Pragmatic question: what are the alternatives in the Bay Area that are available to me right now?
I'm most interested in having access to a laser cutter, mill, and lathe.
I'm most interested in having access to a laser cutter, mill, and lathe.
If you develop a good relationship with the prof, he'll let you run a mill.
Take a class or two, and see how far it gets your. They are usually pretty cool.
ccsf welding courses are vastly more useful and 1/4 the cost of a crucible course
If you want to make contacts, that's different from running a lathe, but maybe I'm oversimplifying.
I will say that people at makerspaces generally want to be there, whereas people in CCs generally see it as more of a steppingstone to a decently paying job. You might get more out of one or the other, but there's no denying that makerspaces charge extortionate rates for machines that the CC provides virtually for free, if you know the prof well enough so he lets you sneak in.
you can also search by tools/equipment here: https://baqqer.com/equipment
Civilization has successfully wiped out yet another source of small joys for folk. But we endure and continue making.
You'd be surprised at what is possible using only hand tools, a table saw, a scroll saw, and a welder, plasma cutter, and right-angle grinder.
Heck - if you're only doing metal work, the last three can be all had for less than $2k (if you aren't too picky about brands).
Now - if you're wanting a place like this because you don't have the space or such to have your own "shop area" (like a garage or shed), that's understandable.
But really, if you can swing it, going with the basics can sometimes yield just as good results. For instance, take a look at this image:
https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*1e8OyXBwVk0Pnd-eM...
The guy is a friend of mine, and that's his shop. His name is Lance Greathouse. I volunteer on weekends and such to help him with his non-profit, Wheelchair Labs. We take donated powerchairs, like the one he's sitting in, clean 'em up, fix 'em up, then donate them back out to those in need. I've seen lives change because of this.
Anyhow, he's been doing this for a while, and the non-profit is fairly recent; prior to that, it was just a side hobby (inspired by his brother, who passed away) - but he was donated a bunch of chairs and such that couldn't be re-used. We've used them for parts, and he's used them for years to build robots and other toys.
See that 6-wheel machine to the right? It's powered by a couple of large wheelchair motors, driving the wheels using a chain drive. That gun thingie on the top is an actual flamethrower he built (he's an expert in fire effects, too). The whole thing is radio controlled. Anyhow, that robot was hand-built, using pretty much a welder, a right-angle grinder, and a cutting torch (acetylene). There was drill press involved, too. Plus hand tools and some other power tools.
Virtually everything you see in that picture, minus the chair Lance is sitting in, was made without access to a lathe, cnc mill, or laser cutter. We do have a plasma-torch CNC table, but we've never gotten it to work properly (it never holds the arc for more than a few inches of travel). We've found, though, that we can do anything with just a bit of imagination and gumption.
Just keep that in mind. Rarely is it the lack of the proper tools or space that holds you back. Re-evaluate what you want to do - maybe you do need the equipment you mention (for instance, the stuff we do is very much "one-off" items; if you wanted to do production quality, larger runs, or you need more precision, then you'd probably want better tools).
Or - maybe you might be able to get along with other tools?