Students as fabricators

[DampRobot]

In keeping with our "student run, student built" motto, everything for our team is machined by students.

We've nominally got about 30 mech kids, 12 or so of whom I would trust to cut stuff on the band saw or drill press unsupervised. The rest would need supervision, but luckily most of them don't show up very much. Almost all of them can do layout work at least at some level.

We have a manual Grisly lathe, about 4 or 5 kids know at a basic level how to use it, and 3 or so (including myself) I would really trust to make comp bot quality parts on it unsupervised.

Our CNC mill is a HAAS TM-1, and there are only two kids (again, including myself) that can operate it alone and at an advanced level. Two more know how to code for it and can set it up and run it supervised, and two or so more have used it before, but I wouldn't trust them to work on it without me there.

4 or so kids know how to weld, although we're trying to do mostly riveted frames instead of welded ones lately.

Only one guy knows how to use TechShop's waterjet, although I've helped him with coding and setting up a few times. Three of us know how to powdercoat there, although I do most of the powdercoating.

I've found the best way to train kids is to just make parts with them. Take a random kid that's standing around, and get him to mill/turn/cut a part with you. Eventually, they'll become competent enough that they can use the machine themselves.