Tech Shop

[Nytmare]

For those who haven't stumbled across them yet, Tech Shop is basically a fabrication clubhouse. http://www.techshop.ws/

When you join up, you gain access to their armada of fabrication tools and software: laser cutters, 3D printers, vaccuform machines, etc... http://www.techshop.ws/tools_and_equipment.html They'll teach you to use them, then let you loose.

They have shops set up in Menlo Park, San Fran, and San Jose California. Allen Park, Michigan. Round Rock, Texas. They also have ones planned for Arizona, DC, and Brooklyn over the next two years.

They also just opened one literally a five minute walk from my house in Pittsburgh...I am SO freaking excited.

[EDIT] I just discovered that they have a "Refer a Friend" program that gets you membership discounts and free classes. If anyone's near a Tech Shop or already a member, and wants to pool resources, give a shout.

 

[Janx]

Sounds cool enough, but I've already got a fair amount of gear in my own garage. I guess I come from the era when men had tools and they kept them in their garage. At most, you'd borrow a tool from a friend, or go over to their place to use a piece of specialized equipment they had that you didn't.

I think their 3d machines are problem the stuff most of us "traditional" men don't have. welders, saws, etc are pretty much stock and trade for any DIYer.

 

[jonesy]

I think their 3d machines are problem the stuff most of us "traditional" men don't have. welders, saws, etc are pretty much stock and trade for any DIYer.

You do realize it's possible to do stuff with a 3D printer that you can't do with other tools?

 

[Deset Gled]

I guess I come from the era when men had tools and they kept them in their garage. At most, you'd borrow a tool from a friend, or go over to their place to use a piece of specialized equipment they had that you didn't.

I think their 3d machines are problem the stuff most of us "traditional" men don't have. welders, saws, etc are pretty much stock and trade for any DIYer.

I hear you. Back when I was a kid it was basically assumed that everyone would have, at bare minimum, a 4 axis CNC. We used to laugh at the boy down the street who only had a wood router, although looking back I guess it wasn't really his fault. Then again, I come from a town where it was assumed every 16 year old would build his first car in his garage (none of this namby-pamby store bought stuff), and I guess that kind of thing just isn't typical with the younger generation.

 

[Janx]

You do realize it's possible to do stuff with a 3D printer that you can't do with other tools?

I think that's what I implied when i said most traditional men don't have it.

A stereotypical home garage has table saw, drill press, router, sander in some variation because of the wood working angle. Or metal shop tools (welding, grinding)

the new 3d and vacuform stuff being really new, expensive and few civilians exposed to it.

 

[Nytmare]

This isn't just "welders, saws, etc" that people aren't man enough to have lying around their house. This is a place that's training you, and then letting you use an array of tools to tackle almost any fabrication project you could have.

I can't imagine that people are going to utilize their services in lieu of buying their own table saw. The saws and drill presses are there because people are going to need them as a part of a larger process.