Donations

As a non-profit organisation, rLab is entirely dependent on donations in order to function. We do not receive any regular grants or on-going outside support and all our normal operating costs are met by our members. The majority of our funds and equipment come from our members and this does give us a considerable degree of freedom, which we strongly defend as it enables us to take on projects as we choose and set our own direction. We're happy to accept donations of money, equipment or materials to support our activities, but because we're an entirely voluntary group and we can't commit our members to any specific course of action, we are very cautious about accepting donations that have conditions attached.

Money

rLab's ongoing operation is supported entirely by donations, we receive no ongoing grants or regular outside support. The majority of those donations come from our members who each pay (on average) £25 per month but from time to time we have also received donations from other people or organisations who share our goals and want to support us. We would love to discuss sponsorship options with companies and people, please contact the Directors at hello@rlab.org.uk and we'll get back to you ASAP

Equipment

A lot of our equipment has come from donations, both from members and others. That has enabled us to greatly expand the capabilities of the lab and engage in new projects. At this point we have everything that we critically need, but we're always keen to expand our collection of equipment where it adds new abilities or improves out existing equipment. We are more than happy to accept donations of useful items and equipment, especially any of the items on our wanted list that are in working order. While not wanting to offend, we do however have to be really careful as unwanted or older items could end up costing us large amounts of money to dispose of in line with governing laws, this is especially true of old collections of ‘stuff’ and older electrical equipment. For larger and important items, we can arrange transport and assistance. If you have any of them and you're willing to make a donation then please contact us before coming to the space with items. We also have an amazon wish list of items that we'd find useful which is here.

Donations we've recently received

Recent corporate supporters who've helped us out in some way

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  Reading Borough Council For financial help during the COVID-19 epidemic

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  Record Power For assistance in choosing and obtaining several woodworking tools

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  Bluebird Labs For the donation of a BattLab-one battery simulator/load analyser

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  Andrews & Arnold For the generous provision of our internet connection

Recent private donors who've given items

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  Ultimaker 2+ 3D Printer - Donated by Anonymous

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  Gem-25D Ultrasound cleaner - Donated by Richard-M

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  Ultrasonic Hardness Tester - Donated by David-G

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  Manual Arbor Press - Donated by Richard-M

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  Horizontal Bandsaw - Donated by Steve-R

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  Polisher - Donated by Steve-R

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  New monitor for Laser control computer - Donated by Anonymous

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  Miniature Airbrush system for painting models - Donated by Nick-H

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  Agilent DSO3062 Oscilloscope - Donated by Anonymous

Items we're still looking for

Electronics	Crafting	Workshop	Consumables
Source-meter with high voltage range (>500V) Source-meter Battery terminal welder Better reflow oven Electronic load (>150V, >500W) USB load	A galvanometer-type laser-engraver (not CO2 based, >30W, we can build safety enclosures so long as the laser emitter, scanning head, and lens are in good condition) A vacuum/pressure resin impregnation system A CNC embroidery machine Silkscreen printing machine (A4 or larger) Laser PSUs (both HV and LV) HHO Generator	A CNC wood Router (preferably >1000mm x 1000mm but anything considered) A floor-standing milling machine (must be smaller than a bridgeport, we don't have space for bigger) An induction furnace capable of melting steel (we have 3-phase power up to 63A available) A high speed belt grinder (2x36" or 2x72" ideal) A CNC milling machine that's larger/more capable than our boxford, Ideally something along the lines of a Tormach 770 A 6-jaw chuck for the lathe, it takes a D1-4 fitting Air-fed welding hood Noga arms (we have the bases but we need more arms for them) Blasting shot Strip Bender (>500mm)	Acrylic sheet (for Laser cutting) Plywood Styrene sheet (for vac former) Milling cutters. Our milling machine will take anything that fits in an ER25 chuck Lathe tools+inserts, Our lathe takes 12,16&20mm tooling Welding wire, we can use 0.6,0.8,1.0,1.2mm and are always on the look out for exotic materials 3D printer filament (all our printers use 2.85/3mm, but some members have 1.75mm capable printers)

Materials and Consumables

We're always on the look-out for materials and replacements for workshop consumables, so donations of things like medium/large pieces of wood/metal/plastic etc are definitely very useful and welcomed. Things like saw blades, drills, milling and lathe tools, and welding supplies are also very welcome as because most of our membership have only limited training on the tools, consumables tend to get used up and broken rather faster than would be normal in a professional workshop.

On the whole we'd rather not receive donations of small bits of scrap material (unless they're unusual/expensive materials) as they tend to be less useful for projects and often wind up getting thrown out. Old tools in poor condition are also not that helpful because the effort involved in reconditioning them will often exceed the value, but if you do have old tools that you want to see re-used rather than thrown away, please feel free to offer them on our mailing list, quite a few of our members restore old equipment as a hobby.

Please DO NOT leave donations of materials outside the lab without talking to us first to check if we want them, it's considered fly-tipping by the council and we have to pay for refuse disposal so it actually costs us money.