A commitment to creating and knowledge sharing.
Our mission is to provide an uninhibited environment that promotes creativity and learning to any and all potential makers and hackers. We achieve this with our combination of collaborative work space, public classes, and the extensive knowledge base of our members.
The only Constant is Change
Arch Reactor is a constantly evolving organization, the tools-on-hand are ever changing and improving, driven by member initiatives.
Wood working
Power tools, hand tools, and specialty tools allow making just about anything out of wood
Metal working
Metal working capabilities expand and improve almost weekly as member make the tools they need
Textiles
From standard machines to industrial sewing that can handle denim and leather open many possibilities
3D printing
Several filament based 3D printers and resin printers are available, supporting projects up to 500mm3
Laser Engraving
With a 3ftx4ft cutting area our CO2 laser can cut and engrave large projects with ease
And more
Vinyl cutters, soldering, oscilloscopes, lapidary, and more!
Our 5000 ft2 reaction chamber contains a Shop full of equipment, a Lab to work on your projects, a Classroom to enrich your mind, and a Lounge where ideas can fuse together. Our space is a community workshop where members learn, collaborate, and bring ideas to life. Our members keep everything running, and our community is always working to improve the space.
Lab Area
The Lab area features a lot of table space for everyone to work on their projects in a low-dust environment. There are also many tools for working on electronics and other clean projects, including a soldering station, vinyl cutter, 3D printers, and an 80W laser cutter. There are shelves where members can keep a private tote, and an assortment of salvaged and donated parts available for anyone to use.
Classroom
The classroom seats over 20 students in a clean and quiet space conducive to learning. It is not completely finished, but it is functional and we have been using it to hold classes. We currently have two large flat panel displays on the walls for presentations. We expect in the future to add a large projector screen, white boards, a wireless microphone system, and a live streaming camera all available for any class.
Lounge
The lounge will be a cozy area for everyone to relax and socialize in. We currently have a fridge full of soda and a freezer with pizza, and we hope to soon have a full kitchenette. There are couches and comfy chairs, a MAME machine, and soon there will be a console gaming area as well.
Shop
Many of us urbanites don’t have garages to tinker in, which is why we have a fully featured shop in our space, including saws, vices, grinders, lathes, drill presses, planers, welders, kilns, forges and all the tools we need to create. Some tools are owned by the organization, but most are owned by our members and shared. Use of the shop is restricted to members, and you must always be trained before using a new tool.
“A co-op workshop for techies, tinkerers, and free thinkers.”
Evan S. Benn
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Sign to Text to Speech Glove
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glove + various sensors + Arduino + LCD + speaker + clever code A user can sign and spoken words come out of the speaker! And not just finger spelling either, but full-on hand-waving crazy-gesturing sign language. See clokks.com for the full story.
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October and November Schedule and Meeting Report
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October is Bring-a-Friend month. Rather self-explanatory. But of course, we have a whole host of open-to-the-public events to which to bring your friend:
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Ubuntu One to Allow Music Streaming
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The Release Candidate announcement email I received a couple days ago mentioned some expansions to their Ubuntu One online file storage service, including improved multi-device syncing and music streaming, but now it seems they are taking one cool step more: You’ll be able to stream your own music that’s stored on Ubuntu One to your…
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Arduino Product Refresh
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Arduino is refreshing its core product line by renaming the Duemilanove to Uno, upgrading the Mega, and replacing the FTDI with a much faster and more flexible ATmega8U2 programmed as a USB to Serial converter on both. A new logo and website design are also being shown off. For the official announcement visit http://arduino.cc/blog/2010/09/24/dinner-is-ready/
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Take on the Machine: Episode One
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Mitch Altman appears in a video series where several hackerspaces are challenged to repurpose a commercial product of some sort in a way that a “common person” would find useful. Video after the break…
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September Brings a Cornucopia of Events
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The general meeting on the 7th of September yielded a fresh harvest of planned events, all open to the public as usual.
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Pictures from Mitch Altman’s Soldering Class
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Matt Mets, from Make magazine, has graciously given us permission to use his photos here on our website. For bandwidth reasons, we’re only displaying scaled versions of some of the photos. The complete set can be found in Matt’s Flickr Photostream.
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Mitch Altman and Friends Succesfully Rock Arch Reactor’s World
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The hackerspace swarmed last night with new and beginning solderers. Mitch Altman of TV-B-Gone fame, along with Jimmie Rodgers, full time hacker, and Matt Mets from Make magazine, brought in suitcases full of goodies for attendants to demo and play with.
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More Pictures of the Shelves
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Phil kindly volunteered his photos of Saturday’s shelf building adventures.
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