Another Saturday in the City

Saturday was the opening of the San Francisco TechShop location.  The TechShop is a member-based workshop where you have access to tools and machines as well as the opportunity to take classes.  It's just behind The San Francisco Chronicle in the Mission.  Conery had a chance to see it a few weeks ago when visiting Gever Tulley (creator of Tinkering School) while Gever was there working on his new endeavor, Brightworks.

The grand opening festivities included a ribbon cutting ceremony, a talk by Adam Savage of Mythbusters, and tours of the facility.  We didn't make it for the ribbon cutting or the Adam Savage bit, but we got to go on the tour, which was the one part of it all that I was really set on doing. 

It was sunny in the morning, but by the time we  took the train into the City, it was rainy and cold.  It's quite a new phenomenon for us to dress for actual cold weather.  Hats and scarves are no longer mere fashion accessories but necessary items.  The train was fun as I had a seasoned pro with me to show me the ropes.

We got off at the Powell stop and made our way to the TechShop.

 

We signed up for a membership and got in line for the tour.  There were lots of super awesome machines in the metal shop including a couple tables for welding.  They offer classes which focus on each of the machines in the shop as well as overview classes that cover all the machines in a given area (woodworking, metalworking, etc.).

A CNC router made by a Sanford, FL company

One of the three welding tables with
smoke sensitive vacuums in the background

Looking down into the metal shop where some
TechShop person was doing an interview

On the second floor, there were other workspaces including laser cutters, sewing and embroidery machines, a lounge area, banks of computers with Autodesk applications (AutoCAD, etc.), and additional work tables and equipment.

One of the 10 sewing machines

  

This TARDIS from the TV show Dr. Who
was made using one of the laser cutters.

This decal was on a window between
two rooms.

Conery indulged my request
to pose on the other side.

The TechShop was super sweet.  Going into the City for classes doesn't really work for my schedule, but there is a location in Menlo Park which is near my office.