Shop Resources

Close up shot of a bandsaw with workshop in background

The shop for the school of design is located in the basement of architecture east. The hours are as follows—

Monday – Thursday: 8:00 AM – 9:00 PM

Friday: 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Saturday – Sunday: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Any questions about the shop or machinery should be directed to gtdesignshop@gmail.com. The shop is also staffed during shop hours if you would like to speak to someone in person.
Students are reminded that the shop is exclusively for design students, and should only be used for school related work.

Work Room

The entry room of the shop holds seven workbenches for students to use, along with three sanding tables. It also has

belt sanders
disc sanders
drill press
foredom
milling machine
sandpaper (sometimes)
and other various basic tools.

Under normal operations, this portion of the shop is open 24/7, but under the new hours, it closes at night. Students must clean up their workspaces when they leave this area. Failure to do so will result in the loss of shop privileges.Training for the items in this portion of the shop should be covered during normal freshman orientation. If you could not attend orientation, transferred, or would like to be re-instructed, contact the shop or ask a shop tech if they can give you an orientation.

Machine Room

Found past the workroom, the machine room holds the majority of the shop's machines and woodworking tools. To use the machines in this room, students are required to have attended orientation. Please keep in mind that the machines in this room (and all rooms) are dangerous and will cause serious damage to both the machine and the operator if they are used incorrectly. Eye protection is required and can be found in the metal storage cabinet against the near wall. In this room, students can find

files, drill bits, wrenches, pliers, and other small tools in the cabinet
bandsaws
miter saw
drill press
milling machine
sanding cluster
Table saw.

The far end of the room also has a CNC machine and a wood lathe, both of which require special training to use.

Metal Working Room

In the back of the machine room is a small room specifically dedicated to metalworking and metalworking materials. Students need to be trained before being allowed to operate the machinery in this room. Training typically occurs alongside the second-year curriculum. Machinery in this room includes welding tables, metal lathes, and other metalworking tools.

Photo Booth

The school of industrial design provides two photo booths for student use. The first is a small table stand with lighting elements and a paper background. It is ideal for photographing products that are bread box-sized or smaller. It can be found right at the entrance of the hallway directly to the left of the bottom of the stairs. It can be accessed anytime.
The larger photo booth is a room and can fit several people in the lighting area. It is at the end of the left hallway, on the right-hand side. This room is locked, and the key must be obtained from the shop staff. Students using this room should note that they should NOT walk on the background paper as shoes scuff the paper and that the room has poor ventilation, so it becomes hot if used for a long time.

Students working int the Invention Studio

Maker Spaces

Georgia Tech has other maker spaces and shops available for all students. The nearest to the College of Design is the Hive, found on the bottom floor of Van Leer. It is equipped with laser cutters, wood and metalworking tools, and staff to assist students. However, unlike the College of Design shop, these spaces are open to all students and may have different processes and rules for machinery. The school recommends visiting these areas before deadlines or crunch-time to prevent the shop from being overrun.

List of All Maker-Spaces