MENLO PARK, CALIF. — He works in Silicon Valley, the land of start-ups founded in garages. But a garage wouldn't suffice for what Chris Tacklind wanted to invent.
He knew that crafting the inexpensive, compact laser pointer for quadriplegics he dreamed up would require some seriously high-tech tools that he didn't own.
So to make his brainchild, the former Hewlett-Packard Co. engineer turned to an unusual business: TechShop, a fully equipped community workshop that is changing the way inventors work.
There he shaped a plastic casing using a 3-D printer that costs tens of thousands of dollars and assembled the guts of his device using the shop's electronic equipment. Today, his laser pointer is making its way to market.
"If you wanted to build this yourself, it would be impossible," Tacklind said. "As an individual, you just can't assemble this kind of equipment."
By offering affordable access to otherwise out-of-reach tools, TechShop is lowering start-up costs and providing a commons for previously isolated minds. It's a place where "makers" -- as members of the do-it-yourself movement are known -- can make such products as water-cooled stacks of computer servers and remote-controlled robots that do videoconferencing.
It's doing for physical goods what Kinko's did for printed products, said David Pescovitz, a research director at the Institute for the Future, a forecasting group in Menlo Park.
"TechShop has the potential to be the service bureau to the maker culture," he said.
The atelier occupies a maze-like 15,000-square-foot warehouse near Stanford University. Twelve work tables fill the main space. Rooms are designated individually for activities such as painting, foam molding and neon production.
Since opening in October 2006, TechShop has attracted 300 members, each paying $100 a month for hands-on access to the sophisticated tools. The operation also sells supplies and charges for classes.
"It's like a health club," said TechShop founder Jim Newton, a former science advisor for the TV show "Myth Busters." "But instead of exercise equipment, we have welders and laser cutters and sheet-metal equipment."
Now TechShop is poised to expand. Newton, 45, plans to open 11 additional locations in the coming year. Soon, TechShops may appear in markets as diverse as Austin, Texas; Orlando, Fla.; and Los Angeles.
Newton expects the first Los Angeles location to open in early summer 2009. He said he was still looking for a partner in the area.
