UrbanWorkshop is a Makers’ Paradise
I love Orange County! With all the technology around, and the number of businesses and startups it is one of the best places for an entrepreneur to be. I want to share with you one of the coolest businesses in Irvine right now.
UrbanWorkshop is a playground for creative entrepreneurs, a paradise I would say. I got a chance to visit the other day and talk to Steven Trindade, the founder of UrbanWorskshop and he gave me a tour of the shop.
It is located at 365 Clinton St Costa Mesa, CA 92626, their newest location.
UrbanWorkshop focuses on teaching you how to use machinery and then making the machines accessible to you so you can create whatever you can imagine.
Urban Workshop works on a membership basis so you'll pay a monthly fee then you can also take whatever course you need, after you complete a course, you are free to do what you wish. While I was there visiting. I found people working on the sand blaster, the laser etching machine while someone was using the woodshop to create a bench. Their classes are listed in their meetup page here and in a calendar available when you are in the premises.
The space is already huge so when Steven told me they are moving to a space that is three times bigger, it was hard to imagine but at the same time it is very exciting. One of the new features in their new space will be a full blown auto shop.
As it stands now, there is an impressive array or tools and machinery available to use. One one side of the shop you'll find an Epilog Helix 24 Laser etcher, where you can engrave metal, leather, wood and other materials.
As you move through the room, you'll find some other machines like a sand blaster, hydraulic drill presses, chop saws, and a vacuum forming machine. There's a KLS-1440 Engine Lathe, and a big TM-2P Toolroom mill. But there's so much more, they have a full list of equipment here.
Everyone was friendly, the place is clean and organized and the stuff that people were making looked like a lot of fun. I may even end up making one of my ideas into a prototype just for fun.
