D printer in the space’s bright meeting room, which is crowded with adjustable work tables and black chairs on wheels. The item is a tiny replica of a pangolin, a mammal with an articulated shell that bears a striking resemblance—but no relation—to an armadillo. One of Wolfe’s fellow members asks why he 3D-printed the pangolin. “If you have the tool and you can make the thing, make the thing,” he replies.
That sums up the Akron Makerspace philosophy. “We are a family of makers,” Wolfe says. In 2011, Wolfe and three fellow industrious types banded together to share garage space for building things and making art and called themselves “Syn/Hak.” Acquiring equipment from yard sales and auctions, the creative community quickly generated a following. Wolfe noticed that interested parties had “an insatiable thirst to learn skills and techniques,” so the group realigned, moved to a warehouse space on North Street, and took on its current name.
“Akron Makerspace is not just a place for woodworkers and metal fabricators,” Wolfe says. “It’s a place to learn crafting and build robots, make art or code your next app, to build that project you have had stuck in your head or fix and improve the broken things we have in our lives.”
The North Street space was primitive, with no heat and a shared bathroom in a different part of the building. Becca Radonich, who joined Makerspace in 2013, recalls those conditions with nostalgia. “What was great is that it showed everybody’s dedication,” she says. “It was a huge bonding experience for us.” Radonich knew on her first visit to the space that she and her wife would join. “We walked in and the look on both of our faces was, we’re at home.” Not only did they join, Radonich is now the group’s secretary and vice president of membership.
With a growing membership and expanding inventory of tools and machinery, Makerspace moved to the former Zinc Engraving building on S. Summit Street in 2014. “When we moved in, there was nothing,” Radonich says. “We built walls, put in sliding doors. Now we’re bursting at the seams.”
Comprising about 50 members today, the all-volunteer group welcomes men, women, young, old, skilled and unskilled alike—anyone who wants to build, learn, or teach something. “It’s an open family with members from all backgrounds, orientations, and viewpoints,” Wolfe says. They offer classes in 3D printing, soldering, welding, woodworking, and other creative skills, as well as game, cosplay, and crafting nights. Wolfe encourages the curious to come to their weekly open house to see what it’s all about. “You get to work with people you never would have met, and learn things you didn’t know,” he says.
The group’s endeavors often spill out into the greater community, as well. They have participated in the Akron Children’s Hospital Tree Festival the past three years, and they’re working to help Twinsburg and Hudson local school systems start their own makerspaces. “We’re helping them set up their curriculum and spec smaller equipment,” Wolfe says.
In contrast to incubators and accelerators for start-ups, Makerspace offers resources for creative minds that might not yet know how to bring their ideas into reality, as well as a collaborative community for those with know-how to share their skills. “You can work on your hobby, your portfolio, your business, and yourself,” Wolfe says. “So, what do you want to make today?”
Visit www.akronmakerspace.org to learn more about membership, classes, and the weekly open house at Akron Makerspace.
