Can under 18s use the makerspace?

Discussion
1

My 12 year old and son and I would love to join the makerspace to work on some woodworking projects together.

I couldn’t find anything on the site about age limits but I wanted to check whether the space is for over 18s only for insurance reasons for example.

If we were able to join I would of course make sure he was supervised at all times and only used equipment I was certain he knew how to use safely.

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2

Hi David!

That sounds like a great idea!

I think the @directors would be best to answer this question.

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Hey David,

This is not a real answer but we had under 18s at the space, people have been bringing kids around to learn the basic of electronics, as an electrotech I usually very happy as long as they are not left unattended and they don’t engage in dangerous behavior.

Of course, in the electronic area the worse can happen is that you burn yourself or break a tool, in the woodwork area, tools breaks you.

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Thanks Andrea, good to know that under 18s are allowed in the space at least.

I totally understand the risks in the woodworking area are higher, but he’s a very mature and cautious 12 year old and I obviously I wouldn’t even be considering this if I thought there was any danger. I’m not sure what equipment you have, but my first thought would be to only allow him to use hand tools plus the power tools he’s been shown how to use in his CDT classes at school.

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