I am the owner/president of a newly formed Fab Lab / Makerspace. We recently obtained the official 501©(3) designation from the IRS in April of this year and we are currently in the process of opening soon.
I am interested in a Maslow CNC for a variety of different reasons. A CNC machine would allow our students and members to bring their ideas to reality! We would love to have a Maslow CNC machine as demonstrates an extremely unique concept to the current status quo, uses a lot of off-the-shelf parts, and uses open-source software. We are brand new charitable organization, as such, I was wondering if Maslow CNC offers any discounts or incentives.
With over 1,000,000 individuals in the Fort Smith area, our mission is to be the primary location in our community where artists, designers, and inventors (regardless of age or experience) are able to learn and expand their knowledge using new technologies in a fun, exciting and supportive environment.
There is a need in the surrounding areas for fun and educational STEM resources. These resources teach students how to use a variety of different technologies they may not have had exposure to otherwise. The STEM activities they have for different grades are not accessible to everyone since the equipment is located at each school. There is a large amount of local home-schooled students who are at even more of a disadvantage since they generally do not have access to any equipment.
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What a great endeavor you are starting! Kudos 
Everything is open source, so you can literally build everything yourself, which is the most cost effective but takes your time. If you have some money, and no time, the kit makers: @MakerMadeCNC, @Metalmaslow and @EastBaySource sell “kits”, which still require that you purchase materials to build the frame, as well as various other parts (see @Maslow_Surplus_Parts / https://maslowsurplusparts.com/) .
In addition to the kit makers, you probably already noticed, in this “Swap Meet” category, there a many opportunities to pick up a kit (even an assembled machine!) for a very much discounted price.
Cheers
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Hi, Congrats on your new endeavor. The original maslow company gave away free kits to makerspaces and schools and we have talked to them about trying to continue this. However we got the impression that many of the donated kits were not used or even built so would probably require that the frame be built first and some other stipulations. Call or email us and we can work something out. contact info on website:
Thanks www.metalmaslow.com
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Thanks for both responses. I’ll have to check out the links you provided.
I just the wood to create the frame and am going to start assembling it tonight.
I thought about building it from all individual parts, but I don’t live in an area where it would be extremely easy to get all of the parts. So, I would have to use Amazon, and I would rather have the money go back to the group that created the idea, even if it is a little bit more.
You are just down the road from us! We are based in Rogers, AR. Would love to talk with you about possible collaborations. We have been looking for ways to get involved with our local community.
I’m in a remote essentially makerspace free area, but have been able to visit several when traveling, ranging from castoff tools and leftovers to amazing. In the later category I took some classes, with my daughter, from The Foundry in Baltimore (besides CNC, plasma cutters, nice wood and metal shops they had computerized embroidery and a PancakeBot. Almost enough reason to skip SW FL and get the second home there, or just an apartment in the back room). Alas The Foundry is no more, revenue < expenses.
I wish you incredible success and break even or better. Good luck!
Even though Fab Lab Fort Smith is new (so new that we don’t have an official location yet) I think that we have a really good base group of people with a lot of different ideas on how to keep it sustained. I should be free a couple of days this week, let me know if you want me to come up to Rodgers and we can discuss some idea.
Thanks. I’m hoping to get some grants/donations to help get it started. But if we can keep it sustained and at least break even then I think it will be worth it. 