The building filled with the sounds of machinery buzzing, ambient conversation and overlapping music, from a smooth jazz somewhere in the back of the shop to the heavy metal that was blasting over someone as they repaired a 3D printer, its internal wiring exposed.
These were the sounds of the monthly free fix-it clinic that took place Saturday at the Gainesville Hackerspace. It’s an event dedicated to fixing the community’s broken appliances and household items, from televisions to sewing machines to vacuums, all at no cost.
Sharon Harrett has been a hackerspace member for three years. Members around the shop referred to her as the “sewing machine goddess.”
“People come in kind of apprehensive, like ‘Can this be fixed? I really hope this can be fixed.’ And 85 percent of the time they walk out happy,” she said. “We make happy people here.”
Harrett got her start after coming in to have a sewing machine repaired herself. She realized how much she could learn and how much she could help others through an organization like Hackerspace, she said.
“This keeps me going, watching people come in and watching the lights go on. Watching them light up and go, ‘I could do this,’ or, ‘I could do that,’ or, ‘I can learn how to do this.’ This just puts the fire under me,” she said.
The fix-it clinics exist to give Gainesville residents a place to take their broken items, whether it’s sentimental or just to keep it out of the landfill. Hackerspace members volunteer to fix items within their specializations.
“We have people with amazing skills, and their sole purpose is to share those skills,” Harrett said.
Volunteers have a range of expertise, from electronics to sewing machines to knife sharpening. One of these volunteers was member Clare Holman, who specialized in 3D printers.
“Hackerspace is important to me because we are sharing our knowledge for free,” she said. “We are passing on what we know to someone who might take it and go even further, but it's not getting lost. It's not turning into landfill. It's not gathering dust.”
Gainesville Hackerspace is a type of makerspace, a community workshop that gives people access to tools and resources they may not have at home. For a monthly fee, members can visit at any hour on any day of the week to work on their projects. Fix-it clinics are only one of the many events they host, including open houses once a week.
“You can create. You can make art. You can come in and use a 3D printer. You can come in and use a laser cutter. You can come in and use the wood shop. It's a place for people to do what it is they wish to do that they don't have the room for, the tools for, or the budget for at home,” Harrett said.
Joe Dipietro, a Hackerspace member for over 15 years, said it’s about more than just the fixing. It’s about the community made along the way.
“I’m old. I could sit around the house and do nothing and watch Netflix for the rest of my life, or I could get out and interact with people,” he said. “To me, it's a social organization.”
The community-building atmosphere was clear. A greeter stood at the door helping people check in and out, cheering when someone declared their item was fixed. Volunteers chatted while they worked on the items, walking attendees through what was wrong and how it could be fixed. Members passing by would offer snacks and drinks.
One attendee was Melissa Bell, who came in with a blender and television needing repairs.
“I really appreciate this kind of stuff myself, just because it reduces waste. It keeps people from throwing away things that are fixable,” she said.
It’s about the community for her, too.
“I think especially the community in Gainesville seems to be a lot of people looking out for each other, in more ways than one, but especially when it comes to things like, ‘Hey, we're trying not to do damage to our environment,’” she said.
The fix-it clinics are held on the second Saturday of every month, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Repairs come at no cost, though Hackerspace accepts donations. The next clinic is scheduled for Aug. 8.
