4 ms·

I’ll freely admit TLDR - I’ll get to it - but I strongly empathize. I was in one of the last cohorts of my high schools shop class. I made some ambitious proje

I’ll freely admit TLDR - I’ll get to it - but I strongly empathize. I was in one of the last cohorts of my high schools shop class. I made some ambitious projects (nothing mind blowing). I learned to ship instead of starting a new project! I learned CNC routing and plasma cutting. I learned CAD. I learned how to engage methodically with a dangerous system. My first tech jobs were in machining and CAD. Today I’ve drifted away. It’s hard to keep working and learning. Techshop closed. Makerspaces have soldering guns and 3D printers, no Haas mills. The few with real equipment want you to drop thousands of $$$ and 6 months of time on taking their cert classes, instead of just a safety checkout. Maybe the latter is impossible with insurance, but I’m still annoyed. I can’t afford a house in the Bay so I can’t start building my own shop. Today I fiddle with hand tools and watch AvE and hope I’ll find a shop or mentor that works with my life. If I ever get “fuck you money”, I’ll go start taking machining courses at a trade school full time. If I ever afford a house here or move, I’ll aim to get a shop outbuilding and hire tutors to teach me the harder aspects. Is there a better path?? I’ll read TFA and see if there’s anything actionable, but I think it will just make me sadder. I guess I could go work in CAD again...

pacman83 5y ago
In Tucson, Xerocraft, a nonprofit makerspace, has lathe and Bridgeport knee mill [0] and is run less formally. Also, Tucson is cheap and somewhat funky. You might like it. [0] https://xerocraft.org/pages/metalshop https://xerocraft.org/pages/metalshop Edit: Sorry, someone has gutted the web site, removing most of the information. The space itself has existed for quite a few years and I have been a volunteer member of staff since 2013. The tools are real. Despite the appearance probably given by this new website, the makerspace is not vaporware.
throwawayboise 5y ago
I had shop in middle school; I wish I had taken more vocational courses in high school, my school had a good program for that. Might have led me on a much more satisfying career trajectory. I enjoy programming for the most part, but it all seems intangible and non-permanent. I know that everything I do will be "legacy code" and considered obsolete in a few years. I'm certainly aware of "grass is greener" syndrome, but making and repairing tangible real-world things feels more satisfying. For now I satisfy this by driving an old car that has no electronics and that I can maintain with hand tools.
NoImmatureAdHom 5y ago
I'm in more-or-less the same boat, so I sympathize. There are nooks and crannies in every big city where you could have a semblance of a shop, but you're right. It's hard. Especially when you're not sure how long you're going to be around, so it's tough to justify investing. That said, it is amazing how much some people do with so little. Look at Clickspring's work (http://www.clickspringprojects.com/ http://www.clickspringprojects.com/). The man is a freaking virtuoso and I think his shop is 4 feet x 10.

pacman83 5y ago

In Tucson, Xerocraft, a nonprofit makerspace, has lathe and Bridgeport knee mill [0] and is run less formally. Also, Tucson is cheap and somewhat funky. You might like it. [0] https://xerocraft.org/pages/metalshop https://xerocraft.org/pages/metalshop Edit: Sorry, someone has gutted the web site, removing most of the information. The space itself has existed for quite a few years and I have been a volunteer member of staff since 2013. The tools are real. Despite the appearance probably given by this new website, the makerspace is not vaporware.

throwawayboise 5y ago

I had shop in middle school; I wish I had taken more vocational courses in high school, my school had a good program for that. Might have led me on a much more satisfying career trajectory. I enjoy programming for the most part, but it all seems intangible and non-permanent. I know that everything I do will be "legacy code" and considered obsolete in a few years. I'm certainly aware of "grass is greener" syndrome, but making and repairing tangible real-world things feels more satisfying. For now I satisfy this by driving an old car that has no electronics and that I can maintain with hand tools.

NoImmatureAdHom 5y ago

I'm in more-or-less the same boat, so I sympathize. There are nooks and crannies in every big city where you could have a semblance of a shop, but you're right. It's hard. Especially when you're not sure how long you're going to be around, so it's tough to justify investing. That said, it is amazing how much some people do with so little. Look at Clickspring's work (http://www.clickspringprojects.com/ http://www.clickspringprojects.com/). The man is a freaking virtuoso and I think his shop is 4 feet x 10.