At 18 years old in 1963, Scott Saxon had a high school degree as a shop guy -- that's machine, wood and auto shop. At what was then Pacific Airlines in San Francisco, he took the mechanical aptitude test. There was a problem with his score. Would he take it again?

He did. Same problem. The guy rang up a perfect score both times. He became a mechanic for the airline.

In the ensuing four decades, Saxon, 63, has lived in Hawaii, northern California and Arizona and held jobs or owned businesses (eight) involving model planes, motorcycles, cars, boats, electronics and recording. In April 2007, he finished 12 months in Afghanistan guiding unmanned surveillance planes for a civilian firm contracting with the U.S. Navy.

Next up for the California native: Developing a membership-based workshop stocked with 400 machines and tools to handle metal, wood, vinyl, textiles, electronics and "you name it," says Saxon, who arrived in the Triangle in 2003 and settled in Durham at the end of 2005.

For $100 a month, members of TechShop Durham can build their dreams all day, feed off similarly minded techies and avoid the cost of a $10,000 workshop in the garage.

"I'm a mechanical guy," Saxon explains of the journey that now has him soliciting 20 lenders for $25,000 each to capitalize the venture.

"There's a hell of a lot of excitement" among the area's mechanical set, says Ted Hoffman, an automobile restorer. He is the retired owner of T. Hoff Inc., an automotive parts, engine and machine shop.

In a late-February meeting at a pizzeria, Saxon pitched his idea to more than 100 people, some of whom stayed until almost midnight. A lot of the people were under 30, and a show of hands revealed that about 70 percent work in computers, Hoffman says.

Saxon is shooting for a December opening and plans to lease 25,000 square feet near Research Triangle Park. TechShop Durham is one of 11 developing TechShop projects across the country that are spin-offs from the original TechShop, which opened in 2006 in the heart of Silicon Valley.

"There are no guarantees" on the $25,000 investment, the former Navy electronics technician says. "Different kinds of people will step up to the plate on a project like this." Interest returns are structured into the agreement.

Since TechShop Durham informally announced its plans two weeks ago, one lender has already signed on. There have been six verbal commitments.

"I don't want to hard sell," Saxon says. "I want believers. This is the most incredible business I've ever heard of."

Saxon is a blocky man with muscular forearms and a buzz cut of thinning brown hair that is flecking gray. A cell phone earpiece is anchored in his right ear. He gets visibly excited by the idea of a clean, well-lit place where people 18 years and older (12- to 17-year-olds need a parent with them) can "Build Your Dreams," as his business card says.

He and Hoffman marvel with envy at what a TechShop equivalent would have meant during their formative years.

"If I had had a place like this available to me when I was a youngster ... no telling what I could have conjured up," says Hoffman, a graduate of N.C. State University's School of Design.

Among the planned shop's lathes, milling machines, brakes, drills, saws, welders and "every tool known to man," jokes Saxon, is a $40,000 printer that translates a computer-generated design into a three-dimensional model layered from sand-like particles. The particles are calibrated by the thousandth of an inch to build models that are 6 inches high or more.

Saxon is a hands-on guy, but he recognizes the crucial role of the 3D printer and computers in general.

"I've been a maker my entire life," he says. "Today, there is a new breed of maker. The young people think by computer, it's like a [drawing] pen. They just do it."

Tech classes will be offered at TechShop, but the idea of solving technical problems with other mechanical types is what really revs Saxon.

"The community aspect is incredible. When you get this many people together in the same place ... ." Saxon's voice trails off as he considers the creative possibilities.

Saxon stumbled upon the original California TechShop in the spring of 2007 when he returned for his mother's funeral. As he tended to family matters, he planned for the trip back to North Carolina by purchasing a 40-foot-long bus and an RV. Neither were "exactly as advertised," and he found himself hustling for parts in an auto parts store while worrying about finding machines to do the upfits.

Somebody told him about a full-service workshop requiring a $100-a-month membership. Saxon joined the TechShop, fixed his vehicles and arrived back in Durham in December convinced there was a market for one here.

Saxon can unspool any number of stories about RVs and buses he purchased that left him and his wife, Theresa, stranded in locales ranging from the southwestern U.S. desert to a salvage yard.

"This is what I do," he says of the adventures. "I take my tools" wherever.

TechShop is just another chapter in his enthusiasm for all things mechanical.

"When we got married, I said there would never be a dull moment," Saxon says."I have kept my promise."