Great Falls Tool Bus

Great Falls Tool Bus

The Great Falls Tool Bus is a community-run tool library.

  • Work and learn together! Hop on the Great Falls Tool Bus
  • Take a ride on the Great Falls Tool Bus and join a community of makers and builders
  • Have a tool that you don't use often? Want a tool for a special project? Join the Great Falls Tool Bus and share the love
  • Try out a new winter sport this season by joining the Great Falls Tool Bus
Help build the bus Read the log

Notes & Goals

  1. The purple bus in full side profile on the lawn in evening light, four bicycles leaning against it

    Soft opening at the block party

    Sunday, September 20, 2026

    See you on the 20th :-)

    Tell us you are coming

    Edit

  2. The cleared rear interior of the bus with open windows, bare floor and wall space waiting for shelving

    Build shelves in the bus

    Thursdays, about 3 to 5 PM ET

    Drawing for shelving is underway!

    Help build shelves

    Edit

  3. Rear half of the purple bus resting on grass under maple trees, wheels sunk into the lawn

    Reinstall the axles

    Thursdays, about 3 to 5 PM ET

    The axles should be reunited with the wheels.

    Help with the axles plz

    Edit

  4. Historic postcard view of Great Falls between Auburn and Lewiston

    Engineering drafting and printing skillshare / class on the regular?

    Yes please, I want to draft, draw and learn to sketch with the engineering legends of Great Falls with you, my wonderful neighbor ^w^

    Sign me up

    Edit

  5. Rendering of the three-bay port-side shelving unit standing inside a translucent model of the bus body

    Want to become a hyperdimensional wizard?

    Learn to model beautiful CAD, draft real cut lists and BOMs, and build the thing you drew. Be first to sign up for Jess's acclaimed Fusion 360 workshop series, now with 50% more LaTeX markup.

    Sign me up first

    Edit

  6. A hand holding up a palm-sized electronic device in a clear acrylic case in front of a rack of audio gear with lit displays

    Legacy hardware hangout

    Do you crack, hack and breathe new life into your old electronics? Wanna become dangerous with Ghidra, Frida and Wireshark? Wish you had a buddy to dump xram, decompile bugs made by our foreprogrammers and bend bits to your will? Lets get something going, regular meetup times TBD.

    Count me in

    Edit

These notes live in git. Anyone can propose an edit. Edit these notes on GitHub

What members get

Member accounts are not live yet. Membership is being built to include:

  • Membership in a tool library run by its members.
  • A truly local email address at latoolb.us.
  • A seat on the discuss list, the club brain trust.

Ways to help

Questions people ask

What is the Great Falls Tool Bus?
We are a community of diverse folks with tools, gear, and skills to share! We joined together to lend equipment and expertise to others. The tool library and our skills workshops encourage creativity, friendship, and environmental conscientiousness with repair, reuse, and reduced consumerism.
This sounds awesome! How do I become a member?
I'm glad you asked, we're always looking for more people to join the club! To become a member, you simply need to donate money, gear, or tools. We are currently looking for pledges of at least $100 to recoup our startup costs. Examples of gear and tools include power tools, specialized hand tools like awls or precision screwdrivers, life vests (personal floatation devices), skis and ski poles, snowshoes, sleds, and toboggans. All items should be in good condition and functional at the time of donation, and if you're not sure if we'd want something, send us a message.
Why do you have a purple bus? Is the Tool Bus part of CityLink?
We are not affiliated with CityLink, any transit agency, or the city of Lewiston or Auburn. We are an independent, member-run club; our nonprofit status is in progress. One of our founding members purchased the purple bus at auction, and we made it our home! Several members worked to remove seats, add shelves, and make the purple bus into the Tool Bus. We hope you like our unique community-built spot in town. Do you see anything you want to fix or change about the bus? Join us and add decorations, artwork, or more to the bus!
When can I visit the bus?
Jess is usually working on the bus Thursdays, about 3 to 5 PM ET. Please use the contact form to confirm before traveling. Exact location details are shared directly, and a confirmed one-off session will be posted here.

Answers by Tool Bus Member Katherine T., except the visiting hours.

Public log

Older log entries

Contact and discussion

Reach a keyholder through the contact page.

Contact a keyholder Discussion board(opens in a new tab)

This page lives in git. Anyone can propose an edit. Edit this page View source