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Comment by lifeisstillgood | Hacker News Reader

Is there a co-operative movement in the maker movement - one where the mysterious "Well equipped machine shop" is a co-op or subscription approach - it strikes me as very similar to airplane ownership - very few pilots own a whole aeroplane, and why should every maker own all they need

As an aside I have often felt this would be a fantastic Mythbusters franchise

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There's at least one US company I know of called TechShop[1] who have 5 or 6 places around the US with pretty well equipped workshops, along with instruction/safety classes etc.

On the more DIY front, Hackerspaces[2] are a sort of community/timeshare approach to various equipment, and are much more widely spread,[3] but since they're largely community-driven, the range of stuff available varies widely.

[1] http://www.techshop.ws/

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackerspace

[3] http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/List_of_Hacker_Spaces

I've done CNC machining at TechShop in San Jose. Very nice facility. Learned their CAD/CAM softwares pretty quickly, and found the whole process to be straightforward. In addition to CNC milling, they've got a water cutter, plasma cutter, router, laser cutter, and a bunch of non-cnc tools - mills, lathes, welders, cutters, saws etc.

For me, the biggest bonus of the 'subscription' approach is the interaction with other makers. I just learned a ton chatting with other people in the facility.

I was a member of TechShop in the Bay area for a while. Unfortunately all their locations are just too far from my home and they have no plans to open a shop in the East Bay, but if you are a member of one, you are a member of all the locations. Two thumbs up.

In Sydney Australia, check out Robots & Dinosaurs - http://www.robodino.org - a couple of cnc mills, a choice of several 3d printers, a laser cutter, and a whole bunch of other useful gear, and people happy to show you how to use them.

(And in Canberra Australia, look for http://www.makehackvoid.com/ )

The London Hackspace is amazing - here's their list of tools: http://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/view/Equipment

That's fantastic - near some old stomping grounds of mine.

I shall check this out

Maybe look into Fab Labs. They're not so much a franchise as they are a community outreach / educational thing. The program was started by MIT. The complete hardware specification totals to around $50,000, which isn't too bad.

http://fab.cba.mit.edu/about/faq/

Curses, I wish I knew about this when writing up the inventory to our budget. Here's their inventory: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AtIlZyLn99e6dGR...

Leave it up to MIT to push Maker culture. If you're a student there, check out their Hobby Shop: http://studentlife.mit.edu/hobbyshop

The makerspace co-op near Victoria, BC, Canada is pretty good. They have a 3D printer, laser engraver, welding, woodworking, electronics, and a blacksmith shop (with casting furnace)

[1] http://www.makerspace.ca/wp/

There are definitely Makerspaces and Hackerspaces around to facilitate this stuff. I'm a member of one called Site3[1] in Toronto. We have a variety of milling machines as well as a laser cutter, 3D printer and a new DIY 3-axis CNC that we are putting together right now. Membership works on a monthly fee like you might expect, and each member is given responsibilities for maintaining the shop. I think there are equivalent spaces emerging in many major cities in North America.

[1] http://www.site3.ca

This is a really cool idea. One of the first problems you'd probably have to overcome though would be insurance. For pilots there are very strict certifications and strong personal incentives not to crash. With a modern Cnc machine it's very easy to cause more damage than you can afford to fix (if you can't afford the equipment in the first place) and you don't even have to put yourself in danger to do it.

In SF, Noisebridge (https://www.noisebridge.net) has a CNC mill, among other things.

Interestingly, MakerBot basically came out of one such collective (NYC Resistor).

I know several guys with CNC mills/lathes, so they're out there (not often in the city). Car clubs usually have one or two guys that have the requisite tools.

MakerSpace (or HackerSpace) is the term you're thinking of.

Yep, it's a thing ... an example from my own backyard in (or rather, near) Orlando, FL - http://familab.org/

Metrix Create Space isn't a co-op, but they do sell memberships. It is open to the public from noon to midnight seven days a week in Seattle. http://metrixcreatespace.com

3rd Ward in Brooklyn has a wood shop and metal shop among other things (so not quite the FabLab of your dreams) but there are literally tons of places like this, it's just a matter of looking for them.

I'm working on a startup now to help people find these types of resources (often hackerspaces, but elsewhere too), so that people interested in DIY can make more things easily.

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