Rentals & Consultations
Collaboration is key for many projects. Project consultants are here to help you with design work, project advising, tool usage and more. At affordable rates, our consultants can design and fabricate an entire project or help you with small tasks.
Consulting
Lab staff are available to support your project with design work, advising, tool expertise, and more. If you want one of our staff to create a product or solution for you, this is considered consulting time. Consulting can be scheduled during or outside of open lab hours. Consultants’ skills include (but are not limited to):
- 3D design for 3D printing and milling
- Graphic design with Inkscape or Illustrator, website design and development
- Small board electronics and circuit blueprinting
- Fashion design and advanced textiles
To schedule time with a consultant, please fill out our google form to request a project consultation. We need to receive your consultation request form at least a week ahead of your desired date of consultation.
CONSULTING RATES
- $15 per hour for students who are not enrolled in a class connected to the lab.
- $35 per hour for non-students and community members.
Important to know:
- We do not charge for initial inquiry. Q&A sessions that go beyond 20 minutes and that involve actual design or tool use are the point at which we will apply the consulting rate.
- Our consultants will not do homework for students, regardless of the class. We will, however, do our best to help students leverage tools and knowledge to do their own work.
- Free consulting is offered for students enrolled in classes happening in partnership with the Fab Lab. They will work with the students, acting as mentors and educators.
Lab and Equipment Rentals
You can rent out specific machines or our entire lab for tours, immediate tool access and individual help time. Rentals must not conflict with our open hours or classes. Please email and check with us for availability.
TOURS
Generally tours are free, arranged via email based on our schedule availability, unless a weekend time (outside of Sunday open hours) is required, in which case it’s $30 for up to an hour.
UNASSISTED LAB RENTAL
Machine access with just a lab attendant present, no help available; the patron must know how to use the tool already. Rentals include charges for machine use but not materials.
- $25 per hour for the laser engravers (up to 6 people)
- $20 per hour for any other single tool/area (up to 6 people)
ASSISTED LAB RENTAL
Machine access with a lab attendant present to help. Rentals include charges for machine use but not materials.
- $35 per hour for any tool/area (up to 3 people)
- $50 per hour to rent the entire lab with dedicated consultant assistance (up to 3 people)
SPECIAL REQUEST RENTALS
If you would like to run your own workshop and have unusual setup needs, such as assistance with curriculum development or teaching, preparing the space for messy materials or installation of software that’s not on our spec we will adjust the rental fee to compensate for the additional staff hours required
University of Illinois classes or external organizations interested in using the lab for multiple or specialized sessions or workshops should contact us to make specific arrangements