There is a place called the Urban Workshop located along the west side of the John Wayne Airport. It works like a gym. There is a membership and it lets you use any of their tools.

They offer the public access to any of the new high tech tools and provide the classes for the people to learn how to use them.
I'm talking HAAS CNC mill, lathe, welders, Auto tools/lift, laser cutter/etcher, PROFESSIONAL 3-D printer..., the works! CNC and manual plasma cutting and powder coating are coming.

What's really nice is that you take your materials there and you don't have to worry about expendibles, (e.g., sand paper, wire, solder, blades, misc. bolts etc.) that they take care of. They also have staff to help you with your project.

Listing of tools offered for use:

Abrasives
Disk and belt sanders
Two large cabinet sand blaster
Wire wheel, pedestal mounted

Arts and Crafts
Vinyl cutter, computer controlled by Roland
Soldering irons and wood burning kits

Assembly Work Area
10 Large work tables with vises
Compressed air and electricity at each table
Bin wall for sharing parts and materials
Great for work groups, club meetings, or events

Automotive
Floor jacks and jack stands
Large assortment of specialty automotive tools
Air tools
Alignment tools
Diagnostic computer equipment and scanners
Shock Dyno, Rohrig
Battery charger
Waste oil and coolant collection

Ceramics and Glass
Skutt kiln GM1018 (24″ x 24″)

Computer Lab
Dell Workstations with large monitors
HP Color printers
HP Large Format color printer with roll feed
Fax, scan and color copier
Engineering software (Fusion 360 & Solidworks)
Design and photo editing software (Illustrator, Photoshop, Corel Draw)
Video editing software
CNC programming software (Aspire & HSMWorks)
Internet access / WIFI

Co-working space and Conference Room
Tables and chairs for work, meetings and events
55″ Flat screen TV
Overhead projector
Refrigerator and freezer
Bose public address system

Electronics Lab
National Instruments Virtual Bench and MyRio
Soldering, resoldering, and fume extraction equipment
Wide assortment of crimp and connector termination tools
Amscope binocular microscope for board work
Multi-meters
Oscilloscopes
Signal generators
DC power supplies

Fabrication
Chop and cold saws
Drill press
Vertical Band Saws
Tubing Bender

Fabrics
Juki single needle sewing machine (Industrial)
Juki walking foot sewing machine (Industrial)
Juki Overlock Machine, Serger (Coming soon)
Embroidery machine, computer controlled (Coming Soon)
Cutting and layout Table
Four color Silk screen machine

Hand Tools
Large assortment of hand and cordless power tools

Layout and Measuring Equipment
Romer CMM arm, Infinite model, 3 meter volume
Large Surface plate
Height gauges
Calipers, digital and dial
Micrometers, digital and dial

Machining
Bridgeport mill with Digital read out and tooling
Lathe, Large metal lathe with tooling
CNC Vertical Mill, Haas TM-2P with tooling – Brand new

Plastics
Belovac BV Class C 24″ x 48″ Vacuum former
Morgan Industries injection molder, Model G-100T
Vacuum Pump and resin traps for composite vacuum bagging
Carbon fiber and fiberglass lay up area
Heat strip bender

Prototyping
3D Printer, Dimension Elite FDM, ABS plastic, .007″ resolution
Epilog Helix 50 watt laser etcher with rotary attachement
Epilog Zing laser etcher, 40 watt
Pressure vessel, 55 Gal, 24″ diameter, heated for making silicone molded parts

Sheet Metal
Box and pan brake
Jump Shear, 48″ wide
Mittler Brother bead roller
Planishing hammer
Beverly Shear
Corner notcher (Coming soon)
Misc hand shears and tools
English wheel (coming soon)
Rotary turret punch (coming soon)
Slip roll, powered, (coming soon)

Surface and finishing
Aluminum anodizing
Outdoor Spray painting area with part rack
Powder coating station and oven (Coming soon)

Welding
Miller Welder, TIG (2x)
Miller Welder, MIG (2x)
Chicago Electric Welder, Spot
Oxygen and acetylene torches
Plasma cutter, hand held (coming soon)
Plasma cutter, CNC, 4′ x 8′ (coming soon)

Wood Working (all new equipment from Laguna Tool)
CNC Wood router, Laguna Smartshop 1, 4′ x 8′ bed
Table saw
Compound miter saw, sliding
Table router
Shaper
Mortiser
Band saw
Belt/disc sander
Scroll Saw
Drill press


Membership is $125-$175/mo (year/mo-mo) and you have to take their class on the use of the "big toys" before you can use those toys. That actually makes a lot of sense. They offer 80 classes/mo and members get a reduced class rate.

http://urbanworkshop.net/

You can take an online tour here. We went down to check it out and it is very cool. I'll certainly sign up!

 

that is a tremendous resource Too bad it is a little far from my area, but good to know about, just in case.

 

I think there are similar, but smaller places on the other side of town closer to you.

We signed up for the 1-month trial for a couple for $125 to begin on Tuesday and will take laser cutter/etcher class on Tuesday night so we can start using it immediately. Linda wants to cut custom mat liners for frames for artwork and I want to cut out "vanes" for a diffuser. I can also make signs, buildings, etc., for my garden railroad. We can also use the 3D printer ($40K unit) immediately when we join.

I have a CNC 3-in-1 in the garage and will take the metal shop, lathe, mill, and wood shop classes (including a 4' x 8' CNC router) so I can use that equipment.

I don't know if I want to go though the 15 hours of class on the HAAS CNC mill, but who knows. My machine programs in the same language. I may even take welding and injection molding so I can use that equipment.

Should be fun.

BTW, if you commit to volunteering 32 hr/mo., or teach four 3-hour classes/mo, you get free membership and classes.

 

Got on the laser etcher/cutter for the first time today. Look what I can do.




And make parts: