If you go over to Club Workshop (you should!) tell them you heard about it from A Loft In Denver for a special deal.
I’ve always had a desire to create things – probably as a result of always working on projects with my dad as a kid. However as an adult I never did much about it because I didn’t have
a) a space to call our own which we genuinely wanted to improve
b) equipment to do anything big – no table saw, planer, welder, etc
c) a space to do it all in
Last month I had another lighting project I wanted to work on but it needed some aluminum welded. Posted an ad on Craigslist and got a bunch of responses, most of which included $100+ for labor. I got to thinking that I should instead find a welding class to update my skills (took a class in college) and hopefully find some equipment to use as well – the whole “teach a man to fish…” thing.
I believe I googled for “welding class denver” or “denver welding classes” or something like that. There are schools that offer welding classes but they cost a lot and are training you to actually be a welder. There are a few people that offer classes as well but I didn’t need to keep looking – I happened upon a really cool place here in Denver.
Club Workshop is a 16,000 sq ft facility with a wood shop; metal shop; machine shop; all kinds of hand, power and air tools; auto lift; Epilog laser; rapid prototyping machine; and more. You become a member similar to a gym – you pay monthly for all-you-can-use access or you can buy a “punchcard” which allows a certain number of visits.
I started off taking a TIG welding class but have since moved on to plasma cutting and MIG welding – more on those projects soon. I’m going to start dabbling in the wood shop, and am taking a machine shop class over five consecutive weeks to learn all about manual and CNC milling.
The biggest problem I’m finding is prioritizing ideas and figuring out what to do next. That’s a lot of what A Loft In Denver is all about – figuring out these ideas and showing them to the world. Watch this space…
If you go over to Club Workshop (you should!) tell them you heard about it from A Loft In Denver for a special deal.
See you over there!
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#1 by George on May 28, 2009 - 6:05 am
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It’s interesting and sensible to have available such a large range of tools and gear to satisfy one’s artistic bent and domestic needs. What a good idea!
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#2 by Will on November 19, 2009 - 2:34 pm
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I find it interesting that you learnt TIG before MIG, i learnt the opposite (well still learning and fiddling about with TIG). I find MIG incredibly easy in comparison with TIG, however i suppose my welds are pretty messy! Im building a desk with a MDF top and Alu legs its coming along quite well so far
#3 by A Loft In Denver on November 19, 2009 - 3:38 pm
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It isn’t the traditional path but the project I wanted to work on was aluminum so TIG made the most sense. Also I had done a stick welding class in college so after learning TIG I was able to play around and pick up MIG with about 5 min of instruction. Good luck on your project!
#4 by Rudy on December 11, 2009 - 12:46 pm
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How I wish we have some place like that here in RP.
Very very good work and posts.