The Open Foundry — Daily Making Workshops
Daily open workshops in leatherwork, blinky electronics, and small metalcasting — tools and materials provided.
$0 of $6,000 · 0% raised
Giving opens soon.
Giving from a donor-advised fund or foundation? Our 501(c)(3) partner will be named before giving opens, and the exact grant wording will appear here.
The Open Gift Standard
- Open to anyone who walks up — First-come benches, all materials provided, no experience needed.
- Findable: 8:00 & D · Sessions daily at 10a, 1p, 4p
- Marked with the standard placard on the playa
- Separate from camp-only space — The workshop fronts the street; guild camping is behind the tool wall.
- Verified annually with photo evidence
The story
Everyone leaves the city wishing they'd learned to make the thing they admired. The Open Foundry is a shaded workshop where anyone can sit down and learn: stamped leather, soldered LED art, and small pewter castings poured safely under instruction. Three sessions a day, materials included, no signup — first-come benches. Our instructors are volunteer tradespeople and teachers; last year over six hundred people made something and carried it home.
Dust, weather & logistics
Heat governs everything: casting sessions run mornings only, quench stations are doubled, and every bench has shade and water. Materials are consumed fast when sessions fill, so the budget carries a 30% overage on consumables.
The budget — every line public
1 · Bench tools, safety gear & instruction kit — $2,700
vendor: Wasatch Tool Supply · public benefit 100%
2 · Consumables: leather, solder, LEDs, pewter — $1,900
vendor: Makers Materials Co. · public benefit 100%
3 · Workshop canopy & benches — $1,400
vendor: ShadeWorks Reno · public benefit 100%
Give your time
Workshop instructor
Teach a bench: leather, blinky LEDs, or casting. · Sessions 10a, 1p, 4p · 6 spots
Updates
Bench tools arriving
September 15, 2026
First tool shipment landed. We're building the bench tops and planning the casting station airflow.
Milestones
- Approved and listed September 13, 2026
- Building coming
- Delivered on the playa coming
- Verified with photos coming
Presented by
The Tinker Guild
Salt Lake City, UT · 7 years on playa
Volunteer tradespeople teaching hands-on making to anyone who shows up.