TechShop – A place for Makers to work on their projects

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TechShop – A place for Makers to work on their projects

Techshop

Hey Makers! If you like to build stuff but you don’t have the tools, equipment, space, or know-how, TechShop is for you! TechShop is a membership-based drop-in workshop in Menlo Park on the San Francisco peninsula that provides members with access to a full range of hand tools and machines to safely perform practically any task any DIY project. The equipment at TechShop includes welders, milling machines, lathes, drill presses, band saws, sheet metal equipment, a 3D printer and laser cutter, vacuum forming system, presses, an electronics lab, sandblaster, air tools, and just about every other tool that a Maker would ever need.

TechShop also offers a wide variety of classes for members and non-members of all ages and skill levels in topics including soldering, welding, machining, CAD, 3D printing, laser cutting and etching, electronics, robotics, hacking, Legos and VEX, programming, green materials and design, sheet metal fabrication, plastics, and so much more.

The most exciting part of TechShop is the community that is already springing up around it. With nearly a thousand people on the mailing list for membership and classes, and over a hundred people who want to teach classes at TechShop, there will be a lot of really smart and interesting people hanging out there all the time.

TechShop is throwing a Preview Party on Saturday, September 9, 2006 from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Attendees can tour the 15,200 square-foot TechShop building, participate in a variety of activities and demonstrations for kids and adults, meet some of TechShop’s partners including Make Magazine, HdB Electronics, Metal Supermarkets, and TAP Plastics, and even take advantage of special early membership sales. Link.

TechShop

120 Independence Dr

Menlo Park, CA 94025

http://www.techshop.ws

info@techshop.ws

1-(800)-640-1975

24 thoughts on “TechShop – A place for Makers to work on their projects

  1. tnash says:

    What a great idea! I wish there were something like this here in the Midwest where I live. Other than hand tools and a few small power tools, I don’t have room for welders and machining equipment.

  2. katre50 says:

    If they had this in NYC I would join so fast it’d make my checkbook spin.

  3. jswilson64 says:

    Wow. Where do I sign the petition to ask ’em to open in Dallas/Fort Worth? Places like this for working on your car were around in the ’50s and ’60s, slowly died out as liability claims rose. These guys probably have an ironclad waiver, something along the lines of, “Whatever happens to you inside our shop, in whatever manner it happens to you (including us maliciously doing it to you), is your own fault!”

    I truly hope this business survives, flourishes, and spawns successful imitators!

  4. BrK says:

    Interesting, I’ve been thinking of starting something similar near Boston. I may have to go visit this place.

  5. Mesach says:

    Minneapolis!!!!!

  6. Stokes says:

    There used to be the Sparqs co-op machine shop in Boston, but it apparently shut down just before I moved here.

  7. viae says:

    Whoa. Envy.

    Anyone know of something like this in the Northern Virginia and DC metro areas, but for cars?

    I have a 1968 Camaro that I would like to work on myself, but I don’t have the space or tools.

  8. robertadams1 says:

    Count me in for one of these opening in the Washington DC area- what a way to share out the costs of expensive shop stuff!

  9. gnomic00 says:

    I’d invest in one of these in Richmond (DC is too crowded!)

  10. cyenobite says:

    I’ve researched this a bit, and I’ve found (for whatever reason) they don’t last. I wish this place all the luck, but I wonder why they don’t last. I’d join one in a heartbeat. I don’t know why the big home tool companies don’t catch onto this idea. Imagine a workshop connected to homedept, lowes, or a “snap-on” tool center, etc…

  11. Curley1930 says:

    I see where a lot of people need a place to work on their cars! When I was in the military I was NCOIC of the Auto Hobby Shop on the base I was stationed at.
    When I got out of the military I opened my own shop but, found out the State/County College offered all the classes anyone would need to completely restore their car! When it came to R&D work on some of your special ideas/projects there was nothing available!

    This TECH SHOP sounds like the perfect thing for Communities to look into. I’m sure there are lots of abandoned building with plenty of room for just this kind of operation. 1st. seek out a banker with the same kind of interest. 2nd. have the banker help fill out the necessary paperwork to apply for a GOVERNMENT GRANT. 3RD. Approach the banker about HIS firm funding it. 4RD KEEP IN MIND THE POSSIBILITY OF FRANCHISING THIS KIND OF OPERATION. I.E. “MEINIKE” , MCDONALDS ,ETC. GO TO IT, REMEMBER, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT A LITTLE TIME BUT, IF IT CLICKS YOU COULD BE ON EASY STREET. HAM

  12. Curley1930 says:

    I see where a lot of people need a place to work on their cars! When I was in the military I was NCOIC of the Auto Hobby Shop on the base I was stationed at.
    When I got out of the military I opened my own shop but, found out the State/County College offered all the classes anyone would need to completely restore their car! When it came to R&D work on some of your special ideas/projects there was nothing available!

    This TECH SHOP sounds like the perfect thing for Communities to look into. I’m sure there are lots of abandoned building with plenty of room for just this kind of operation. 1st. seek out a banker with the same kind of interest. 2nd. have the banker help fill out the necessary paperwork to apply for a GOVERNMENT GRANT. 3RD. Approach the banker about HIS firm funding it. 4RD KEEP IN MIND THE POSSIBILITY OF FRANCHISING THIS KIND OF OPERATION. I.E. “MEINIKE” , MCDONALDS ,ETC. GO TO IT, REMEMBER, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT A LITTLE TIME BUT, IF IT CLICKS YOU COULD BE ON EASY STREET. HAM

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