Chicago Area Camp Shopbot !

[billp]

OK, school is back in session and we just got confirmation from Mike Naughton that he's received approval to hold a Camp Shopbot at his high school in Cary, IL.on Oct. 27th.
The full name/address of the school is;
Cary-Grove High School
2208 Three Oaks Rd
Cary, Il 60013
We'll start to assemble a schedule of topics to be covered in the next few weeks. As some of you may have read in earlier postings the primary focus here will be in coming up with some ways that teachers can incorporate a Shopbot into their school systems. This does NOT mean that this Camp is only for teachers however. It would be a great opportunity for some other Shopboters to chime in at the Camp and explain some ways they see the CNC process as being a valuable educational tool.
And it would also be just as important for the school staffs to hear HOW people are using their machines in the "real world"as well. Jay Wiese who has written some great Shopbot teaching aids for schools will also be at the Camp as he's in the same district as Mike.
If you have any thoughts on this area please contact me.Also if you would like to do a short presentation on some Shopbot/CNC related skills, or techniques please get back to me.
I think this could be one of those Camps where the concept of "cross pollination"might be valuable for everyone.
Obviously many of the things we'll cover will have universal interest, but as with all Camps there are always those "pleasant surprises".....
Keep an eye on this thread for details.I'll try to get hotel info posted shortly...

[billp]

I heard from Mike earlier today and we'd like to clarify the focus of the Camp. While the original thought of holding this Camp was to concentrate on using a Shopbot in schools, the response so far has been largely from people in the Chicago area who are not in the field of education.
SO we're going to try and have the best of both worlds...We'll consider this a "general" type of Camp, but we WILL include the opportunity for those who ARE in education to have a session (still open to all) within the Camp where they can compare notes, curriculum, funding sources, etc.
Obviously the tips/tricks we all use will have value whether or not they are applied within a school framework, or in industry.
Having said this we're looking for some people in the area who plan to attend the Camp to contact us if they have any particular topics, or sessions they'd like to see OR present. There are quite a few 'Botters in this geographic region so we should get a pretty good cross section of talent.
And as usual we're looking forward to seeing what turns up in the "Show and tell" time slots as this is where we really find out just what the machine, and operators are doing out there.
Please be sure to contact me if you plan to attend, OR if you'd like to give a short talk in any specific area. As with ALL Camps the material covered will be "attendee driven" so YOU can help decide what material we'll try to cover on that day.
We'd also like to know how MANY people will be there ( to plan for seating, food, etc) so if you're going to stop by drop me a note at;
campshopbot@shopbottools.com (mailto:campshopbot@shopbottools.com)

[jhicks]

Bill, I'll drop you a more detailed note or call to discuss further. Is there a location?

[billp]

Jerry,
See above in this post, it's at the Cary -Grove High school.....

[jhicks]

Got it! Thanks

[Mayo]

I just realized I'm only about a half hour away, so I plan on being there!

[billp]

Mayo,
It will be good to meet you. I'm hoping that you, and all attending,will bring some stuff for the Show and Tell session at the Camp !

[billp]

"Reservations"for this Camp are starting to arrive in the Camp Shopbot mailbox; (campshopbot@shopbottools.com (mailto:campshopbot@shopbottools.com))
In answer to the questions most people are asking, we're planning to cover many of the standard topics we do when hosting a new Camp for the first time in an area;
Software options
Vacuum hold downs
material choices
router bit selection
Sign making
3D carving
New machines from Shopbot
And we're expecting some new "Show and Tell"projects where YOU give a short explanation of how you made something, ( this can also be some images you bring on a flash drive if the object is too large to transport)
Jay Wiese will also be available to do a presentation for teachers using the 'Bot ( and if you are a teacher and planning to attend, please let us know in advance).
If there are other areas you'd like to hear about please contact me very soon so we can make plans.
As with ALL Camps we need to know how many people will be attending so we can plan appropriately, so please drop us a note if you think you'll be there. Thanks !

[billp]

Here are the directions to get to Cary-Grove H.S. We expect to start off with an 8-9 AM "coffee/donut"session, and the actual sessions will begin about 9. Most Camps run until 4-5 PM...
The school address is:
2208 Three Oaks
Rd., Cary, IL. 60013.

The easiest route from O'Hare is to take I90 toward Rockford. Then north on
Rt. 31 for about 10 miles. The stop light at the Holiday Inn in Crystal
Lake is Three Oaks Rd. Go east(right) on Three oaks. Continue on Three
oaks past rt. 14. The school is about a mile past 14 on the left. The
first stop sign in front of the school is Elden. Take a left into the lot
here and follow the lot left all the way around back of the school towards
the loading dock. There is parking behind the school that the participants
can use. They should look for door number 12 next to the dock. I will have
some signs up.

[billp]

The Chicago area Camp is sneaking up on all of us pretty quickly, so if you haven't yet contacted Mike, or myself to RSVP please do so within the next week. This lets us get prepared for everyone attending...Thanks
PS- I'll be down at the Austin User group/Maker Faire starting tomorrow so if it takes a little time to get a response from me hang on, and I WILL get back with you....

[jhicks]

I'm behind but suprised that there is such a low response rate for this camp??
Is it still on?
I'll register at the site link but wondering who is planning to attend so far?

[billp]

Jerry,
People HAVE been registering, but they don't do it here on the Forum.I have between 15-20 names so far, and Mike has more...

[Mayo]

15 to 20 names...
And here I thought I would have most of the donuts for myself.

[jhicks]

I regret to say I wont be able to make it after all. Things that aren't negotiable need to get done this week end and no time to play.
Hope its a great as usual and sorry I wont be there to meet the rest and share in the fun.

[billp]

We had a good Camp over the weekend at Mike's Cary-Grove HS shop. A large percentage of the attendees were teachers so we spent a bit of time going over the basics, and speaking about how to implement the Shopbot in school settings. One thing which has developed in the last few days is the idea that SO many schools are now using the 'Bot in their classes we will now have a NEW page on the Shopbot WIKI page dedicated specifically for teachers. the idea is to give teachers a place to trade ideas, and lesson plans, and funding sources, etc. Check for info later this week.
We also had some pretty good pieces for the "Show and Tell" table and you can see some pictures of the work at the Shopbot Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/campshopbot/
I've also written up a short Camp Blog to describe some of what we did, and that can be found at:
http://campshopbot.blogspot.com/
Thanks again to Mike Naughton, and his school administration for allowing us to use their facilities...!

[mnaughton]

The topic of Trupan distributors in the Chicago area came up and this is what I found...

Thank you for your interest in Trupan Ultralight MDF. Here is the info for our distributor in IL.

Bert Ramirez
Aetna Plywood
1401 W St. Charles Road
Maywood, IL 60153
(708) 343-1515 x2232
HumbertoRamirez@AetnaPlywood.com (mailto:HumbertoRamirez@AetnaPlywood.com)

I have not contacted them yet.
Mike