Past Lives Makerspace
4.7(48)google
Youth-FriendlyCraftHands-OnArtScience
Overview
Past Lives Makerspace is a massive, highly innovative cooperative creative facility located in Portland's artistic industrial district, dedicated to community empowerment through hands-on fabrication. Spanning thousands of square feet, this grassroots resource hub provides affordable public access to heavy industrial tooling, advanced woodworking machinery, metal welding gear, 3D printers, and textile labs. It serves as a bustling, collaborative sanctuary where local makers, designers, and hobbyists gather to exchange specialized engineering skills, attend guided technical workshops, and transform recycled salvage materials into custom functional artwork.
Practical Info
Suggested DurationAbout 2-4 hours
Best TimeBest visited during scheduled weekend workshops, public open house afternoons, or community markets. This expansive makerspace embodies Portland's DIY ethics; checking their calendar online for open metalwork, woodworking, or craft classes is essential.
Getting ThereLocated in an industrial/warehouse zone in Northeast Portland. Driving is highly practical as the warehouse complex offers plenty of free on-site and nearby street parking. Otherwise, ride local bus lines connecting to the NE industrial blocks.
Travel Tips
- This is a member-based industrial makerspace for woodworking and metal fabrication, not a tourist attraction; general public entry requires booking a scheduled Saturday tour or a paid workshop online.
- Due to active heavy machinery, spinning lathes, and welding sparks, all visitors must wear closed-toe leather or work shoes; long hair must be tied up, and loose clothing or dangling jewelry is strictly banned.
- Located in an industrial district, the front loading zones are strictly monitored; self-driving visitors must park along adjacent public street slots and avoid blocking industrial truck turnaround radiuses.
Reviews
Positive
- This massive collaborative makerspace warehouse packed with heavy machine lathes and 3D printers offers explosive industrial grandeur, true to Portland's maker culture reputation.
- The experience is wonderfully authentic, seamlessly blending active wood shops, metal forging, and art incubators that put Portland's raw creative freedom on full display.
- The collective makers are welcoming and professional. The flat warehouse flooring ensures seamless ADA transit, backed by rigorous safety training and clean recycling bin upkeep.
- Operating as an open non-profit incubator, basic daily walkthroughs require zero admission fees, offering great value with budget-friendly handcrafted novelties in the shop.
Heads up
- During weekend workshop class hours, the indoor crowd density overloads heavily. Packed with rushed students running power tools, any sense of a quiet studio stroll disappears.
- Retaining its rugged industrial blueprint, the floor is flooded with the humming noise of active saws and heavy fumes, easily triggering sensory and auditory fatigue over long periods.
- Located in a gritty, industrial-heavy sector of the Eastside, transit accessibility is a challenge for non-drivers, and dimly lit streets raise auto break-in concerns for drivers.
- All machinery safety guidelines and verbal technical lessons are English-only. Multilingual sign guidance is absent, presenting a steep barrier for non-English speaking foreign guests.