Posted: 11/2/2012 11:04:49 AM EDT
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http://www.techshop.ws/index.html
Wonder how they feel about gun projects? ;) Wish I was closer. |
| I did some work there while they were building the place. It butts up against the Lowes with a doorway leading from the store to the Tech Shop that we had to do some work on. They had just opened up for business last time I was there and it looked pretty neat even though nothing was going on at the time. |
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I stopped by for a tour Saturday. Nice equipment, full powder coat shop, metal fab, welding, machine shop, even have a Waterjet and CNC mill. Go by for a tour.
The CNC is not a HAAS, it is bigger than a hobby mill, about Bridgeport size but with a fixed bed. The Waterjet is 3 axis and can handle 4X8 sheets. Only thing I didn't like is you paid an extra $90 per class to be checked out on each machine/group of machines. They offer classes which are fine to learn the skills to run a machine, but just to be checked out after you pay $1400 a year is pretty steep. I could easily add another $900 to the $1400 just to be checked out on the equipment I know how to run. |
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I stopped by for a tour Saturday. Nice equipment, full powder coat shop, metal fab, welding, machine shop, even have a Waterjet and CNC mill. Go by for a tour. Being north of Dallas it's a bit out of my way. My own shop is pretty well equipped, no waterjet or laser cutters though. I just don't really understand why their otherwise flashy web site is so lacking in the pictures of the actual facilities and actual listings of machines with model numbers and specs. Waterjet - ok, 3 axis? 5 axis? cutting area dimmensions? CNC mill, ok travels? horsepower? spindle taper? ATC? what tooling is available? Bring your own? These things matter if you're planning a 'real" project vs. an art project where you can improvise with what is abailable. |
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I'd love to have one in the east Dallas Cty, Rockwall, or southern Collin Cty area. Beats having to go to my inlaws. mm This is why we need to get some ARFcom local dinners that actually happen, it gives an opportunity to meet other folks and learn what facilities they have and might be willing to help with projects in. |
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http://www.techshop.ws/index.html Wonder how they feel about gun projects? ;) Wish I was closer. nice concept, and their logo also resembles the boltface logo! too bad it's not closer |
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Went by for a tour today with my wife. She's interested in their laser engraver/cutter and the vacuum forming. I was looking at the machine shop & the shopbots.
I asked the lady about working on guns there, the answer was complete guns - no, gun parts - yes. $1400 a year seems a little steep to me, like I would have to be in there 4 or 5 times a week to get my money's worth. You can add your spouse to a year membership for another $500, that might lower the price enough for me to justify it. It does seem like I would have to plan out a series of projects ahead of time to take full advantage of what they have to offer. |
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Went by for a tour today with my wife. She's interested in their laser engraver/cutter and the vacuum forming. I was looking at the machine shop & the shopbots. I asked the lady about working on guns there, the answer was complete guns - no, gun parts - yes. $1400 a year seems a little steep to me, like I would have to be in there 4 or 5 times a week to get my money's worth. You can add your spouse to a year membership for another $500, that might lower the price enough for me to justify it. It does seem like I would have to plan out a series of projects ahead of time to take full advantage of what they have to offer. Any info on tooling and whatnot? $1,400 will get you a decent full sized mill if you search around a bit, it's all the tooling costs that add up. Additionally, with your own tools in your own shop you can work on things whenever you have time, vs. if you have to travel to a TechShop load and unload stuff from your vehicle, setup a machine you otherwise would still have left setup from the last session, etc. your productivity will be drastically lower. It's taken me a number of years to build up my shop to the point where I can head in there for almost any project I come up with and not have to chase after anything but raw materials to complete the project. The pleasure from having all that capability available at a moments notice is immense (knowledge helps too). A few weeks back a neighbor called and asked to borrow my floor jack, it seems his died leaving his truck up on jack stands. I lent him my jack to get the truck down and told him to bring his dead jack over to see if we could fix it. When he brought it over we found that the hex socket setup that drives the jack valve from the handle had stripped out. Further investigation indicated that the socket in the handle was fine and the hex head on the drive gear was rounded off. We ultimately determined that the handle had been replaced at some point and the jack hex was inch and the handle was metric leading to minimal contact area to begin with. I took the valve drive shaft with the hex head out, setup the dividing head on my mill and aligned it. I then took the hex head part over to my TIG welder and built up the worn out areas. Back to the mill I milled a new hex of the proper metric size with the dividing head. A little filing to cleanup and break the sharp edges and it test fit the jack handle socket perfectly. Back to the TIG welder, this time just to heat the hex head red hot before dunking it in case hardening compound. A bit of time to cool and cleanup and the part was better than new and should last many years. Total time under an hour working at a very relaxed pace. Tools rule... 
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They have basic end mills etc for the milling machines, anything else you have to provide. I think the rest of the place is similar: the basics on hand & you provide the rest.
I agree with your philosophy, but I'm not there yet, and about out of space. I would be joining to use the stuff I can't afford like the Bridgeports, the Tormach, the Shopbots, and the water jet. |
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Went by for a tour today with my wife. She's interested in their laser engraver/cutter and the vacuum forming. I was looking at the machine shop & the shopbots. I asked the lady about working on guns there, the answer was complete guns - no, gun parts - yes. $1400 a year seems a little steep to me, like I would have to be in there 4 or 5 times a week to get my money's worth. You can add your spouse to a year membership for another $500, that might lower the price enough for me to justify it. It does seem like I would have to plan out a series of projects ahead of time to take full advantage of what they have to offer. That's good to know. I called today but didn't ask about this subject. I have a few projects I have been putting off because I don't have a mill. I can make good use of a one month membership. |
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TechShop has some killer black friday deals for cut rate membership/class packages. The deals are good till midnight the 26th.
The most expensive is $995 for a 1 year membership, 3 classes($90-$185 each depending on which classes), and 5 one day buddy passes. This works out to about $60/month after the classes. https://secure.techshop.ws/memberships.cfm?step=select_offer&offer=439 |
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I wish a shop like this would open in Dallas. I want to learn how to do lots of this stuff. If you want to learn machining, there are a number of good videos on youtube detailing various machining operations. In particular there is a series by "tubal caine" that is very good. Study those videos to get some foundation, then figure out your projects and find some area ARFcomers with the tools to help you through the projects. Then catch MSD (Machine Shop Disease, similar to Black Rifle Disease) and prepare to spend a lot of time and money building up your own shop. Machines are relatively inexpensive, all the tooling and incidentals are what adds up. Keep in mind the sad fact that "dead guy's stuff" is a good way to buildup your shop, many retired machinists and the like build up well equipped home shops and then when they pass their decendents have no clue what anything is and often junk valuable equipment. Try to catch some of that stuff before it gets away, it can greatly aid in getting your shop together. Also do not get caught up in the idea that "old iron" is the only thing worth buying and that all Asian machines are crap. A beat to death piece of "old iron" may well be only suitable as scrap, while many Asian machines, particularly those from Taiwan can be quite good. |