TheShop.Build Pre-Mortem

TechShop died without notice, leaving all the members in the lurch; instructors unpaid, people's personal equipment trapped behind locked doors, "lifetime" memberships in the tens of thousands of dollars left unhonored.

After half a year of fumbling around a fellow named Dan Rasure picked up the leases -- buildings and equipment -- and re-opened under the name "TheShop.Build," with lots of promises about improved maintenance, improved training, and above all more openness.

Dan's blog hasn't been updated since Feb 15. The member's forum stops showing activity in December, similar for the shop blog, the subforum on Reddit, etc. So much for keeping lines of communication open.*  But then, this is the guy who dreamed up "TheShop.Build" -- it's practically unsearchable, as the only way to keep from getting results on every shop ever is to constrain the search to a level of capitalization and punctuation unusual within social media.

So much for openness. But maybe there's a reason for it.

Here's a picture from the official website, one of a set which has been used for all announcements to media and blogs:

I took a site visit today. Here's what that tool actually looks like:

Okay...Lathe #2 is down for service, is listed as such in the equipment reservation calendar. It also has no sign, no tag-out, the power was still on, and according to the calendar it's been down for five weeks -- so much for Dan's written promise that tools would be returned to service within a day or two!

Now, I'm not going to fault some chipped paint and merely cosmetic rust. Someone looks to have played with the gibs recently as the backlash is minimal on the cross-feed, but at the same time - on the one working lathe -- the tailstock won't clamp down and the handwheel still has a stripped nut; basically, it shows no evidence of the tear-down and rebuild it desperately needed.

That agrees with the rest of the shop. Everything was dirty, nothing looked like it had been adjusted more than the minimum to get it working after the last crew abandoned it, and a significant amount of the support materials...hex keys, clamps, coolant bottles, parallels, even shop vacs and rags...are missing.

I'd be surprised to find there's still a maintenance contract on the laser engravers. They were dirty inside, the tables battered, grime on the ways. The electronics area has yet to be organized, with random and possibly broken gear jumbled onto shelves, not the neat little stations the lying slide show would have you believe. Heck, even half the computer stations upstairs had issues and wouldn't open.

Look, I've run a shop. I know about fair wear and tear, and I know how fast grime accumulates. This, though? This is shit.

If there was some sign they were aware it needed work...some information about what is upcoming in terms of repair and replacement...someone even in the building aside from two nice-enough lads manning the desk (I saw one other guy in the woodshop and as far as I know that was it for staff). Some, in short, COMMUNICATION.



* There is minor activity on the official Facebook page, but it is all fluff; announcements about the San Jose shop opening and advertisements for STEAM classes.