ShopBot News February 2009

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ShopBot Newsletter - February 2009

January Training at ShopBot
Lillian Maupin escaped the Alaskan cold for the January training session at ShopBot (Here in Durham, the temperature reached the low sixties that Friday.) She is a graphics designer for the Department of Public Works for the North Slope Borough which includes the town of Barrow. One of the main things she wanted to do was learn how to convert the North Slope Borough logo graphics file for use in various projects. During lunch break, Scott showed her how easy this is in PartWorks.

Last week Lillian wrote, "Part Works is excellent! I’m having some fun working on an award plaque prototype with the logo in different dimensions... I majored in Industrial Design Technology for a bit mainly working with RHINO and the CNC mill provided by the school. A lot of my projects with that mill were prototypes for SUV’s, ergonomic equipment, and engineering hypotheses. I had taken a woodworking class, so I have a little knowledge of certain woods used, but most of my work was with plastics and resins... A lot of what North Slope Borough aims to use the ShopBot for are possible simple furniture items, backdrops and front-drops for photo sessions in various events, plaques & rewards for excellence, missing parts, and possibly for myself some more prototyping with wood grain visuals in a 3D effect.

For a list of upcoming camps and training sessions, > www.shopbottools.com/upcoming.htm

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Tech Support Tip
If you are just setting up your ShopBot, make sure that you select the correct Settings for your tool the first time you run the software -- otherwise your tool may get the wrong Unit Values and not move the right distances. Make sure when you first run the software that you know what model ShopBot you have. This will allow you to select the appropriate Settings file for it. During your first run of the software, when you get the message that the ShopBot.ini file is missing and you need to Choose a Settings file, the three basic steps are:

Choose the PRS or Older ShopBot folder
Choose the alpha or standard folder depending on your model
Then pick your table size

Now you should be all set to go. If you have previously selected the wrong file, you can type UR and go through the selection steps again.

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"I Think It Could Be a Nice Business, but ..."
With the current economic situation, more and more people are asking what they would need to start a business with a ShopBot. There's no cookie-cutter answer but we have put together information on things for you to work through as you consider the possibility.

http://www.shopbottools.com/teds_report.htm#Profit

http://shopbotwiki.com/index.php?title=BusinessMain

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Programming Workshop on creating a Virtual Tool

ShopBot is offering a special training session Feb 27-28 on using various approaches to custom programming ShopBots including a specific example of how to use Visual Basic Express to create a GUI to run a ShopBot. You'll learn to create a user interface that allows push button control of the ShopBot that can be especially useful in a shop where employees may not be familiar with the details of running a ShopBot. For this course, you should be familiar with the Windows OS and the ShopBot Part File language and its programming extensions. We will also cover how to create your own Virtual Tool Add-ins for the ShopBot Control Software. VB Express is available as a free download from Microsoft.

Class is scheduled for Feb 27 and 28 at ShopBot in Durham, NC. Call Ryan at ShopBot for more information (888)680-4466 or more info here.

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