Proposed for the Milwaukee area

Find the lost signal.

The answer is buried in the static.

An open third space for art, radio, technology and invention. Reuse old tech. Print a new part. Tune into something unexpected. Bring an idea and find people to explore it with.

No idea is too dumb to explore.

Radio / SDR3D printingReuse / repairArt / code

Explore the workshop Have a building we could put to work?

Pick a frequency. Follow an idea.

A place to browse, build and come back to

Radio & SDR

Explore the invisible world around us. Learn antennas, tune a software-defined radio, visualize a spectrum and turn signals into sound, data or art.

Tune · listen · discover

Electronics reuse house

Sorted computers, useful components, cables and odd discoveries. A place to find the part you need and give usable equipment another life.

Recover · sort · recirculate

Repair & rebuild benches

Diagnose a donated PC, replace a failed part, learn to solder or rebuild a machine with someone who knows where to start.

Fix it · understand it

3D printing & prototyping

Design a replacement, test an enclosure or turn a sketch into something you can hold. Printers and practical tools for learning by making.

Design · print · test

Microcontrollers & experiments

Sensors, lights, automation, strange little machines. Put inexpensive electronics and recovered parts to work on ideas of your own.

Connect · code · experiment

Materials & plastic reuse

Explore how sorted plastic can become useful material, including the equipment and process control needed for recycled printing filament.

Identify · process · test

Art & invention

Build sculptures from salvaged parts, experiment with light and sound, or mix code with physical materials. Artists and technologists sharing the same benches.

Imagine · make · share

People teaching people

Kids learning with mentors, tinkerers trading knowledge, project nights and show-and-tell. Beginners should have a reason to walk through the door.

Ask · try · share

The equipment is already here.

Rick Koston has old PCs, 3D printers, tools, equipment and microcontrollers to contribute. The next step is to organize that collection, bring other makers into the project and find a space where it can do more good.

This is a place for exploration and experimentation: useful repairs, unexpected inventions and projects that start with “could we make this?”

A reason to visit. A reason to return.

Find a component for the project on your bench.
Bring a repair question and learn how to investigate it.
See what other people are making.
Join a mentor-led build or community project night.
Learn a tool, then help someone else learn it.

Reuse is part of the engine.

Usable electronics deserve another round. The proposed model combines carefully selected donations, refurbishment, parts recovery and a workshop where those parts become new projects.

Sales of repaired electronics, useful parts and things made in the workshop could help pay the bills. Classes, recurring supporters, sponsorships and grants could contribute too. The goal is to fund open community time and put the surplus back into the space. Each activity needs a practical budget; sales alone are not yet a proven funding model.

From plastic scrap to printing material

Precious Plastic offers a starting point for learning about local material reuse. Recycled filament is a process to develop: identify and sort suitable plastics, shred and dry them, then control extrusion, cooling, winding and filament diameter.

That makes a materials lab a worthwhile part of the idea. Start with what the equipment and safe processes can support, test the results and share what works.

Could your city give this a home?

Print the city proposal

An unused building could become a destination for making, learning and putting things back to work.

We're looking across the Milwaukee area for a municipal partner willing to explore free use or a nominal-rent renewable lease. A workshop, former commercial space or other suitable building could be the starting point.

We would bring equipment, recruit makers and mentors, and develop a cleanup and renovation plan together. The ambition is a place residents have regular reasons to visit, with a character and purpose the host community can make its own.

Discuss a building

Walk through it.Look at the building, access, utilities and possible workshop uses.
Work out what's feasible.Review conditions, operating costs, safe use and a realistic renovation scope.
Make a practical agreement.Define the lease, responsibilities, budget and milestones.
Build it in stages.Start with activities the space, equipment and people can support.

Learn it. Build it. Pass it on.

PC rescue, soldering, first prints and microcontroller builds. Help shape small classes and regular tinkering sessions.

Classes & calendar

Models worth learning from

Noisebridge: Open, collaborative hacker culture. People learning by working on things together.
Free Geek: Technology donation, refurbishment, education and affordable electronics, with reuse revenue helping support the work.
Precious Plastic: A network of material processing workshops. Its community also documents recycled 3D printing filament.

Help shape The Lost Club.

Know a building? Want to mentor, tinker or help organize? Have equipment that could belong here? Tell Rick what you're thinking.

rickkoston@gmail.com
Rick Koston · Founder

Please arrange equipment offers first. There is no public drop-off location yet.