I'm featured!

[harryball]

I'm on the Shopbot featured page. Yeah... let my 15 minutes of fame commence!

:-)

Robert

[conceptmachine]

nice work robert,i'm jealous i havn't got to cut the first part on my bot yet.my real job has kept me to busy as of lately,but i plan on cutting something this weekend even if i have to wake the neighbors up at 3 in the morning

shawn

[harryball]

Start with something simple and cut it out! Signs from MDF do well.

For my very first cuts I purchased a two sheets of 3/4" construction foam and cut shapes. Squares, circles, etc... Just odd stuff to see what would happen and get the feel for the sounds and movements. I never did cut up that second sheet of foam.

I then loaded 1/2" MDF and made signs and plaques. Address plaques, room door plaques for the kids, a yard sale sign, directional arrows in circles... I asked friends and family what they wanted and would cut it for them. They had to paint it, not me :-) I messed several up but by the end of my 3rd sheet of MDF I was doing quiet well. I stepped up to cutting fit together furniture type stuff and novelties from 1/2" MDF. I didn't even concern myself with structural stuff the first week, it was all about learning to use the software and the bot.

When I started cutting bat houses things turned "real" quickly. The bot settled in and now it's another great tool in the shop. It seems natural for it to be there and get used. I'm taking on more and more projects and getting more creative.

Right now much of that creativity is "on hold" as I hammer out bat houses for Christmas orders. I lost yesterday and today to meetings and other preparation work so Saturday will be spent cutting out and assembling bat houses. Monday is the last promised "ship before Christmas" production day. I hope we get lots of orders over the weekend... on the other hand...

Being a one man shop has its good and bad points. I've got to get my wife up to speed on running the bot. She will use all the shop tools except 2, the table saw and the bot. She finds 3HP Delta Unisaw intimidating. I can't say I blame her. I never force anyone to use a tool when they are not comfortable. The bot is just complicated in her mind right now. That should get better with time and use.

I will say, it is a turn on to watch her use the 19" bandsaw or the router station, or watch her cutting lumber at the miter saw. I don't think I'll ever get over that feeling... well it's been 15 years and I hope I never get over that feeling ;-)

Robert

[conceptmachine]

yeah i need to get familiar with the bot real soon i already have two jobs waiting on me.one of them is simple letters cut out of 3/32 plexi (5 sheets of them) the other is letters out of sign foam that are very complex especialy for a newbie.
shawn