I really haven’t gotten a clear indication anywhere on the site as to the answer to this question, though there seem to be subtle insinuations, so I want to get a clear, concise answer before I decide to sign up.
To explain, the question is: is VHS a space for people in the community who don’t have access to professional or commercial grade machine shop equipment to create things for their hobbies, either occasionally or frequently; or, is VHS a club for people who are interested in making the VHS itself their primary hobby, attending events etc on a monthly or weekly basis for the foreseeable future, committing themselves to contributing to VHS?
As an example, at makerlabs, one can get training to use the metal shop and then either get a monthly membership or pay a drop-in rate for a single day, then never use the space again. Or one can use the shop perhaps once or twice a year.
I am such a person (once/twice a year). I have virtually all the equipment I need to work on fabric, electronics, wood, plastic, etc. I have even created my own equipment when there exists none available in any local maker spaces. However, I need, on rare occasion, heavy duty equipment to work on small metal projects that is frankly unfathomably difficult or impossible to do with just a dremel and power drill. I could try and find a metal shop in the area that is willing to make a few tiny cuts and threads in a single small one-off piece, but it’s far less satisfying and much less cost efficient than learning how to do it myself. Also, makerlabs has no metal lathe or mill, which closes a lot of doors in the metal fabrication area.
Is VHS the space for me or not?