Great rundown, thanks for that. CNC machines are also popular at hacker spaces; check one out in a metro area near you (Noisebridge in SF, Ace Monster Toys in O

Great rundown, thanks for that. CNC machines are also popular at hacker spaces; check one out in a metro area near you (Noisebridge in SF, Ace Monster Toys in Oakland, Madagascar Institute in Brooklyn to name a few). I like your description of TechShop, and imho it's about 50% true. They do allow use of the tools after you've paid an extra $100-$200 for a "Safety and Basic Use" class on each, which is usually a 3 hour session providing just about enough information to not kill oneself on a machine. Not to knock it -- it's a great way to get access to tools in many situations -- but in all honesty, after a semester of machine shop at the local junior college, I'm no longer stumped about why I kept breaking drill bits in blocks of aluminum.