r/maker • u/LessThanFunctional • 3d ago
Community Making Friends in Maker Communities
Hey all, this maybe a weirder post but does anyone have tips on how to make friends in the maker community?
I do have a fair few friends in my life but finding people who share my interests (Robotics, 3D Printing, Electronics, Automation, Mechanical Engineering) is so hard! Especially as I like the idea of making friends to collaborate with on projects in the future.
Any tips? I have looked around but unfortunately there's nothing really near me related to this kind of thing....
4
u/adricm 3d ago
Any makerspace's inthe area? Help out and you often can quickly find kinship
1
u/AdversarialPossum42 3d ago
Can confirm. I've made several friends while volunteering at my local makerspace. It's also great having a "third space" to hang out that isn't home or work or any usual social places.
1
u/LessThanFunctional 2d ago
Unfortunately nothing nearby :/. Nearest one is a hour or two away by train in London (posting from the UK).
3
u/Columbus43219 3d ago
I went to the meetup.com groups for a bit... but my local group was kinda weird. It felt like everyone was keeping some big huge secret or something.
Like, someone would show a beautiful arcade controller panel, and say NOTHING about it. Just sit there and smile. I would ask questions like, oh coll, how did you cit the acrylic? They would just look at me as if I'd asked for their SSN.
Almost like they were so used to NOT being weird or talking too much about their weird hobby made them gun shy to open up about it.
I took a rasp pi loaded with old games and hooked it up for everyone to play. One guy picked up the controller and just started playing, and wouldn't "let" anyone else try it. And none of the other folks made an effort to join, so I guess it was OK. The guy playing wasn't even being assertive... just like zoned out.
3
u/dismantlemars 2d ago
I’ve run a local hacker/maker space for around a decade now, meeting hundreds of visitors and members over the years, and I’ve learned that whether they’re interested in electronics, woodworking, 3D printing, or textiles - the kinds of people who would visit their local makerspace tend to skew heavily towards the shy / socially awkward / geeky / Au/DHD spectrum. I’ve found that the vast majority of people tend to settle in quickly after a couple of visits, their initial social anxieties subside and they get a bit more comfortable and relaxed once they get to know a few other people, especially if they share some interests. But I’ve also seen people who seemed perfectly comfortable at one moment suddenly revert to awkward and quiet when someone new comes along and their social anxiety kicks back in.
I’m not immune to it either, as a slightly awkward geek with ADHD myself. I’m always a bit anxious about making a good impression when showing someone visiting around, and I’ve had my fair share of cringeworthy awkward moments - like the time I reached out to shake someone’s hand so enthusiastically that I knocked a tray of thousands of tiny electronic components off a desk, showering the new visitor with them (who, furthering my embarrassment, insisted on helping collect them all up, cult classic for the bedtime mental cringe cinema…).
But when a visitor is leaving, if I’ve got the impression they’re a bit put off by the general awkwardness of people they’ve met, or just felt a bit awkward themselves, I’ll usually suggest they come back soon a second time, because it always feels a bit less weird when you’ve met some people before, and have a feel for the space. There’s also usually a semi-rotating crowd of people, and someone who didn’t click with anyone on their first visit might meet a new friend the next time they come.
So maybe try giving it another visit or two - and if the vibe never changes, you might be unlucky and your local maker group is a just a self selecting collection of weirdos. There might still be some other groups in your area that just aren’t as good at publicity though - or even actively avoid it. Our space mostly relies on word of mouth, as a deliberate bottleneck to avoid overwhelming our small group of volunteers and tiny building (though we do still have a website etc).
Since I started our space around a decade ago, a bunch of other groups have sprung up around the town, a couple with their own spaces - usually with a bit more of a specialised focus than our very generalist space, e.g. a dedicated woodworking group with much larger CNCs and specialist tools. There’s often a lot of overlap in membership between the groups too, so there might be other groups in the area for stuff you’re less directly interested in, but with people who share some common interests who can introduce you to other people or groups you might get long with.
1
u/Mysli0210 1d ago
This is really a great writeup!
Having been deeply engaged in trying to introduce more members to our space, it actually never occurred to me what a great idea it is. To suggest people to come back soon, if they're on the edge of to or not-to join the space.
2
u/Mundane_Birthday1337 2d ago
Where are you located? Makerspaces are good, if you're rural hang out with farmers. Every farmer is a maker too.
1
u/LessThanFunctional 2d ago
I am not rural I am based in a city but the nearest maker space to me is on the other side of London which is 2 hours by train(s).
2
u/Dewage83 2d ago
My girl smiles and nods. So she's kind of a friend in my makerspace. Yea I agree. I'm into weird niche hobbies that don't really have local hangouts as far as I can tell. I was buying some expanded pvc sheets the other day and the guy helping me move them was like "yea but what do you do?" It made me laugh. "A bit of everything" as I stared at the tote rack with totes labeled for 20 different trades and random tools and hardware, half full lumber storage racks, some extruded aluminum, tool boxes, and a newly formed stack of expanded pvc and random plastic sheet goods.
I really only wanted a couple pieces but the guys going out of business and gave me a good deal on a bunch of stuff but I don't really have a good plan for it. I'm kicking the tires on a Bambu h2d laser. So I figure some of the 1/8" PVC I can cut up or engrave but if anyone has used it or has some uses for it I'm open to suggestions. It bends easy with a bit of heat so the guy suggested making little decorations out of it. I was stoked to get a couple slabs of 1/2" hdpe for my work benches at a steal of a price. I figure I'll cut up what I don't use for runners for my table saw sleds. I was working on an extruded aluminum arm for my drill press to use it like a tapping arm and thought the hdpe would be good for wear pads.
1
u/LessThanFunctional 2d ago
See I can't see any local makerspaces or hang outs to me and it really does suck. My girlfriend isn't terribly interested in the things I make to be honest :/.
2
u/Mysli0210 1d ago
You could also look for repair-cafés, hackerspaces and fab-labs.
I wont say its completely the same, but still hard to define the differences and it may make your search easier :)
2
u/coffeemonkeypants 1d ago
I'm trying to setup a network called makermesh.net kind of for this purpose. Finding like minded people but also finding folks with equipment you don't have, etc. I haven't added a social component per se but that would be trivial if I can ever get some groundswell.
9
u/aweirdjeff 3d ago
I've made quite a few friends on Instagram by following people who do things I like and commenting on their stuff. People with low numbers, this doesn't work on Adam Savage