EQUIPMENT UPDATE // Major Metal Shop Upgrade

Jake Antonelli, who arrived here last spring from Philadelphia to manage the metal and wood shops, explains the draw to 3rd Ward: “You can get practical real-life application in a cool setting and be surrounded by plenty of high-end customized work. There's so much potential here, and it’s a perfect place for that to flourish.”

So on a recent afternoon, we toured the evolving space with him and learned about some new game-changing assets, including a Clausing Colchester 15" Metal Lathe, Bridgeport series 1 automatic and manual metal mills and a Kuhlmann engraver (Check out the photos after the jump.)

“Until now, our metal shop has been equipped for welding and grinding. Now with the addition of the Bridgeports and metal lathes, we’ll be able to mill metal, which allows for more precision types of applications,” Jake says. The equipment was purchased over the past few months from a neighborhood machinist who used to manufacture for the Navy and went out of business.

“All of these machines are 1950s technology. Students here are learning the basics from scratch; there’s no better way to learn. The timeless approach is being challenged by digital technology—meaning your hands are removed from the process—but what we’re trying to do is spark a renaissance to bring back old and forgotten methods,” he says. “This is an opportunity to really explore materials in depth and understand them from the inside out. We want to be current [and the shops’ digital components are growing], but also want people to understand things from the ground up.”

Along our tour of the currently intersecting metal and wood shops (within a few months, the wood shop is moving upstairs, to a gorgeous light filled loft space outfitted with a separate classroom), we pass a guy building a guitar, surrounded by a collection of other musical instruments he has made, and a stack of wood from an old water tank that will be turned into reclaimed restaurant tabletops. Miles Davis plays in the background, and Jake points to other pockets of activity: a guy using materials from an old bowling alley to build his own kitchen; another working on a residential cabinet job for a designer.

“We have a lot of professionals working out of here. They’re here all day long running a business, often working for architects or designers on fabrication projects. They’re really up on the latest equipment and tools, always pushing, ‘Hey, we need one of these.’ They’re a great research group. We’re trying to build a model of education, and I’ve been treating it like a university [in terms of acquiring equipment]. We have all the basic machinery, simple and accessible enough for everybody,” Jake says.   

While some equipment can be reserved, it’s mostly available on a first-come first-serve basis. The off-peak (i.e. less busy) time tends to be between 8 and 11am. “The shop community works together to share equipment, and people figure out a rhythm,” Jake says. Come on in for your own tour, and see how it all comes together. 

Clausing Colchester 15" Metal Lathe

Kuhlmann engraver

Bridgeport metal mill

-- Cara Cannella