Community hobby shops??

[Scrapheap]

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.    

[Queen Victoria]

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.
Some repairs don't lend themselves to being brought to a workshop - refrigerators, washers & dryers, central air & heat for example.
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.
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. 
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? 
End of a poor post it's after midnight and I'm off to dream about lovely things. 

[TheoK]

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.

[punkdrew]

I would like to learn to do practical stuff, like fixing A/C units and basic auto repair. I used to be fairly handy with certain tools (soldering irons, pliers, screwdrivers, etc.) but my skills have atrophied due to lack of use.

[TheoK]

I'm good at fireworky and I'm an autodidact. 

[punkdrew]

My dad was great with tools and explosives. When he was in high school he made a Tesla coil and a thermite bomb. He wasn't trying to blow up the school; he was just curious. For the same reason, he and some friends took a tank of ether from the school lab and tried some. They soaked paper towels iwith the ether but it evaporated so quickly that they didn't get high.

Mind you, this was 1939. VERY different times.

[TheoK]

When my dad was a kid, some old geezer cut up his and his mates' football for no reason, so they made a bomb and put in the geezer's mailbox, which was outside the door of his flat. The box was completely wiped out and all the staircase windows blew out.

I think they got away with paying the windows and the mailbox. The geezer got the shock of his life.

Today the security police would have come if you blew up a bomb in a house in the middle of a city.

[Parts]

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.  I already have a sort of lending library of tools and such people I know borrow all the time. Another thing would be money the insurance alone would be astronomical in these sue happy days.

["couldbecousin"]

I might not go, simply because I am a bit in certain areas
 and wouldn't trust myself to learn the skills without breaking things in the process!

[TheoK]

I learned how to make fireworks, and I invented an improvised black powder press. 

[Parts]

Most of the things I do are all self taught also. You don't start with grand projects just simple ones to learn the basics.

[Frolic_Fun]

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.

[Parts]

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

[Icequeen]

I would love something like that, although I basically have all the tools I need. Alot of people aren't interested in learning stuff like that though. It's basically a disposable society anymore, something breaks, out to the curb it goes and they're off to the store to buy a new one.

So much waste. 

Not that I'm really complaining a whole awful lot though, all the better for the curbside shoppers.

[Parts]

I would love something like that, although I basically have all the tools I need. Alot of people aren't interested in learning stuff like that though. It's basically a disposable society anymore, something breaks, out to the curb it goes and they're off to the store to buy a new one.

So much waste. 

Not that I'm really complaining a whole awful lot though, all the better for the curbside shoppers.

Thought of you today when I saw about a dozen vacuums out in the piles I already have my fill of them