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Pricey? Not with the insurance premiums he needs to pay! That is usually the kicker and why they fail. Can't get enough consistent members to cover the overhead.

I worry about that with the lab I belong to. They have entered into STEM partnerships with local schools and colleges to help carry the freight. Just members wouldn't pay the first month's rent! It is cheaper for the school districts to contract with them than for the district to find space, train teachers, buy equipment, etc. Maybe Mike Rowe could advocate for this concept to restore trades in the schools.
 
Interesting but at $450 every 3 months it would be way out of my price range.

When I sell my house I'll lose my shop as the place we will be moving to has no garage or basement. I'm interested in finding a way to keep my hobby active.
 
somewhere here years ago I posted about taking a turning lesson.
it was given in the same type of place.
you pay for membership, then you can buy hours or days, don't recall how you purchase time to work in the shop, and you needed to take safety courses to work all machines.
when I was taking a turning lesson, just me and one other student, someone tried to run a short piece through the jointer and it flew out and struck a wall.

Im guessing for people who live in apartments or have no space for machinery, its a good idea, but Id be leery of the condition of all the machinery since anyone can use them.
 
I belonged to one briefly when I lived in Tustin, CA - about 18 years ago. Initially, it didn't cost much to join, but then the hourly rates kept climbing, due to insurance costs. After about two years, and a couple insurance claims due to injuries, it folded.

Not sure (can't remember) if it was connected to Woodcraft, but it was co-located with a woodcraft franchise store. 'Twas a good theory, but poor practice.
 
The KC Woodworker's Guild has a full shop, 3 saw stops, 2 more to be added along with just about any other tool one would need in the shop, even a small Legacy CNC. We've got about 450 members now, but to use the shop it's the $75 annual membership fee + taking the safety course, then you can use it during open shop times where they have volunteer a shop foreman to oversee the shop.

They do not allow anyone under 18 to use the shop though. What the legal folks found is that a person under 18 that gets injured would be compensated for the injuries, but when they turn 18, they can make additional claims, so they stopped allowing them until 18...at least that was what I've been told.

Minimum Age Requirement: The minimum age to be a member is 14, but the minimum age to use the Shop is 18. When the Guild relocated from Kansas to Missouri, our new insurer explained that the coverage did not include those under 18 because of the liability until they reached the age of 18 when they could legally absolve the insurance company of obligation. Carrying such claims as open for potentially years, is not an attractive proposition for insurance companies.

Might be worth checking to see if any of the guilds are doing something similar.
 
It's a nice concept, but too rich for my blood. Like Carol was saying, though. For something like that the insurance would be a real killer. That's one reason I never have my shop open to the public which has been suggested a few times. Also, then I'd have to have it clean all the time and that can be a pain!
 
My Glenn, Larry Merlau, and I visited the shop where Carol does her work. It is not a woodworking shop. However, I was flabbergasted; it was a great visit. Carol is building a giant CNC machine, rebuilding an old tractor, and who knows what else with that lady. There were robots being built by others, and I cannot remember what else was going on. It was a great feeling of comradery and cooperation. I was really impressed.

Carol appeared to be right in her element and I got the feeling that she was the queen bee. There was staff on hand to be sure we wore our safety glasses and kept our fingers out of the electric outlets, didn't try to use tools that we were not educated about, etc.

Enjoy,
JimB
 
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