TechShop in the Bermuda Triangle! =8-D

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

http://techshop.ws/durham.html You can't believe how stoked I am about this . . .

. . . somebody told me about it at work today!

[Mk.558]

Some sort of communal work area where you can do many things? sounds nice...$99 a month...well, it's cheaper than buying a $$$$ CNC mill

I have actually thought about something like that as a business, auto shop deal with lifts. Gonna have a problem with tools walking off. Maybe bring your own. (And no you cannot lift the car by yourself. Too much liability.)

[Gorgonops]

I know a few people who've had Techshop memberships, and, I dunno, the reviews seem to be "mixed". In particular there tend to be complaints about waiting forever to use facilities like the paint booth or the powder coating equipment only to find that the last user has left the place a disaster area, leaving you to spend half your time allotment cleaning up the mess they had no business leaving. So, eh, your mileage may vary.

[Bunsen]

I wonder if there might be a Hackerspace in your area, too. More of a member-run non-profit model. I've been meaning to get along to the local one.

[Bunsen]

Turns out, there are a few active hackerspaces in NC, and it seems that TechShop might be another name for the same thing.

[trag]

What a cool concept, although, as gorgonops pointed out, it is vulnerable to some tragedy-of-the-commons problems. They could fix that with closer monitoring by staff, but that would add to the cost. Still, pay someone $10 - $15/hour to keep an eye on things and make sure folks clean up, shouldn't be a big expense compared to the cost of the equipment. The tougher question would be what kind of enforcement mechanism would they have.

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I'll check to see what kind of equipment they really have before work on Saturday if I can. The availability of classes and workshops is a big plus for me . . . gotta keep learnin' to do new stuff! I may even check into them as an employment opportunity.It all boils down to cost

I've still got my bandsaw, a 1HP Delta14, all of my small manual and pneumatic sheet metal working tools. I have enough of my shop equipment left to be relatively independent for most tasks. Having a 40" film cutting/inkjet printing drum plotter is a big plus as well. But I sorely miss my Box & Pan Brake, the notcher, horizontal bandsaw and iron working tools, but I don't have a need to do much of that any more. Conspicuously missing and much missed is a drill press, but I can't spare the room for a good one. The Radial Arm and Tablesaws I can get by without now that I've hacked a router table into the oscillating spindle sander table and still have a great Circular Saw and Sabre Saw.

I'm not sure how much high tech equipment I really need.

A year's membership would pay for a great tabletop Drill Press and a Harbor Freight Shear, Press Brake and Slip Roll . . .
. . . but I haven't got a place for that either.

[trag]

A year's membership would pay for a great tabletop Drill Press and a Harbor Freight Shear, Press Brake and Slip Roll . . .
. . . but I haven't got a place for that either.

That's a real problem for many of us. We might be able to afford to buy the equipment we want to use. We cannot afford a workshop sized space to keep it in and in which to use it. Plus, realistically, it just won't get used that often. Intensely during a project, and then not at all for months at a time.

That kind of shared tool idea is the obvious solution, but implementing it in a workable and convenient manner would be the trick.

So, I tried a Google search to see if there was a TechShop-like business in Austin, TX and came up with this link:
http://www.jobhustler.com/jobs/austin/Art-Media-Design-Jobs/TechShop-Seeks-Front-Desk-

implying that TechShop will be opening one in Austin. I hope that's what it means.

[Mk.558]

What a cool concept, although, as gorgonops pointed out, it is vulnerable to some tragedy-of-the-commons problems. They could fix that with closer monitoring by staff, but that would add to the cost. Still, pay someone $10 - $15/hour to keep an eye on things and make sure folks clean up, shouldn't be a big expense compared to the cost of the equipment.

Don't forget that you have to have such an individual who truly knows how to use the stuff. If someone uses a bandsaw to cut some 25mm steel that is 150mm wide, that's one thing. Knowing that you shouldn't cut more than 50mm at a time (or about 24 teeth) unless you want to cook a $80 blade is another. (Solution: Prop it up slightly at an angle. Pro tip: Make sure the prop material can't catch the teeth as it comes down, otherwise it will get grabbed and slammed against the backstop, taking out the blade with it.)

As with these sort of tools, having them is one thing, knowing how to use them and all their dirty little secrets and perks is quite another. Another instance, press brakes. Any fool can put some sheet metal in and press the down button -- but making a right bend at the exact location is quite something else. Another example: torque wrenches (both the beam style and the clicker style) are not breaker bars. Standard 12-point sockets are not meant to be used with impact wrenches (either the kind used in tire shops or the kind that is meant to be struck with a hammer to free stubborn bolts). Screwdrivers are not prying tools, just because they happen to be close in design to one doesn't make them one (although light prying is okay), neither are they chisels, because they lack the proper (non-Harbor Freight inventory is a plus) hardened tool steel with a properly tempered edge. A manual tap wrench + tap is not to be just threaded all the way down like a screw, unless an endless supply of taps is on hand.

Stuff like that. Policing and keeping track of everything without people doing stuff like spraying the visual window on the door of the sand/media blaster, turning it all opaque is a full time job. You want to see bad, try a high school shop.

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I've never used a press brake, but I'm a dab hand at fabbin' just about anything on a leaf brake.

For the most part:

1) Harbor Freight tools, consumer level "Home Improvement Store tools" and the like collect rust in bags in the nooks and crannies of the car trunk, waiting for that "one time use."

2) Newer, allegedly pro-level, "Home Improvement Store tools" inhabit different tool belts, pouches, bags, boxes and work surfaces in multitudes.

3) My old-school Craftsman, Klein, Crescent, ChannelLock, Wiss, ProSnip etc. tools inhabit the Triple-Decker (black, not red) Craftsman Toolbox, the old Sign Rigging Belt/Harness, the (Klein) Electrician's Tool Belt Pouch and the Sheet Metal Tool Bucket.

The metal cutting blade for my bandsaw is the real deal, bi-metal, cut to length from the roll and welded by a g-e-n-u-i-n-e saw blade shop . . . with cutting oil ready at hand . . .

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I just discovered that I can make nice clean cuts with the pneumatic nibbler. I never actually tried doing so until today. In the past, I've only done rough cutouts and made finished cuts on the shear, notcher or used one of my large selection of Tin Snips and Aviation Shears.

In this light, there's no need for that heavy clumsy toy from Harbor Freight, I think I'll look for a lighter gauge Box & Pan Brake on the used market. I could probably get one new for less money and it can be stored a lot more conveniently underneath a tool bench with a removable top.

Wearing my knee pads will make working at the lower height doable as well!

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I've been researching Box & Pan Brakes . . . found one just like the one I lost in the storage room . . .

http://www.ebay.com/itm/48-INCH-SHEET-METAL-PAN-BOX-BRAKE-16-GAUGE-NEW-/251000074927

I miss my big toys!