National Physical Laboratory giveaway!

Discussion
1

I am hesitant to post this, because I really don’t want to encourage further hoarding of old tools and machines, but holy crap look at all this stuff!

http://resource.npl.co.uk/makerspace/

FAQ:
Q: Will NPL provide trolleys to move the equipment to my car or can it be mailed to me?
A: No, sadly transport within the building and to and from NPL of equipment will not be provided by NPL. A suggestion might be to ask other UK-hackerpaces that are near by to arrange for it to be sent. Paperwork (see bellow) might be a problem.
Q: Where is this located exactly?
A: Most of it is in Bushy House. NPL’s original building. There is nearby parking available. But you would need to get a visitors pass from NPL reception.
Q: Can I just show up at any time and take the stuff?
A: No. Documentation is being prepared that will say that NPL is not responsible for anything that might be caused after you have decided to take it. You will most probably be asked to sign it.
Q: If I call dibs on something I see in the picture is it automatically mine?
A: It is first come first serve, but some of the equipment might have already been marked for other parties
Q: Is that all that is available?
A: No, there is much more, but currently I was not able to see some of the stuff because some heavier equipment is in the way.
Q: Will there be more things like this in the future?
A: Maybe, depending on how successful NPL is on this round and on NPL’s commercial, CSR, and estates department.
Q: Some of the pictures show equipment with stickers on it and names. Does this mean I cannot choose it?
A: Maybe. Show your interest. Sometimes things are labeled just because “it’s a pity for it to go to land fill”.
Q: Wow, X piece of equipment looks really great. But I don’t know how to use it…
A: Please express your interest. It might be a possiblity to get an NPL scientist to train you under NPL’s corporate social responsibility.
Q: Can I distribute this email to my hackerspace members? Personal networks?
A: These items are given to hackerspace community in good faith to be used for the community. So please share with your hackerspaces. It would be disappointing if it ended up for individual gain.
Q: How much time do we have?
A: 1 or 2 weeks or ASAP.
Q: I might be interested in equipment Y, can I visit the premises and test out the equipment?
A: If there are several of you, it might be possible to organize a visit but NPL cannot give you a “try before you buy”.
Q: Is there a fee?
A: It is free! (transport cost are your own).

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Holy crap some of that stuff is awesome.

Edit: Don’t tell Joe there’s a spectrometer in that pile…

I’d also add DO NOT BE TEMPTED BY THE PILE OF LOGS.

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Forget the sexy stuff. Just bringing back all the aluminium profile frame building materials in the background of half those photos would be massively useful.

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whatever this thing is: http://resource.npl.co.uk/makerspace/images/thumb/IMG_20161005_100254.jpg
We clearly need it.

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:alien: UFO :alien:

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! lets build a UFO drone!

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I am pretty close to the NPL in Teddington, so can pick up some stuff if wanted.

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I would love to visit NPL to have a look .

If I promise not to bring everything back .

It should be quite safe I don’t have a van at the moment

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How about “feel free to take anything that looks cool, but also be prepared to dispose of it if we don’t actually want it” ?

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Says Mr electron microscope

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Ps do we have space for a analytical chemistry lab ?

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Yyyyyyyy… no.

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Ohh, what’s this ? Looks like we could cause lots of trouble with this !

Courty

http://resource.npl.co.uk/makerspace/?id=10

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There’s a bunch of these shiny things. Let’s get them all!

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Seriously, @tobyspark is right about the Al extrusion. Would be useful for all sorts of things, eg the proposed CNC build.

Also looks like there is some extraction stuff in there.

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yes they transmit the rugbyi[me signal is that correct

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NPL is responsible for the MSF time signal but it has been transmitted from Anthorn (near Carlisle) by Babcock under contract to NPL using a local caesium clock which is monitored at Teddington.

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If you need any help I live an d currently work not too far from npl so could provide some hands.

Looking at it the box of magnetic clamps could be helpful to the metaltecks?

It looks like there;'s a lot of vacuum line stuff in there, possibly enough to create a vacuum oven… which could be helpful for maker space.

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This is a very old thread Matthew

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oops my dyslexia cutting in… sorry. saw oct and 1d and not the rest

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