Community hobby shops??

[punkdrew]

It would be an ideal setup for me because I could go in @ anytime of day or night, I wouldn't have to adhere to a class schedule, and the learning method would be trial and error, which I prefer. Plus I just plain dig working with tools, esp. if well-made and -maintained.

["couldbecousin"]

So you're basically saying you want to live like the Amish?

I see some problems with this though.

- Certain parts (ie. electrical equipment) cannot be made by hand, or if it can needs expensive machinery and clean rooms. You'll have to buy a lot from the BIG BAD CORPORATIONS and thus destroy the whole point of your semi-Amish lifestyle. If you want hi-tech, then this to me is sadly the only way. You cannot make DNS servers to allow internet access without bothering those bigwigs you hate so much, for example.

- What happens if certain machinery etc. breaks down? I highly doubt they can be fixed on their own, especially with such small and complex electrical equipment inside. The parts for such machinery are sourced from factories pretty much all over the world.

I would not say the Amish but nobody fixes or makes things themselves today.  Sure there are things you have to buy but there are many you don't and it's a hobby shop not meant to replace stores or garages.  It would not be every bodies type of thing anyway.  I for one enjoy fixing things and working with my hands I find it relaxing.  Many people I know don't know shit about fixing things and just throw the stuff away and buy a new one even for just a fuse which is a big waste

I can change a lightbulb AND I can tighten a loose screw with a butter knife!

[Queen Victoria]

CBD - could you tighten randytheglowworm up?  I think he's got a lot of loose screws, and nuts and bolts, and...

["couldbecousin"]

CBD - could you tighten randytheglowworm up?  I think he's got a lot of loose screws, and nuts and bolts, and...

Still busy working on my own loose screws!

[Scrapheap]

Problems to overcome: 
Skills need time to be learned.  If I need my car A/C fixed I can't afford to spend 3 weeks learning how to fix it.  Also I may never need that skill again.

Obviously, people would either already have to know what they're doing, or take the appropriate classes.

Some repairs don't lend themselves to being brought to a workshop - refrigerators, washers & dryers, central air & heat for example.

You'd be suprised. Some of those things are easier to fix than you realize.

Sometimes it's cheaper to pay someone to repair something if your hourly earnings are high enough.  I can't see a lawyer adjusting the headlights on his car when he can earn in the hiigh 3 firgures in the same amount of time and only pay $30 to have them adjusted.

Then the lawyer can pay someone else to do ther work for him at the hobby shop.

You've focused on "masculine" skills.  Both sexes should have access to sewing machines and be taught skills such as mending, knitting (socks) and sewing.

By all means, things like that should be included too. 

What's the insurance cost on this?  Who will cover the damages from poor repairs - the brakes that fail because of a mistake made in the repair?  The washing machine that catches fire?

That's perhaps the biggest stumbling block I can think of. I wish there was an easy solution. Perhaps waivers of some kind??

[Scrapheap]

My dad can make most devices in his garage. He can repair almost anything on anything with an engine in it. He also built most of the house himself.

My ideal, is to create comminities of people more like your dad. 

[Scrapheap]

I think it;s a good idea and it could be expanded to many things like computers , electronics and as the previous poster suggested some less guy things. It would teach people a lot of independence. The thing is lots of people would probably never go.  Many don't seem to want to do things like this anymore   I am amazed what I find at estate sales  the tools,  books, and partial projects people started in the 1950's people fixed so much more themselves back then.  There still are a lot of people who do but it seems to be declining but they are there.  The trick would be finding them and having it in a  place they could all go.

Thats part of the problem were fighting. A alzy consumerist society that knows the cost of everything, but the value of nothing.

Another thing would be money the insurance alone would be astronomical in these sue happy days.

Yeah, that's a bit of a problem. The only solution I can think of is some kind of legal waiver.

[Scrapheap]

I see some problems with this though.

- Certain parts (ie. electrical equipment) cannot be made by hand, or if it can needs expensive machinery and clean rooms. You'll have to buy a lot from the BIG BAD CORPORATIONS and thus destroy the whole point of your semi-Amish lifestyle. If you want hi-tech, then this to me is sadly the only way. You cannot make DNS servers to allow internet access without bothering those bigwigs you hate so much, for example.

Yes, this hobby shop idea would do nothing to address high-tech corporations. I think the best way to deal with them is to push for stricter corporate laws, while passing laws to encourage the creation of manufacturing syndicates. Basically, the workers would take over ownership of the corporations and they would be run in a more equitable/democratic fashion.

- What happens if certain machinery etc. breaks down? I highly doubt they can be fixed on their own, especially with such small and complex electrical equipment inside. The parts for such machinery are sourced from factories pretty much all over the world.

I have other ideas to address this. These complex electronics could be made to be more repairable, and generic so that they could be sourced mrom many suppliers.

[Scrapheap]

Many people I know don't know shit about fixing things and just throw the stuff away and buy a new one even for just a fuse which is a big waste

That's a big problem of our modern culture. Consumerist mentality leads to dependence on corporations and governments.

What I'm envisioning here is a world in which the average person has power over his posessions. In the case of most people, their possesions have power over them.

['andersom']

I lived in a town, long time ago, where one of the bicycle shops offered space for clients to tinker on their own bicycles using the materials of the shop. They were not expensive, you got access to all the tools for free. And if you got stuck, they would help out for a very reasonable fee. Lots of the parts you could need they had in a second hand version in store too.

It just was fun to go there and work on a bicycle. They would still be able to make enough money to live from. And, it was the best advertising a shop could get. If I remember well some talented tinkerers found a job there too.

Ahhh, that town, only place in my life that ever managed to get me 'homesick'.

[normal_impaired]

I've been thinking about an idea to build a "DIY shop".  The idea is to get a huge warehouse-style building real close to a large metropolitan city and fill it with every type of shop equipment you can find.  I'm thinking a complete automotive shop, a complete wood shop with industrial equipment, a complete metalworking shop, etc.  The idea would be to charge people to go in and do their own work on whatever they want.  Training classes could be held and for safety (and insurance) there could be a policy that for each power tool, you need to take the training class to be able to use it (both to teach how to use it properly, and to make sure everybody actually knows what they're doing.

I've been to video arcades where you buy a card and swipe it in all the machines and the credits are automatically deducted from the card.  This same method could be used where you have a card that you pay for, and that card won't let you turn on certain machines until you've proven that you can use them safely.

Basically the idea is that people in the city can have access to tools and equipment that they can't have in their apartments.

[odeon]

As I continue to work on my Anarcho-Syndicalist Libertarian philosopy, I rembered one of the things that I liked about life on a military base. We always had "Hobby Shops" usually automotive and woodworking. At the auto hobby shop, you could rent out a typical auto repair stall complete with a hoist and compressed air hook ups. There was even access to 4 wheel alignment machines, Exhaust gas analyzers and other diagnostic equipment. They had everything there you needed to do almost any kind of car work, including engine rebuilding. The wood hobby shop had a couple of table saws, a planer, a jointer, a table mounted router and a couple of drill presses. You could build your own furniture there if you wanted.
 Now take this idea and expand it a bit. Throw in a Machine shop, sheet metal shop, and a few other "hobby shops" and you could have a largely self-sufficient community where people, instead of having to buy things they need, can make or repair them themselves. This would make the average person much less dependent on corporations and keep the ability to live a comfortable, high-tech lifestyle within a community. These could also be community education centers where all the different trades are taught localy, so there's always a good talent pool for any given profession. This could also be incorporated with "green" technology and other "new economy" ideas.
 
OK, here comes the part where you tell me that I'm just smoking cheap crack cocaine.    

You are, but it's still a good idea.

[Parts]

I've been thinking about an idea to build a "DIY shop".  The idea is to get a huge warehouse-style building real close to a large metropolitan city and fill it with every type of shop equipment you can find.  I'm thinking a complete automotive shop, a complete wood shop with industrial equipment, a complete metalworking shop, etc.  The idea would be to charge people to go in and do their own work on whatever they want.  Training classes could be held and for safety (and insurance) there could be a policy that for each power tool, you need to take the training class to be able to use it (both to teach how to use it properly, and to make sure everybody actually knows what they're doing.

I've been to video arcades where you buy a card and swipe it in all the machines and the credits are automatically deducted from the card.  This same method could be used where you have a card that you pay for, and that card won't let you turn on certain machines until you've proven that you can use them safely.

Basically the idea is that people in the city can have access to tools and equipment that they can't have in their apartments.

I have seen something similar for artists on some show but I can't remember where it was They had welders and a wood shop and some other things too.  I like the idea and could have used a Jointer but made it by with a power plane

[Callaway]

As I continue to work on my Anarcho-Syndicalist Libertarian philosopy, I rembered one of the things that I liked about life on a military base. We always had "Hobby Shops" usually automotive and woodworking. At the auto hobby shop, you could rent out a typical auto repair stall complete with a hoist and compressed air hook ups. There was even access to 4 wheel alignment machines, Exhaust gas analyzers and other diagnostic equipment. They had everything there you needed to do almost any kind of car work, including engine rebuilding. The wood hobby shop had a couple of table saws, a planer, a jointer, a table mounted router and a couple of drill presses. You could build your own furniture there if you wanted.
 Now take this idea and expand it a bit. Throw in a Machine shop, sheet metal shop, and a few other "hobby shops" and you could have a largely self-sufficient community where people, instead of having to buy things they need, can make or repair them themselves. This would make the average person much less dependent on corporations and keep the ability to live a comfortable, high-tech lifestyle within a community. These could also be community education centers where all the different trades are taught localy, so there's always a good talent pool for any given profession. This could also be incorporated with "green" technology and other "new economy" ideas.
 
OK, here comes the part where you tell me that I'm just smoking cheap crack cocaine.    

I think it's a great idea.  My husband built a desk at the woodworking shop that was on the base where he worked.

I think that you're right that some sort of waiver would need to be signed and maybe there could be classes in the safe use of the tools if people don't already know how to use them.

I could teach a sewing class.

I don't think it would be like the Amish since we would be using power tools.

["couldbecousin"]

As I continue to work on my Anarcho-Syndicalist Libertarian philosopy, I rembered one of the things that I liked about life on a military base. We always had "Hobby Shops" usually automotive and woodworking. At the auto hobby shop, you could rent out a typical auto repair stall complete with a hoist and compressed air hook ups. There was even access to 4 wheel alignment machines, Exhaust gas analyzers and other diagnostic equipment. They had everything there you needed to do almost any kind of car work, including engine rebuilding. The wood hobby shop had a couple of table saws, a planer, a jointer, a table mounted router and a couple of drill presses. You could build your own furniture there if you wanted.
 Now take this idea and expand it a bit. Throw in a Machine shop, sheet metal shop, and a few other "hobby shops" and you could have a largely self-sufficient community where people, instead of having to buy things they need, can make or repair them themselves. This would make the average person much less dependent on corporations and keep the ability to live a comfortable, high-tech lifestyle within a community. These could also be community education centers where all the different trades are taught localy, so there's always a good talent pool for any given profession. This could also be incorporated with "green" technology and other "new economy" ideas.
 
OK, here comes the part where you tell me that I'm just smoking cheap crack cocaine.    

I think it's a great idea.  My husband built a desk at the woodworking shop that was on the base where he worked.

I think that you're right that some sort of waiver would need to be signed and maybe there could be classes in the safe use of the tools if people don't already know how to use them.

I could teach a sewing class.

I don't think it would be like the Amish since we would be using power tools.

I would start simple, with NON-power tools!