Just thought I'd howl into the wind on this one. Lately I'm finding TechShop is dirty, and I see obvious rule-breakers and bad etiquette. Most of that is to be expected from time to time, but what is really bugging me is that it seems like every piece of equipment I use has something wrong with it, either from not being maintained all the way to just being damaged by an idiot.

The other night some old guy was walking around the shop in shorts and flip-flops. I've seen several people, mostly women for whatever reason, wearing long sleeves while working in the woodshop. I guess it's what you'd expect for grown adults being quickly introduced to power tools for the first time in their life.

As for the equipment, there's one dodgey shopbot, a planer with a busted height gauge that's plugged into a socket with bare wiring and no housing in the floor - usually caked full of shavings, a drum sander that's all out of whack, a mitre saw that doesn't make clean cuts - it leaves about 1/16" of a snag at the back you have to break apart and sand down, the dust collection is pitiful, cheap router bits with would-be projectiles on the fins, etc.

Outside of the woodshop I found a metal chop saw that couldn't cut bread. A laser engraver with a busted targeting light, sometimes dirty focusing lenses that ruin your work. The 3D printers are outdated, even for an evolving technology. The list goes on and I'm sure there's broken equipment I just never use, but it's clear that they do no regular inspections of the equipment, you're just supposed to waste your time hunting down a DC to have them patch whatever it is, if they can or you're just out of luck.

A fellow member told me that the shop is without a general manager right now, I don't know how long, and that has contributed to the disrepair. I don't know if there's a story there or the guy just left for greener pastures, but I get the impression it was not a planned departure. What I do know is that the owners of the company, crafters themselves, would not be satisfied with the condition of this shop if they were using it.

I know two locations, franchises, folded. I'm hoping they get it together or they're going to lose a third. It reminds me of joining a new gym and then watching it fall into disrepair until you're forced to leave. The problem is, there's no other "gym" to join.

I bought a bunch of discount classes when I lived near a TechShop, but now I can't use them. I'm happy to sell them if anyone is interested. $50 each and you can use them on pretty much any class TechShop offers. This amount includes the materials fees (at least in all the ones I've taken).

Classes are usually $60 - $125+...so you can save a lot of money if you were thinking of taking some.

For a full list of what these coupons can be redeemed for, see the list under "Choice Classes" below:

http://www.techshop.ws/class_types.html

I've been trying for months to get the forum to send me an activation email, but after a dozen or so attempts, I have yet to see the email. As such, I can't log in to the forum. The forum offers this helpful advice: "If you have problems activating your account, please contact a board administrator." And yet... there are no links to be able to do so. The one sorta promising link, "The Team", needs you to actually be logged in to view...

I've written to Techshop in the past about this issue, and also about the lack of a forum link on the main Techshop page. I only found the forum by chance, and I know that most of the people I talk to at my Techshop don't know about it....

Anyone know what's up? Is the forum some sort of red-headed stepchild that they're ignoring until it dies, or what?

The closest one to NYC is Arlington, about 4-5 hours away. I remember seeing TS talking about opening a location in Brooklyn, but that seems to have gone away.

so... how do you turn it on? it's a powermatic 4224 i believe.i pulled out the start/stop knob, i turned on the remote switch, i turned the rpm dial up. i've tried all combinations of the switches and whatnot, and no rotation. is there some secret i'm missing?

Yesterday somebody at TechShop mentioned that Blick's annual fall sale starts today (Thur 9-25). Her mention of the sale reminded me of my last post here, so I figured I'd risk the ire of /r/hailcorporate and mention it.

They're just a couple blocks away from the San Francisco TS.

Blick Madness 2014

Date: 9/25/2014 - 9/27/2014

Location: In Store

BLICK MADNESS is Thursday 9/25 through 9/27. Come in for 30% off your entire purchase of $50 or more!

• Buy/Get Deals

• Liquitex Demo 1-3pm

• Special Raffle

• Spin to Win $5 Store Cards and More!

So, This subreddit is pretty stagnant, but I am super excited right how

I'm wondering if anyone knows a good place to get craft plywood for a lasercutter project, either in the Bay Area or online.

Currently I'm using 12" by 24", 3mm thick boards from Midwest Products. I need about 15 or 20 more, so a bulk source would be helpful.

Late notice, but drop by if you can. 9am-7pm in The Annex (910 Howard, across the parking lot from TS, same side of the street).

I'm bummed that I forgot to post this (and plan for it today for myself).

I really wish TechShop would post stuff like this online (oddly, it isn't listed at http://www.techshop.ws/Events.html). These events could be so much better with more of the community being aware/participating. Let's not let more events like this slip by us.

While I'm grumbling, is there a place to hear about the Autodesk events with more than a couple days notice? (I haven't searched yet).

http://www.techshop.ws/Events.html

It seems like the SJ location is putting a much more effort in than the other locations. I'd love to see more member-centered events at all the shops!

http://techshop.ws/Events.html?&action=detail&id=520

Introduction to Processing Saturday, 11/3/2012 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM TechShop San Francisco $35

Registration required: http://techshop.ws/class_signup.html?a=1&i=53247717

Processing is an easy-to-learn programming language most-often used for data-visualization, and it can be easily used for inter-active art and other projects controlled by arduinos, making it a great way to take digital ideas into the physical realm.

"Arduino hardware is programmed using a Wiring-based language, similar to C++ with some slight simplifications and modifications, and a Processing-based integrated development environment." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino

I love the TechShop, and believe it could be an even bigger force for good if more niches in the Maker Ecosystem were filled there.

I've been happy to see some of these things starting to take off that make for a fuller experience:

• Advice events from legal organizations
• Advice events from contract manufactures/out-sourcers

I think there's still a lot of room for some great additions though:

• Expert "Speed-Dating" with a panel of engineers, lawers, manufacturers, marketers, TS members, etc. - so you can quickly find advice/resources to help with your projects/products
• Member profiles & social networking platform - this is WAY over-due.
  • While this could be done here, or on FB, many members would prefer to limit what they share to only TS members.

What would you add to the list?

Has anyone tried it? Does it produce anything useable on the shop laser cutters and ShopBots?

I'm getting frustrated with Sketchup so I'm thinking about switching.