While I was in Louisville hanging out with Jeff Hipsher and Chuch, Jeff’s friend (and the Catch Up web master) Nick Sturtzel took us by LVL1, a hackerspace in Louisville.

LVL1 is in a warehouse district by downtown Louisville. The entrance is in an alley.

Anyone can go to LVL1, tinker with tech, and make things; but what makes it really special is that the members pool funds to purchase special maker equipment, such as this laser cutter:

Nick offered to cut one of my drawings out and mail it to me. What should I get cut out?

They also have a Makerbot 3D printer:

You may remember Makerbot from the Colbert Report.

Nick showed me his project:

He’s making a custom synth with hexagonal keys. He’s using Arduino to program the inputs and mold casting to make the keys.

LVL1 also has a huge, un-air-conditioned space:

To the left of the center you can see a large balloon. White Star Balloons are trying to build a semi-autonomous balloon that can cross the Atlantic.

The outdoor part of LVL1 also has this interesting ceiling:

The rumor is that the LVL1 space used to be a massage parlor.

Jeff, Chuch, Nick, and Rob Bozwell jammed in the outdoor space while I doodled inside:

They played noise rock, of course.

LVL1 also has a basement space with computer parts that are up for grabs, a server, a woodshop, a CNC milling machine, and a room full of the undead:

I wish there was something like this in Austin (or is there and I don’t know about it?). I know there’s the Robot Group (or is there still? all the links that come up in Google are defunct) but what I’m really thinking of is a workspace with all this dope equipment. Who wants to start one?