Learning to do things yourself is an excellent way to feel fulfilled, express creativity, and prove to others that you are ready to watch the scary parts of Jumanji. Flaunt a new set of skills with today’s Groupon: for $95, you get a one-month membership (a $125 value) and one JumpStart class (up to a $75 value including the cost of materials) at TechShop (up to a $200 total value). This Groupon is valid at TechShop's locations in San Jose, Menlo Park, and San Francisco.
TechShop’s instructors solder together a community of creative mechanics in workshops that supply the core tools and equipment necessary to craft masterworks from raw fabric, wood, and metal. New members forge abilities in JumpStart classes that teach the fundamentals of disciplines ranging from hand-tool operation to laser-powered Jello sculpting. A Soldering and Electronics Basics course plugs aspiring hardware designers into the skills required for circuit-board assembly, and carpenters construct simple benches in a Safety and Basic Use class that acquaints them with circular saws, power screwdrivers, and other methods of shooing nosy trees.
A one-month membership busts open TechShop’s stainless-steel gates and grants Groupon holders unlimited access to expert staff, facilities, and equipment, though some machines require completion of a class to use. Because the shop stays open until midnight seven days a week, members can stop by whenever they are inspired to add more squares to their quilts or witness their robot's first steps.
TechShop
Recently profiled by The Atlantic for its members' innovative inventions, TechShop’s supportive community of inventors, artists, technicians, and alchemists share their excitement about the next big idea in an environment limited only by their collective imagination. The 17,000-square-foot smorgasbord of inventive creativity beckons people of all skill levels to its DIY confines, where members can wield tools not found in most private workshops, slicing through steel with a plasma cutter or accessing 3-D design software to finally realize the goal of crawling inside the Internet. Hands-on classes jump-start creative juices, introducing students to vocational skills including welding, soldering, and woodworking. Neophyte inventors aged 12–17 are welcome but must be accompanied by a parent or guardian to ensure they don't break physics.
