I’m sure that by now, everyone has heard of the Fab Lab in the Watertown High School library. It’s a neat little space where students can design and create all sorts of nifty things with the 3D printers, laser cutter, and vinyl cutter. It’s free to use, and you get to make cool stuff.

    Of course, it is new so it is still a bit limited. So what do you do if you have this crazy-cool idea that you really want to make, yet don’t think it would be possible with the current selection of tools in the Fab Lab? Well, you can lay that idea egg and let it hatch, at Hatch!

    Bad puns aside, Hatch is a Fab Lab run by the Watertown Public Library. It’s located in the Arsenal Mall in Watertown.  Like the Fab Lab, it’s free to use and it has many similar tools, but it has much more to offer.

    Want to 3D print something? You got it. You want to dabble in electronics? They got things like Raspberry Pi and Little Bits to keep you experimenting. It has a lot to offer, you just have to bring in your ideas!

    Thinking that you’d like to jump in the fabrication party but don’t know where to start? Don’t worry, because Hatch offers classes and courses in all sorts of crafting ways. From origami on weekends to mechatronics on Wednesday evenings, you’ll be learning how to make things to rival factory-made items!

    The staff, who are volunteers, will be happy to help you create whatever you need, and will give you a few tips, too.

    One of the volunteers is also in charge of the Fab Lab back at WHS, Beth Lloyd.  They’re always looking for more volunteers, so you can sign up if it sounds interesting.

    Hatch is inspired by similar labs springing up around the nation, most notably a lab from Chicago. The goal of these labs is to give everyone a chance to make great things — and I do mean everyone.

    Hatch is open to anyone who wants to create, and is free for those makers.  Generally, you can just start making stuff straight away, but you will have to take some safety courses if you want to use the table saw.

   If you’re really itching to make something, go ahead! Hatch is open every day, with morning and afternoon/evening shifts.

    What are you waiting for? Go out there and let your ideas Hatch!

–Dec. 15, 2015–