FAQ

Our Open House is a twice-weekly tour (Thursdays at 6pm and Saturdays at 11am) where we invite the public into our space to showcase the building, tools, space, community, and general offerings the Makerspace has. The Open House is a guided tour that covers what membership gets you, what it means to be a member, the different areas and tools we provide, the classes we offer, and general safety information. Attending a tour is a requirement for joining.

There are four steps to becoming a member at Rochester Makerspace:

1. Attend an Open House. They happen twice a week, 6pm on Thursdays and 11am on Saturdays.
2. Sign our waiver (available at the Open House).
3. Fill out a membership application packet (available at the Open House).
4. Pay your membership dues. See more at becoming a member.

Memberships are pay-as-you-go. As long as you are actively paying, you retain your membership. When you stop paying, your access will be withdrawn. There are no minimum time commitments or cancellation fees.

$0. There is no cancellation fee.

Contact the front office (office@rocmakers.org) and let the staff know about your cancellation request. You will be asked to return your key fob and stop your payment if it’s subscription based. Please note all staff are part-time and there may be 48 hour delay in a response. If a charge was made after your cancellation you will be reimbursed.

Memberships are pay-as-you-go, and we do not offer refunds after a payment is made. You can cancel anytime for no fee by stopping payment. If you want to stop payment, you will need to cancel your subscription service (we do not have access to your paypal account). Pre-paid memberships (six months, one year) are offered at a discount to help us forecast membership income. Because of this, they also are not refundable.

We have some staff, and they are all part-time. Our public facing staff consists of our Executive Director (president@rocmakers.org), Office Manager (office@rocmakers.org), and Facilities Manager (operations@rocmakers.org).

The Open House tour covers the roles of the staff, what it means to be a member, and you will be getting involved at the space.

Yes, minors are allowed at the space as part of a member’s household and must be accompanied by a legal guardian. There is no day-care or similar service offered at RMS. Minors can attend classes with a parents if there is a seat available for them and the area is not age restricted (stained glass, machine shop, wood shop, CNC).

• Industrial sewing machine
• Embroidery machine
• Cricut machine
• Electronics workbench
• 3D printing (filament and resin)
• CO₂ laser engravers
• Stained glass
• Machine shop
• Wood shop
• Wood lathe (separately from wood shop)
• CNC

Stained glass – 14 years old

Machine shop – 14 years old

Wood shop – 14 years old

CNC – 18 years old

Yes. Contact office@rocmakers.org to schedule a time to meet the staff for a new fob. Alternatively, you can come during Open House hours when staff is present at the building.

Yes, there is a very large lot supplied with our building. Find an available spot and simply park for free (please adhere to the painted lines).

Generally speaking, yes. If materials are part of an intro course they will be supplied at no charge to you. Some classes provide materials and may charge you for them (you’ll pay upfront so you know the cost). As you’ll be working on your own projects, you’ll be supplying yourself with your own materials. There are free materials shelfs, and the contents and stewardship of those areas are covered in the Open House tour.

Yes. Please contact the Executive Director at president@rocmakers.org with the details of what you have. We do provide tax receipts for donations. The Executive Director will work with you on a valuation of what you have.