Finishing Room

The Finishing Room is a well ventilated room that is a great place for dirty work, painting, staining, sanding, using epoxy, etc.

The Finishing Room

The current Aces of the Finishing Room are Needed (Makerhub@georgefox.edu).

Equipment Overview

3 commandments

1. Safety First

Safety First is the rule we hold highest of the three. This rule applies to both the safety of you as well as others

Keeping yourself safe in the Finishing Room is very important, as there are possibilities for accidents if you don't follow the safety guidelines.

The following rules must be followed at all times.

• Safety glasses must be worn at all times.
• Read the label of any paints or chemicals in use and understand what you are doing.
• No horseplay in the room.
• Don’t do anything distracting to yourself or others while working in the room.
•  No open toed shoes.
•  Hair will not extend bellow the collar.
• Food or drink is not allowed in the Finishing Room.
• Do not attempt to operate equipment that you have not been certified on by GFU engineering personnel.
• Do not argue with volunteers or shop staff. Contact Justin Johnson if you have issues that need to be resolved.
• You should have a buddy in the shop if you are using the room.
• Reset the space. A clean space is a safer space.
• If you see a safety violation inform the person immediately and encourage them to comply with the policies.
• Don’t do anything that would require an additional rule to be added to this list.

2. Reset the Space

The Finishing Room has a specific organization to it. Put whatever you use back where it belongs. There is a place for everything and everything has a place. This rule applies to everything in the space. If you use a tool, put it back. If you use a pen, put it back. Do not leave your projects in the room unless you have made prior arrangements. Throw away your trash and recycling.

Now, we understand that sometimes you need to leave projects out. Maybe you are in the middle of a large project and the paint needs to dry overnight. In cases like this, it is okay, but you NEED to make prior arrangements with Nick or Justin.

Please put back the equipment the way you found it. The compressed air line should be coiled up neatly. Always put any unused materials back on the storage shelf, and throw away unusable scrap.

Pick up and used paint cans or rags.

Make sure to shut off the lights and room ventilation before leaving.

Always leave the space better than you found it.

3. Be Professional

This commandment has two sides to it. It covers the idea of acting like professional (which Webster’s defines as “exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace”). The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skills necessary to perform their specific role within that profession. Hopefully, you are learning both of these as part of your education at George Fox University. In the Welding Lab we expect you to develop as a courteous, conscientious, and skilled craftsman, understanding the tools and equipment in the Maker Hub and how to use them effectively.

Being a professional has some obvious ramifications in terms of behavior. First, be Christlike. Think of others better than yourselves. Share. If you have been welding for a prolonged time and someone else is waiting for the machine, let them use the machine for a while. This is being a professional.

If you are learning to paint or sand, and you can't get something to work the way you want - ASK SOMEONE! Learn! Become a professional. Learn the craft. This is an educational space. You might think it will be quick and you can just get it done “your” way and not learn how to do it correctly. Be a Professional and learn the proper way, and then be available to teach others.

One very important, and likely difficult part of being a professional is to correct others when they are not being professional. It is your responsibility to speak up when you see somebody doing something inappropriate. If you see somebody doing something unsafe, not resetting the space, or being unprofessional, the professional thing to do is to remind them of the three commandments and ask them politely to correct their action. This is OUR space, not any individual's. As a group, we expect everyone in the space to keep the space safe, clean, and operable for everyone. 

If someone acts disgracefully unprofessional to you in the Welding Lab, you are welcome to bring the issue to Justin or Nick's attention.

General Finishing Room Knowledge

The finishing room serves multiple functions. It can be used to paint in, sand and stain as well as other uses.

These are a few good steps to having a success using the Finishing Room.

• Make sure you read the label of any paints or chemicals you are working with and understand the dangers.
• Make sure the fan is turned on and pulling air.

Here are a couple things to keep in mind:

• When you sand it creates dust that may be hazardous to breath.
• When painting make sure you are not breathing paint vapors.

Foxtale Certification

Before working with any of the equipment in the prototype lab you will need to take the general lab quiz as well as the specific quiz for each machine you are trying to use. The enrollment code for all of the quizzes is MakerHub.