Cutting Bat House Baffles video...

[harryball]

Posted a video from an overhead view using a GoPro of the bot running when cutting baffles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEMk41ef2tk

Imagine doing that all day long! Not so bad.

[MogulTx]

Very cool!

I like the little guys that we have locally ( Mexican Freetail Bats)- they can eat a LOT of insects.

Hope that business is doing pretty well for you!

Monty

[Kyle Stapleton]

Why are you using tabs?
With your vac table there should no need.

[harryball]

Why are you using tabs?
With your vac table there should no need.

I was running 2 fein vacs. Since I've installed the black box hurricane vac I'm going to revisit the tabs.

Original reasoning with the feins...

When cutting the second side not only are you cutting the outer 2.5" off the sheet down both sides and cutting 1.5" passage holes in the panels, but those panels have little grooves across them every 1/2" that lets air flow under them too. Without the tabs, every now and then a panel that might have an extra knot etc... will break free when cutting passage holes. When I cut the passage holes first, that allowed airflow under each panel and the grid cutting would sometimes break one free. So I added tabs, never had the problem again.

I don't know if the hurricane vac will have enough to compete with the grooves either, but I will eventually give it a try.

/RB

[Kyle Stapleton]

Can make it so the groves do not cut all the way to the end of your sheets?

[jerry_stanek]

With the grooves you loose a lot of vacuum

[harryball]

Can make it so the groves do not cut all the way to the end of your sheets?

I actually had a version like that. It would skip up and back down to the next baffle. It increased machining time due to ramping and it made any redesigns more work. In the end, the tabs are not a big deal, only takes a few seconds to remove them.

What I'd really like is to just cut the panels out (no grooves) then run them through a modified planer/sander/shaper/molder or something that would cut grooves in it all at once. That would speed baffle cutting up tremendously. I'd thought about something like this with a stack of blades in it, http://www.woodmastertools.com/725

My steady production would have to increase by another 40 to 50% to justify it, but that's better than the 300% increased I needed 4 years ago!

[gene]

My question is how does showing everyone how to build the product that you are selling increase sales ?. I can understand showing the many benefits of having bat houses and the quality of engineering that goes into them but isnt showing how to build them "dangerous" for sales?

[myxpykalix]

Hey Harry....is that a new model of shopbot with the curved rails??:rolleyes:

What type of lens does your camera have on it that would make it do that?

You know they make a harness that you can strap onto your dog and hook your go pro up with:D

Will we soon see "Doggycam POV".....starring Benny Ball:D

[harryball]

The camera is a GoPro Hero 3+ with SuperWide turned on. It gives kind of a fisheye view.

Right now, Benny sees everything as a chew toy, not enough patience as a pup to wear the camera... but he's getting there!



Hey Harry....is that a new model of shopbot with the curved rails??:rolleyes:

What type of lens does your camera have on it that would make it do that?

You know they make a harness that you can strap onto your dog and hook your go pro up with:D

Will we soon see "Doggycam POV".....starring Benny Ball:D

[harryball]

My question is how does showing everyone how to build the product that you are selling increase sales ?. I can understand showing the many benefits of having bat houses and the quality of engineering that goes into them but isnt showing how to build them "dangerous" for sales?


I think it is beneficial in dispelling the idea that it only takes a few "uninvolved" minutes to build a bat house. It also shows we can handle production and offer consistency. We have some large customers purchasing multiple bat houses for projects and some recurring questions are "can you deliver?" "will they all be the same?" "will they look the same for the next order?" "will the quality suffer in big orders?" etc... This is because they have dealt with other vendors in the past with horrible results. It's one thing to build 30+ bat houses, it's another to deliver them in 2 weeks ALL THE SAME with consistent quality.

From the DIYer's point of view, it's far too involved for them to replicate what they are seeing. I find those that with the arrogant attitude of "I could do that, I can't believe they charge that much for..." don't buy from us anyway so no harm done.

From the fellow CNC machine operators point of view, sure you could spend the time designing the files, getting the right materials and creating a bat house... but are you really? If you are a hobbyist maybe, and that's fine, but if you are running a shop in production, how much are you going to spend "saving" the cost of buying one?

Then there is the potential competitor. Had many of those over the years, same story, they give up. Turns out it's not easy, you can't get rich quick and unless you are involved in the bat community there won't be enough return for the amount of work involved. I've had at least a half dozen or so that have bought bat houses and tried to replicate them (one was a former member of this forum) and they all gave up after lack luster sales.

I like to engage, share and educate the customers. I don't see the risk in showing them some inside views of running the shop.

/RB

[gene]

Very well said

[shilala]

You did an EXCELLENT job with the postproduction of that video, brother.
I just got a gopro a few months ago, 3+ Black Edition. The only thing I've used it for so far is vacation and for strapping on my goofy dog.
The dog video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrmiVyY-OhI&list=UU0P2spjmRr8lvNbkVvxjS2Q) was lots of fun. Shows just how incredibly hyper my Bubs is.

[genek]

You did an EXCELLENT job with the postproduction of that video, brother.
I just got a gopro a few months ago, 3+ Black Edition. The only thing I've used it for so far is vacation and for strapping on my goofy dog.
The dog video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrmiVyY-OhI&list=UU0P2spjmRr8lvNbkVvxjS2Q) was lots of fun. Shows just how incredibly hyper my Bubs is.
Scott where did you attach the camera. I see the dogs head and back????

[ssflyer]

Hey Scott,

Was that the new GoPro dog harness or a homemade or other version: I was going to get a friend one of them for her dogs! :)

One last question - is your dog usually that active or was he bothered by the harness?

I have 2 Hero 3's - great cameras!

[myxpykalix]

Hey SCOTT! You need to teach Bubs this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UowkIRSDHfs

[harryball]

Since this thread has gone to the dogs...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUy9bzAJ7YA


:)

[scottp55]

Thanks a lot for that last little bit on the vid Harry! My cat attacked my laptop, WHILE it was...Guess where:eek:

[harryball]

Thanks a lot for that last little bit on the vid Harry! My cat attacked my laptop, WHILE it was...Guess where:eek:

I actually planned it, the sounds are coded to trigger a cat's gene to take over the world... Not that most cats need much triggering. :)

[shilala]

That's just a plain old Chesty for the GoPro, guys. It works just as well on the dog as it does on a person. Bubs is big, and I have to crank it way down to fit, but he's 100% comfortable with it on.
Yes, Ron, unfortunately he's just exactly that hyper. I will admit that he's starting to chill a bit, he just turned 1 1/2 today.
He's a weimeraner and his nose is his worst enemy. He can't smell things enough to make him happy. He'll smell the same thing 500 times if he's interested in it.
Right now he's especially enamoured with the plastic plant on the coffee table. He's sniffed it and rubbed slobber on it a thousand times, gets hollered at every time, and he still can't stop. lol. :)

Hah!! Bubs just met Benny. He heard that squeaking and came running from the other room just to get in on the action. :D