As we give thought to the essentials of a mobile machine shop, consider the strategic picture:
It's the skill base of the people using the machinery that cause the quality effect. A table top mill is nice, but if you keep drilling holes in the vise or the table or spin the part across the area because you're smart but ignorant in the use of the machine, nobody wins.
With an investment of this sort, care must be taken about who will care for the gear and organize the people who use it. The owners of the mobile shop need a say in who gets to use the gear, and staffed by volunteers that are officially part of the local event. Consider insurance and liability…
Another excellent example of a mobile shop is the one used in AZ the last couple of years. Well thought out by expert practitioners and staffed by skilled people. Outside the event itself a local supporter brought in his own mobile welding rig-they helped a lot of teams.
But back to skill. The whole FRC thing was organized because of the erosion of the national skill based due to attrition in the work force and abandonment by regular-day education of these skills. See again the first few minutes of this:
https://vimeo.com/139506546
Thanks all for bringing the big picture back into focus.
Joe
Wrench Turner