There is a hackerspace in Oakland called
Ace Monster Toys. They have open meetings every Thursday.
Al Jigen Billings is my contact there, as well as our member Miles. They have built a few scanners, including a New Standard style unit, a laser cut unit, and they also have the pieces for one of my new CNC cut scanners.
Maybe you should contact them? They are about halfway in between Sunnyvale and Davis. I only wish I was still living in Richmond so I could personally introduce you guys.
Let me know via email if you'd like an email introduction to Al and the Ace Monster Toys crew. They are really great, I really enjoyed my time with them when I was in the bay area.