My workshop is a makerspace

I don’t own a CNC router. I rent one for $45 a month.

Most van build channels start with a garage full of tools. I started with a makerspace membership. Clear Creek Makerspace in Golden, Colorado: dozens of members, one laser cutter, one CNC router, four 3D printers, and more woodworking tools than I’ll ever learn to use.

What I actually use

The CNC for floor templates and custom brackets. The laser for small parts and labels. The 3D printers for everything from cord organizers to vent covers, all in Army Green ASA because it matches the van.

The difference between this build and most: when I need a tool I don’t own, I drive 20 minutes instead of spending hundreds of dollars on something I’ll use once.

The trade-offs

Makerspaces aren’t faster than owning tools. There’s a wait list for the CNC, and I share it with people making furniture and shop jigs and art projects that have nothing to do with vans. I work around their schedules, they work around mine.

But I also don’t store a 4×8 CNC router in an apartment. And when I need help designing a part or figuring out why my print keeps failing, there’s usually someone in the space who knows the answer.

Next: tool-up week, or how I bought a workbench that matches the van.