It’s tough to be an inventor.
Not because we lack imagination or creativity, but because, like it or not, making stuff takes tools and space—two things at a premium if you live in a typical D.C. apartment. Your landlord and neighbors probably wouldn’t be thrilled about that new woodworking hobby. Table saws are loud.
So if you want to run a fabrication business, invent a new product, or make some large-scale art, the TechShop chain of maker spaces is quickly becoming a go-to place to do so. It’s not for everyone (more on that later), but hundreds of people have already made this spot in Crystal City their own.
The 22,000-square-foot space—a former Safeway until 2005, then vacant until TechShop opened in 2014—is a nerd’s dreamscape. Name an expensive machine, they have it: oscilloscopes, 3D printers, a vacuum former, an injection molder (and…
