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51 Comments
- komega, on 10/10/2007, -2/+32I pretty much live at this place. The price is very right if you want to use the equipment more than 4 times a month!!! I have already built several inventions, have done some heavy modification to machines, and have cranked out personalized gifts on the laser etching equipment.
- Luca1225, on 10/10/2007, -1/+19Thanks to the very friendly, professional, and helpful TechShop crew, I learned to mill metal and plastic. Not a bad accomplishment for a 65-year-old female artist who has spent a lifetime wary of heavy machinery. Quite a high, definitely condusive to becoming habit forming. A sure way to expand one's creative energies and ideas. I love TechShop!
- engtech, on 10/10/2007, -0/+15"This is a great !!!"
That truly is the best news description possible for this story. That place looks so awesome.
/me jealous - Genthree, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11While most of the comments above sound like schills, this really is a pretty awesome idea. It has the potential to become exorbitantly expensive as members begin to need more and more specialized equipment, but other than that I'm surprised it hasn't been done before.
- wilcotangofox, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10If a branch ever opens up on the East Coast, or I gowestyoungman, this will be where I will be.
For a geek interested in making things, and with experience around machinery, it's heaven. - lovecups, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8They will just attach a robotic appendage made from a light aluminum alloy, that will allow the wearer to do all sorts of nifty stuff...very bond....or Luke....depending on what you get off on. :) How cool would it be if you had like a mini light saber attachment. hmm hot.
- stephenrfleming, on 10/10/2007, -3/+10Makes me want to move to the Bay Area...
- IreneD, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7If you need a place to get a prototype made, this is a fantastic place to get tremendous help! Take a tour and it will blow your mind- even if you are 'technologically impaired' and 'un-handy' as I am.
- TechShopJim, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6It looks like we will have a TechShop in Sacramento perhaps in as early as six months!
- wassim2k, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7I wonder what their insurance policy is like. What if a geek cuts his finger off?
- Monkeybrains, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I live on the wrong coast. That place looks amazing. I'd join one in a heartbeat. I'll just make do with my tiny shop in my garage for now.
- Goldbricker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4That place blows me away. Hopefully it's an idea that will spread.
- topgun553, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Same Thing Except Membership is free: http://thegeekgroup.org/
- Onyxblaze, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Damnit this place is so close... I needed new pants anyways.
- jasonw22, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3As it says here: http://www.techshop.ws/Locations.html
"We are looking at many other communities to determine ideal locations for future TechShop facilities, including San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, Austin, and lots of others. If you would be interested in opening a TechShop in your area, please be sure to join our mailing list and check the checkbox to indicate that you are interested in a TechShop location."
When Jim Newton got the idea for Techshop, he went to the Maker's Faire with a signup sheet and nothing much else. From that signup sheet TechShop was born. You can read more about it here:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20070701/features-start-up-inventors-best-friend.html - kweee, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Yes it is a.
- Frances17033, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Fantastic idea, although it's about 2800 miles too far away to be useful to me. I *so* wish there was a similar place on the East Coast...
- justdbc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Yes, insurance is a major expense. It didn't open until insurance was in place. The day after the insurance went live, a bunch of us "early believers" were in there with sledge hammers and so forth knocking out the dry wall left by the previous tennant. That was a fun day.
- fryguy1013, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I wish there were one of these in sacramento :(
- GrimReeper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2If only Australia didn't lag behind in everything that is awesome.
- Ludwig, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Makes me glad I did.
- Guder, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2That's very cool news. I hadn't been able to do metal work for a while.
- Riolent, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I love that place! There are so many possibilities there!
- kent1146, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3It kind of reminds me of Electrical and Computer Engineering Lab from undergrad. I never really cared for that place, as I would have rather been doing drugs or getting drunk than hang out in the ECE lab.
But now that I pay my own tuition in grad school, I can see how a place like that would be really appealing. - r0ni, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2this stuff should be worldwide!
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2hopefully I'm not overcommenting here, but does anybody know of other organizations/shops/venues like this elsewhere?
I live in NYC and there are a few "communal shops" like TimesUp! that have the same idea as this for fixing/wrenching on your bicycle, and they are tremendously helpful (especially in a city where apartment space is so valuable...). But there is nothing anywhere near as diverse as TechShop.... - RBotros, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2This really _is_ a great exclamation mark
- fryguy1013, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Not all of us can afford to quit our jobs and start up a company, or have experience doing business related things. I know that I'm a good programmer, but I'm a terrible businessman.
- topgun553, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The demonstrations are for classes or groups that want to see the equipment they use. Membership is free, and their labs, tools, and expertise is free to all members.
- namutatya, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3If you have a blog entry on this please point to it Komega. I would love to hear more
- pagemaster, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2yea if you want a cool place to work on your projects with a nearly unlimited budget then get into grad school. TRUST ME. even if you arent a student, if you are 'qualified' you can pick up a part time job as a researcher at your local university if there are openings. these types of positions usually entail you doing whatever it is you would do in your garage at home but with their money and help.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Believe me, if I could, I would. But I think that for the most part it's an issue of capital. A venture like this needs a large initial investment (renting out the space, stocking some initial supplies, advertisement, renovation, etc.) in order to get off the ground.
Most of the people that desperately need/want something like this do so precisely because of a lack of space/supplies/etc. whereas the only person that could star it up would need a surplus of those things. - RettaBear, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1This is so great for me because I want to learn a lot of things that would require equipment way beyond my budget or space. The classes I've taken have really helped spur my creative juices. I look forward to learning more!
- JeremyBanks, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That doesn't look like the same thing, and their site says "Demonstrations are $5 per student per hour.".
- intense321, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2I find it interesting that all the comments here are, "I hope this spreads. Why isn't there one on the East Coast? This stuff should be worldwide. I hope *they* open more shops across the US, etc. etc." Why can't all of you just start your own? It wouldn't have to start out quite as elaborate as this one, but the demand is obviously there. A true geek would jump all over this, and make some money in the process, without asking someone else to do it. I am just not geeky enough to do this, or I would.
- RdHrd138, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1This really is great, I hope they can open up more shops across the U.S. I would love to have to opportunity to mess around with some of the machines they have, especially one of those 3d printers. =)
- Ademan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Makes it less painful to be here.
- Nateon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Wow, a place like this right down the street and I haven't heard of it. Shows how much I get out.
- cclark2007, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1With Jr. High and High Schools eliminating wood shop, metal shop, and auto shop in most school districts, we need a place kids can go and make sparks and sawdust.
- MetalChips, on 08/28/2009, -0/+0It'd be great to have a TechShop type place on the Westside / Santa Monica area in Los Angeles. Contacted the company, but it doesn't sound like anything is moving within easy driving distance anytime soon.
www.VeniceMachine.com
Has info about a shop/class where you can machine and work on metal/plastic in Venice California.
The class is the Venice Adult School Machine Shop / Machinist Class. They meet for 10 - 12 week sessions on MONDAY & WEDNESDAY Nights from 6 - 9:15. You work on your own projects, the days you want, leave when you want. The instructor covers stuff for people that want to watch. This week it was sharpening and shaping lathe cutting tools. They have a lot of lathes, Milling Machies / Mills, a Foundry and a Welding Center with both Tig and Stick Welder.
This seems to be the only class of it's kind on the Westside, though there is LA Trade Tech near downtown, and another school closer to Passadena. - MetalChips, on 08/28/2009, -0/+0I contacted TechShop when I first started looking for a machine shop to go to in Los Angeles. The receptionist told me any LA shop had been put on hold. Then some guy I think was the owner called back to tell me that the LA Tech Shop hadn't been put on hold, and they were talking/working with people in Irvine, Passadena, and Santa Monica.
First off... Irvine is a long way from LA, and Pasadena is barely viable. Secondly, they have had an LA shop in the works for at least a couple of years now, but still don't have one. Thirdly, in my search I ran into a machine shop owner in Santa Monica (Heck, maybe there's more than one) who said he had talked to TechShop at some point in the past.... but wasn't doing anything with it.
So... this "guy" (but maybe spelled more like PUTZ) heavystone is calling me a FAKE for telling people about the LA shop I finally found. Well.. TechShop sounds like a great place and probably ROCKS over the Venice shop. If/when TechShop ever comes to LA I'll let people know about it. In the meantime, rather than bitching, maybe this "real-guy" heavystone can let the rest of us know about some other LA metal-shops we can go to. - Buntysharma123, on 07/04/2008, -0/+0hi hello, Hws u doing
- Monkeybrains, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1It sounds like you had a great experience. Do you have a link to your art?
- heavystone, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1LOL, can you BE more pathetic....this guy is a "fake", he registered just to brag about his own shop....
- Luca1225, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Yes, TechShop's truly a great place. Creative possibilities seem infinite. Thanks for asking about link to my art. None yet but working on it. New to web marketing of same. Thanks again.
- wiremonkeymommy, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1my thought exactly, even if the user signs every form twice, he can still sue and a judge will award!! on a more wistful note, this is truly geek heaven, and, because of the rural area I live in, this will never be available, I need a moment alone, I am sad.
- justdbc, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0Well, there is a toaster oven. Seriously, I do SMT in a toaster oven in my garage. Works great, but tweezer pick/place sux major rox. I think they have a couple of undeployed X-Y mechanisms -- you're more than welcome to hack up a pick/place head and some software.
- lleanse, on 10/10/2007, -6/+4Techshop is a great place for families to work together on projects.
- chasogle, on 10/10/2007, -6/+2Hope to get shop back in my daughters high school (Summit, go huskies) during their intercession,using techshop and parent volunteers
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