A Working Room For One-Offs, Short Runs And Sensible Warnings
Dare To Make It is a small Plymouth maker space run by Pete Henshall and his daughter Mara. Pete came from joinery, shopfitting and dockyard pattern work. Mara brought the digital drawing, printers and file wrangling into the same room. The result is not an anonymous production bureau. It is a family workshop where someone checks the material, the file, the deadline and whether the job should be made another way.
You can book supervised laser cutting, use the laser yourself after induction, ask for FDM or resin prints, hire a bench, solder a repair, nest a batch of parts, or pay for practical drawing-up help when the only thing you have is a sketch with three important measurements on it.
Service01
Pete's Favourite Corner Of The Room
Laser Cutting With A Person Watching The Cut
Supervised laser cutting is £42 per hour including operator time, with a 1 hour minimum and then 15 minute blocks at £10.50. If you have completed the induction, self-run laser time is £24 per hour, with a 1 hour minimum and 30 minute booking blocks. The bed is 600 x 400 mm, comfortable cutting is up to 6 mm ply, 6 mm acrylic and 3 mm MDF, and the usual file types are SVG, DXF, PDF or AI.
Most jobs turn round in 2 to 4 working days once the file is approved. Same-day cutting is sometimes possible before noon with a £20 rush fee. Stock 3 mm birch ply starts from £5.80 for A3 and £10.50 for 600 x 400 mm. Acrylic starts from £7.20 for A3 depending on colour.
Pete will talk about grain direction for longer than some people expect, because it matters. Birch ply behaves nicely if the sheet is flat, the glue line is honest and the part is not being asked to do something silly across the grain. A darkened edge is not always a fault. Sometimes it is exactly the line that makes a control panel, theatre prop or small sign look finished. Other times it is a warning that the file has too many slow passes and the part needs nesting again. After decades cutting timber by hand and machine, he still likes birch ply because it tells you what is happening before it ruins itself.
3D Printing For Useful Parts, Models And Prototypes
FDM printing is £8 setup plus £0.18 per gram for PLA or PETG, with a £12 minimum job. Resin printing is £15 setup plus £0.35 per ml of resin used, with a £20 minimum. Typical lead time is 3 to 5 working days for FDM and 5 to 7 working days for resin, longer for large parts or batches over 20 items.
Send STL, 3MF or STEP files, plus material, colour, quantity, deadline and what the part has to survive. Mara will sometimes suggest laser cutting instead. A flat assembly in ply or acrylic can be stronger, cheaper and cleaner than a printed block pretending not to have layer lines.
Studio Hire, Open Bench Evenings And Practical Help
Bench hire includes hand tools, a soldering station and assembly space. It is £12 per hour, £48 half day or £82 full day. Laser induction is £35 per person and usually takes 75 minutes. First Thursday Open Bench runs 18:00 to 21:00 by booking, for repairs, prototyping, soldering, assembly and advice before a bigger job.
Hiring a bench means you make the thing and leave the room tidy. Asking us to make it means we quote the cutting, printing or file work and take responsibility for the result. Schools and community groups can book half-day supervised sessions for up to 8 people with at least 3 weeks notice.