Amazing machine

[coryatjohn]

According to this forum, I am a "senior member." I guess that means I posted a bunch of nonsense. I still am at the very most a junior one...

Yesterday I cut out what I consider to be an amazing piece. We just couldn't find a decent four ganger switch plate for our front foyer. It's been without one for months. It took me about three hours to layout the part and toolpath and about 25 minutes clock time to cut it. I did most of it with a 1/4" two flute upcut, the edges with a 60 degree V and cut it out with a 1/8" end mill. It's 1/8" thick in the center. On the back there's a 1/8" pocket.

I showed it to a couple of my buddies who are in the business and they were amazed. I'm sure a lot of you veterans would think of this as a simple project. It was the most complex part with the tightest tolerances yet for me. The most satisfying moment was when I slipped it in place and it made a click when it was seated home.

http://www.usnaviguide.com/shopbot/Switch_plate.jpg

[supertigre]

John;

Your project reminds me of one of my first projects (non-CNC) were my wife ended up owning an $1825.37 coat rack ($1800 for tools and $25.37 for materials). But you've got me beat hands down with your $25,005.75 light switch plate. It's beautiful.

The top rightmost and two bottom right screw slots are not quite horizontal (is my OCD showing???). :D

[coryatjohn]

John;

Your project reminds me of one of my first projects (non-CNC) were my wife ended up owning an $1825.37 coat rack ($1800 for tools and $25.37 for materials). But you've got me beat hands down with your $25,005.75 light switch plate. It's beautiful.

The top rightmost and two bottom right screw slots are not quite horizontal (is my OCD showing???). :D

Ugh! I just fixed it. Now they are horizontal.

[bryan]

Some guys will do anything to blindside the wife, I mean a $1800+ coatrack and $25000 swith cover.
But I realy should say this but my first project was a pizza board for $16000. but that was over 10 years ago and we still cut pizza on it, talk about quality work all thanks to the ShopBot!

[gene]

You need to sell them to the Federal Government , they will pay 25005.87 for the switch covers. :eek:

[chiloquinruss]

One of my favorite movie lines, from the movie Independance Day, "you don't really think they buy $15,000 hammers do you?". This while refering to the funding of the massive Area 51 undeground lab. Anyhow, thanks for the chuckles guys, I needed it! Russ

[dana_swift]

John- your light switch plate makes me smile! The machine is amazing, and it changes the way we live. Buying a $0.50 light switch plate for the house seems ridiculous when I can spend several hours of labor converting some scrap into one that is exactly customized! Sometimes the things I make have no economic rationale, but I would not stop doing them for any reason.

It comes down to using the machine to learn how to make almost anything. And "utility" stuff gets built all the time. If each of us posted our "light switch projects" on here folder 15 would have grown to many times its current size.

Bev points out that its just normal now for us to recognize a need, and just an hour or two later have just installed a freshly constructed solution. Sooner than we could have gone to some mall and sent some US currency to China, we have filled our own needs.

The maker revolution is underway, just like the industrial revolution before it. Where the industrial revolution made low cost commodities out of products that had been hand made custom products (think of shoes, for instance) before. The maker revolution is allowing inexpensive custom products to be made (like your light switch cover) where mass-produced commodities were sold before.

Watching people at FabLabTulsa use 3D printers to make all manner of custom products the same way I use a ShopBot is now becoming common. Its not yet "ordinary" as the general population has not yet caught on to how easy it is. Probably that is good, as it makes a market for those of us on the forum.

Someday it may be normal to have modest fabrication facilities in a typical home, the way breadmakers have found their way into kitchens. How many of us have completely spoiled ourselves with fresh bread any time we want it?

When the Rainbow bread company went on hard times, I got to wondering why. I don't know their details, but bread was always a locally produced commodity, rarely being supplied by a bakery more than a few hundred miles away from its ultimate destination. Their economics changed somehow tho. I suspect those little boxes in our kitchen were a factor.

And there is that blue metal machine that has become our "go-to" general store. I'm sure it will not shock the forum readers to learn that I have given serious thought to making my own shoes on a ShopBot. Why not? How hard can it be? With tools like Aspire to create custom wood and rubber soles, and 2.5D machining to cut the leather shapes, its more of an assembly problem than anything. And they should fit like no commodity shoe can. Like your light plate cover did. Who knows what I will be wearing at some future camp. :) Possibly I could be standing on my show and tell!

It hasn't happened yet, just because I have real work to do, and when that isn't happening, "light switch covers" keep getting machine time.

Something about the cobblers kids comes to mind..

D

[Bob Eustace]

Once again Dana you have totally nailed what Shopbotting is all about!

[dana_swift]

My apology to the folks at Rainbow.. it was Wonder bread that went defunct. I wish that was the only mistake I ever made! My brain-bit just slipped in the collet :) Watch out for the bread makers tho.. D

[twelchPTM]

I have always felt "why buy what I can make" and now the i have the Bot at my disposal I take it to whatsome would consider a ridiculous extent but really if I can spend a few hours to make something that is exactly what I want versus a few hours shopping for something that is close-enough I am going to make it!

[Brian Harnett]

The more you use it the more things will apply, the only limitation is on top of our shoulders.

[curtiss]

Of course that now means you have to do ALL the light switches, ALL the outlets, and then ALL the air register vents....

[coryatjohn]

Of course that now means you have to do ALL the light switches, ALL the outlets, and then ALL the air register vents....

Do you know my wife? That sounds just like what she said except she wants a rope pattern on the plate.

[jerry_stanek]

Time to upgrade to
aspire 4

[coryatjohn]

Dana nailed it when he mentioned the coming "makers revolution." I totally agree and that's what makes this machine amazing.

I cut that switch plate in front of a friend of mine who's an accomplished professional finish carpenter. He spends his days making and installing high end custom cabinetry. I handed him the finished product fresh from the machine, he was in awe.

Needless to say, he's very interested in using my machine to do some of his projects. He downloaded V-Carve trial and is intent on learning how to design things.