(MP4 download here). TechShop founder Jim Newton tells Boing Boing, “I’m very excited to tell you that TechShop Portland is now open!”
And that’s great news for tinkerers, builders, and makers in Oregon. TechShop is an open-access public workshop that’s kind of like a health club with heavy machinery and sparks instead of treadmills. Tinkerers, inventors, and hackers pay a membership fee, and in turn receive access to professionally-maintained gear, workshops, mentors, and a community of like-minded makers.
Above, a Boing Boing TV episode from 2008 in which we visited the first TechShop site in Silicon Valley, which has been open now for several years. Jim Newton, who is a lifetime maker, veteran BattleBots builder and former MythBuster, says they plan to open a number of locations around the US — and eventually, the rest of the world.
Here’s the original Boing Boing TV blog post, with more about TechShop.
Jim Newton and the TechShop folks explain:
TechShop is a 33,000 square foot membership based workshop that provides members with any skill level to have access to tools and equipment, instruction, and a creative and supportive community of like minded people so you can build the things you have always wanted to make.
TechShop is perfect for inventors, “makers”, hackers, tinkerers, artists, roboteers, families, entrepreneurs, youth groups, FIRST robotic teams, crackpots, arts and crafts enthusiasts, and anyone else who wants to be able to make things that they dream up but don’t have the tools, space or skills.
Here’s more on the newly opened TechShop in Portland, Oregon.
RSS feed for new episodes here, YouTube channel here, subscribe on iTunes here. Get Twitter updates every time there’s a new ep by following @boingboingvideo, and here are blog post archives for Boing Boing Video.