The Tech Shop: A Health Club for Machinery Geeks

[BobWarfield]

I just came across this somewhere and I've been telling everyone I come across about it because I think it's such a neat idea and I hope we see more of it.

http://www.techshop.ws/

The Tech Shop is a facility set up for members like a health club where you can gain access to all the things everyone in this hobby (and several others) loves--milling machines, lathes, blacksmithing, lost wax casting, etc., etc. In addition, they offer classes to train you how to use all these fun toys.

I think there is a mini-trend in more exotic do-it-yourself that could just turn into a megatrend. Look at how successful the new Make magazine has been. I'm interested in the whole home shop CNC phenomenon, and it is amazing what level of quality and capability one can produce in one's own garage with a little ingenuity. There is a book out called Fab by some MIT folks. They're working on a project to see what the minimum set of tools and skills is that would allow a third world village to produce virtually anything it might need. They're produced some pretty amazing results, so far.

The idea here is that mechanical fabrication may go the same route that silicon fabrication has gone--all the value is in the ideas, not the factories. The factories are hugely expensive, but completely generic in capability, and they will produce whatever the widget is at the absolute lowest cost, with lower costs every year ala the "Moore" cycle. Why can't this be possible for mechanical creations just as it is for silicon? CNC and lower cost CAM software will make it possible for more people to do what used to take highly skilled machinists with millions of dollars of aerospace quality CNC to do.

There are two enablers necessary to make this happen. First, it has to be easier for someone to do. The key here is making CNC easy. Mach 3 is a great step, but we also have to make programming G-Codes easier. That means great inexpensive CAM software. There is a competitive war brewing at the low end of the CAM world that might just make that happen. We've already seen tremendous reductions in the cost of CAM, but it needs to go lower still. We need the Mach 3 equivalent at a price under $1000 and a very easy to use interface. It's possible the existing players will get there, but it is also possible some sort of Open Source project could do it too, similar to the EMC project, but hopefully not on Linux.

Second, it has to be cheap enough for broad adoption. There are two paths to this. First, the tools themselves keep getting cheaper. Look at the Tormach mill, for an example of an inexpensive (by CNC standards) ready to go CNC mill. KDN Tools has a $3000 mini CNC mill that looks like a great step towards the even lower cost end of the spectrum. Who will be first to break the $2000 barrier with a ready to run small mill, perhaps based on the Sieg? What does John Stevenson's Sieg conversion cost if shipped already assembled and ready to go?

A second path will be neighborhood collectives like The Tech Shop. Imagine being able to purchase a membership like a health club at a nearby facility that has Haas, Hurco, and other brand new CNC machines. These are machines of tremendous capability that most hobbyists could not purchase on their own. Let's say the same facility also has a room with PC's all set up running Solidworks and one of the easy to use CAM software packages. Again, we are talking thousands of dollars and more than most hobbyists can touch. Now add classes and folks working there full time to show you how to work the stuff and help you with problems. Suddenly, anyone would be able to work on a fun project for their own use or even a prototype of a new product for a business they're trying to start up.

If you are really more into the design than the machinery, you might have the CAD stuff at home, and carry your disk into the club to run it through CAM and then onto the Haas to make the part. Think about that. You could spend what it costs for a SolidWorks (or your other favorite CAD program) plus the club membership, and be making parts with professional machine shop capabilities, without having spent what it costs to acquire even one decent machine tool. Pretty cool!

Community colleges that have appropriate programs should add a "Machine Club" offering. It will drive more traffic through their classes as well as raise more money to expand the programs. Local machine shops should back these kinds of activities by offering machines they intended to be rid of, volunteer expertise, and lastly offering to manufacture any prototypes produced in quantity. It's a source of business and networking, and these hobbyists are in no way a competitive threat.

Cooperative programs like these can really change the playing field and slow down or reverse the steady trend to do it all overseas.

Best,

BW

[dertsap]

that looks like a brillient idea , great way to keep youths out of trouble , and great for young and old ,
we need more stuff like that , in our communities

[ViperTX]

The concept is good.....I just don't think it is going to fly for long....a person running a business could have 3 or 4 employees tie up key machines for $300 to $400 per month....

[Runner4404spd]

i thinki the main problem will come in with liability. the machines are dangerous peices of equipment that can hurt people. how do you test to see if someone has the basic level of competency to work a machine?

[BobWarfield]

Plenty of leisure time activity involves liability, and folks seem to get past it. Skiing and scuba diving are inherently dangerous. Racing cars is dangerous, as is karting. How about shooting ranges? All involve liability of a similar sort with greater or lesser odds of an injury developing.

Come to think of it, look at how many people die in bed or in hospitals--they're dangerous too!

A club like this has classes. They may require you either take one or demonstrate basic familiarity before they turn you loose. They may also have a couple roaming the machines looking for trouble.

As to tying up the machines to run a business, I'm sure there are ways to round robin so you couldn't tie them up. They might even explicitly prohibit too many copies of the same part being made without permission.

Best,

BW

[Geof]

I bumped into this thread which had been inactive for almost eighteen months and clicked on the Techshop link.

They are still going and now have nine locations. In a way this interesting because this thread did not generate much comment here on CNCzone but there must be substantial interest out there.

[Switcher]

I would join something like that, If they had one in my area.

I wander If you could get a free membership, in trade for teaching classes?


.

[dertsap]

Originally Posted by Switcher I wander If you could get a free membership, in trade for teaching classes? .

volunteering usually has its perks

[georgebarr]

I recently purchased a 1 year membership since there was a discount til May 31. There is currently only 1 location open located in Menlo Park, CA which is about 20-30 minutes drive from my house. They said in about 2-3 months other locations will be opening like in Sunnyvale, CA which will be closer to me. I have already attended their Basic Usage and Safety classes (extra fee) for Mill, Lathe, Mig welding, and CNC Plasma which is required for some machines before you can use them. They also require you to sign a release and waiver form. So, as far as the liability, the required courses and waiver form takes care of that. They just bought a new large commercial CNC mill to be used for only 2-D wood projects (no metal projects).

The main limitations I see is that their large Bridgeport style mills are all manual (no CNC), but have a 2 axis DRO on them. Their lathes are all manual (no CNC). They do have 2 smaller CNC mills, but are not meant for heavy machining and have a small spindle motor like a trim router motor and they are the techoIsol brand. I will have to wait and see what kind of equipment their Sunnyvale office will have. Also, the membership is specific to a TechShop location, but you can transfer your membership from one location to another.

[jeep534]

There Is RCBI in WV. (the Robert C Byrd Instatute for flexible manufacturing)
they have machines that local buisness owners can lease time on. while not a hobby endevor they have classes, a degree program and high end machines you can "lease" time on for a per hour basis. I do know they have a laser and a bunch of other cnc machines. and various locations around WV.

www.RCBI.org

archie =) =) =)

[spunky1974]

My goodness this is a brilliant idea...... just think this could fill in for the failure of our public school system at teaching real world vocational skills, hands on learning with classes, and apply them to boot. Imagine a place where you can learn to do trades and not have to take english literature and physcology prerequisites that cost more than you earn. Holy crap, someone call the whitehouse, Jim Newton, just solved the education crisis. Just take a look.

YouTube - TechShop: a community tinkering space (BBtv)

YouTube - TechShop: a community tinkering space (BBtv)