The Two Shelves

Like many hackerspaces, TOG accepts a lot of materials, donations, parts, and junk that Might Come In Useful™… sometimes so much that there’s no room for actual hacking. The problem is so common, there’s even a Hackerspace Design Pattern for it: the Old Hardware Pattern.

For the last year, we’ve been running a version of the two-shelf system, in which items left around the space are put on the shelves for collection or eventual disposal.

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Need some 5 1/4″ disk drives? Or a laser-cut ball bearing race?
SWAG. Very important.
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Lost and found.

Does it work? Kind of. Lost items are reunited with their owners. Unused items inspire new projects. Semi-regular photos let members check the shelves from afar, workspaces are cleared with impunity, and there’s a slow but steady flow of junk out of the space.

And yet, the space is still full of stuff… 😀