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The
Zomicile Project
Going
Batty Over ShopBot ...
A "van lining" business ...
Plyline UK
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UK Camp ShopBot in Robert Lofthouse's shop (Plyline UK). |
One of the most interesting things about this Camp ShopBot for Ted Hall and Bill Palumbo who were visiting from ShopBot in the US, was the "plylining" business of our host, Robert Lofthouse of Plyline UK. Robert is in the business of lining the interiors of small commercial vans (they are everywhere in Europe) with plywood panels to protect the walls and contents. Each van requires a unique set of plywood panels. This is where Robert puts his two PRTalpha ShopBots to use. He has patterns of dozens and dozens of vans all saved as digital cutting files. When a customer needs an interior for a particular van, the pattern is brought up and quickly cut from 4-10mm plywood. Robert has 8 installation crews that go to customer sites to install the liners and these crews keep the 2 ShopBots in continuous operation providing the precut panels for the installers. When Robert needs a new panel layout that is not in the database, he either uses a digitizing probe to get the pattern of an old one being removed from the van, or probes an approximation created by hand. He then edits it in Part Wizard for a good fit and smoothes all the lines. Plyline UK does a secondary business in selling "plyline kits" and commercial van accessories on the web (www.plylineuk.co.uk). We had a great time visiting with Robert and learning about his fascinating business -- and he was a terrific host for the Camp.
A "plylined" van interior
Plyline UK shop (note van at right)
Fernando Torres Ilanes
CHETUMAL,
QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO
CENTRO DE IMPRESION, DISEÑO Y CONSTRUCCION.
Saludos
les envio fotografias desde Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico, de las
muestras de los trabajos que hemos venido realizando, actualmente
tenemos un shopbot prtalpha96, SOFTWARE BOBCAD-CAM, Aca te envio algunas
de las fotografias de los trabajos que hemos realizado, estan realizados
en Autocad 2005, Part Wizard, BobCAD-CAM, si requieres de alguna otra
informacion, la idea es ver si pudieramos aparecer en el spotlight!!!,
de la pagina de ustedes, de antemano muchisimas gracias.
ARQ. JOSE FERNANDO TORRES LLANES
Ken Reimers
Surf CNC
Gold Coast Australia
"Hi there fellow ShopBotters, I have been building surfboards over 25
years, shaping them all different ways with a variety of tools and jigs
until I stumbled onto a site that featured the Shopbot. I was not only
interested in the fact that I could increase production but also stoked
about the ability to log and reproduce favorite surfboards. Since
receiving my Shopbot and grasping its learning curve, the refinement and
accuracy of my product has given me a new understanding of how important
CNC is to progression.
I have two machines, a 48 and a 96 PRTalphas. The 96 is set up for
surfboards, the boards are held down by adjustable pneumatic cups on
lengths of precision extruded aluminum. I designed and made the holding
system so I was very pleased when it did the job perfectly. One length
of ally is for holding the blank while it cuts the bottom, the board is
then turned over and placed onto the other length of ally. The alignment
is critical and must match the previously cut bottom otherwise all the
time spent on designing is wasted. The ShopBots consistent accuracy has
out done any of the other more expensive computer shaping machines that
I have personally shaped from.
The 48 is for different projects, from artworks to building my kitchen,
this is the fun side of ShopBotting. I am hoping that one day I will be
able to design, make and sell other products outside of the surfboard
industry and have the best of both worlds.
My wife and I built the machine room, it is made from Hebal (aerated
concrete) wall panels and Ibeams with Hebal floor panels on the roof. I
created a special shoe to take the foam dust as it cuts and the ducting
takes it up through the roof and back down to the dust extractor. The
room is easy to clean and with the hebal it is also quiet. My office and
control room is right there behind the balcony glass and gives a clear
view and easy access to both machines. This is my dream setup and I
would like to thank Shopbot for helping make it become reality.
Regards to all ShopBotters"
Donald Ansley
www.ansleydesignfab.com
Hickory, NC
"The first discreet project I undertook after getting our ShopBot up and cutting was to fulfill a prototype order for curved modesty panels at the behest of a national office furniture manufacturer here in North Carolina. It wonderfully demonstrated the paradigm shift afforded by the vertical integration of design, engineering, programming, and making. I’d worked out in my mind how I wanted to build the bending jig but had not drawn anything other than the radius adjusted for springback (a characteristic of all laminated parts.) I was up early on the morning in question and after a cup of coffee I fired up the computer, launched TurboCAD and set about working through the particulars. In an hour or so I’d worked through the construction, modeled the assembled jig in 3D, exploded and nested the parts into two 4x8 sheets and exported the two sheets as dxf files. After a second cup of coffee I lit up the parts programming software and worked through the various tool paths required to cut the parts. I pulled two sheets of ½” LitePly from the stack and within another hour and a half I had the parts cut, trimmed and the job knocked together. The accompanying pictures show the sequence which got the jig designed, engineered, programmed, cut and assembled with time to spare before lunch. The last two pictures are of the parts being laminated via vacuum bag (production bag will have reusable gaskets) and the finished parts ready for delivery.
I spent no time drafting, or producing drawings from which to work (parts knocked together only one way) or laying out or making cut lists - really quite amazing. " Read more.
Hardwood
Designs
Durham, NC
“The lobby (in the Ruth and Herman Albert Eye Research Institute at Duke University) is stone and it sounded very hollow,” said Jan. The sound was also a problem in the conference room during meetings and teleconferencing. The solution devised by the architects was to cover the ceilings with close to 200 MDF panels filled with 30.000 slots to absorb the sound. In Jan’s words, “it seemed like millions of slots.” To add to the challenge, the specialized panels had to meet the aesthetic requirements of a world-class piece of architecture." ...
“We
used the ShopBot PRTalpha to rout out the slots. Then we put a sound
killing material on the back,” said Jan. The design allows sound to
enter the panels through the slots in the MDF and the specialized
material deadens the noise. “Basically 75 percent of the noise is
eliminated which worked really well in the meeting room and the lobby.”
It was the massive number of slots that made the PRTalpha such an important element to the project. Each 2’x6’ panel had to be perfectly fit with numerous 4” slots spaced exactly 1 ¼” apart. The design was further complicated by the labyrinth of sprinkler holes, light holes and other interruptions that are typically seen in the ceilings of public buildings and had to be included.
“The advantage we had with the ShopBot is that it is easy to program. We needed to stop those slots short of the sprinklers, lights, etc.,” Jan said, adding that he used ShopBot Part Wizard for all his design work on the project.
Express Sign Works
Indian Trail, NC
Express Sign Works has just added CNC cutting to their sign capabilities.
"I think we got the hang of this thing, not too bad for our first
job."
Burch Heirloom
Durham, NC
"Hey Shopbot Team,
Thanks for your tech support and service. My son,
Josh, obtained great help from you recently. Just to show you what a
good mind, skilled hands, and a great tool can do, I have attached
several photos of a side board cut completely by the Shopbot. He made
this as a Christmas present to his wife."
ShopBot Tools, Inc
Durham, NC
"I have an aunt and uncle that are building a house out in Texas. They are imaginative people and have always enjoyed fantasy novels and board games, as well as having a serious interest in Celtic art.
They
asked me last Christmas if I might be able to make some special
things for their new residence, and I was only too happy to say yes.
I have been wanting to see how far I could push my skills in ArtCAM
for some time, and with someone else footing the bill for the lumber
I knew this was a great opportunity. We agreed that I would make two
pocket doors, one for him and one for her. My uncle wanted a Celtic
Tree of Life on his door and my aunt wanted a caduceus, the staff
and serpent design that is the trademark of the medical profession
for hers .When I made them I was trying to keep the continuity of a
theme of Celtic knotwork that appeared elsewhere in their millwork.
I did my uncle’s door first – I was able to take the Tree of Life
design from pictures of artifacts and invent a three dimensional
shape for it using ArtCAM. That took about 8 hours. The rest )of the
door panel design took a full day as well, for a total of 16 hours
design time. These doors would be seen from both sides, so it was
necessary to cut the design into both sides. The setup time was
about an hour and a half per side. The 2d machining took about 3
hours per side, and the 3d machining took about another 12 hours per
side, for a total combined machining time of 30 hours. Once one side
was complete I flipped the panels – I cut both panels to size first,
then milled the design into them together as though they were one.
My aunt’s door was next. The design for hers took considerably
longer, a total of 19 hours even though I already had the panel
design established from the previous door. The snake proved to be
considerably harder to model than I had anticipated, and I had to go
through several modeling techniques before I found one that was
satisfactory. Also, I had to get as much 3d effect as possible with
½” total depth, so determining how to make the snake wrap around
behind, and then over top of the staff and have it look convincing
while staying within that height constraint took careful planning.
Setup and machining times for my aunt’s door were within minutes of
my uncle’s. These are now installed and stained – they lead from an
upstairs library to each of their private offices."
Doors shown before staining; hold mouse over aunt's door shown at
left to see close-up of snake.
Industrial Technology Instructor
Eldon High School
Eldon, MO
"I have many students in class that are into computers; the ShopBot router has given me a tool that helps motivate my high school students. We use it to add personalized logos or text to projects and also as the primary production tool for many projects. I try to incorporate design challenges in my classes and we incorporate as much technology in the production of those designs as possible. The bicycle pictured had a 6 member design team. It is our Generation II Wooden Bicycle. It was student designed in AutoCad and the parts, engravings, and cylindrical parts were cut on our ShopBot. The bicycle won its division of 2004 District and State TEAM contests in Missouri, and is now permanently on display in the Miller County Historical Museum. (I am very proud of this accomplishment.) For more of my students' projects, go to our school's website, then organizations, then Industrial Technology and view many of our past projects."
Against the
Grain, part of the LIVEWORKPLAY community
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
"Our ShopBot was originally intended for an entirely different application, but as I began messing around with it I realized the endless possibilities it would offer. The real trick was finding one thing and doing it well. I think we are definitely heading in the right direction. Thanks too all the folks at ShopBot for giving our participants some excitement about being involved in Against the Grain. They are truly starting to show off there abilities, rather than their disabilities!"
StickMan Woodworking
Aurora, NE
"For years I have been drawing and creating CAD drawings and
designs. The ShopBot gives me the ability to take many of my ideas
and designs into reality. It greatly enhances my woodworking, my
designs and my abilities to create unique products. I can create
curves and arc with ease, that I would have rarely designed into
projects, giving my customers greater diversity. I enjoy using the
Shopbot to create custom signs and lettering, taking my creativity
to new levels. Note: I first came across the ShopBot, years ago when
it first appeared in the Rockler catalog, I have been hooked!
Rogers Custom Millwork
Jonesboro, AR
Email Joe & Henry
The Shopbot has been a tool that has made our work easier. We are
constantly finding new uses for the Shopbot.
A Crafty Place, Inc
Mammoth Lakes, CA
"Santa House - located in the Town of
Mammoth Lakes California - a major California 4 seasons resort area.
The company involved in this new Village project, builds major Villages
complete with town homes, condo's, etc. in resorts around the country
and Canada. They knew of my 30+ years in the film & TV industry as a
special effects designer/coordinator and fabricator (physical special
effects, mechanical gadgets and gizmos, snow, wind, rain, fire,
explosives, etc.) and asked me to design and fabricate a Santa House for
the kids. I agreed and went to work using Autodesk's - AutoCAD 2D, 3D
Mechanical Desktop and 3D Inventor software programs to design the
components and assemblies and then cut them out using ShopBot. Because I
was able to design the entire Santa house on computer which help me to
visualize the virtual parts (components) and their assemblies using the
above programs, I was able to cut them out quickly and inexpensively
using for the most part, MDF (medium density fiberboard). I even make
the roof and miniature (scaled-down) siding molds using ShopBot, than
made up the fiberglass panels and painted. They hired a Santa for about
25 days and the kids had a blast. I made the house structure out of
steel tubing and skinned it with ShopBot parts, etc. It will be set up
again this year."
iBild,
LLC
Toms River, NJ
"I frequently use my ShopBot to
supplement my fabrication business. I have a full fabrication shop that
works in wood, plastic and metals providing 2D & 3D cutting services. I
have used my ShopBot to do precision drilling in aluminum square tubing
for a modern dining set, square holes for interlocking steel furniture
with the plasma cutter, 3D carvings for various applications in wood and
foam and reproduction wood moldings for older Victorian homes. Although
many shops in my area have CNC machines, none of them can take on the
range of tasks that my ShopBot can. The sheer versatility of this
machine is outstanding. Recently, I made a run of CD racks for WXPN
radio in Philadelphia. I took design cues from the staircase leading to
their old recording studio and created a 3D file using Rhino. I milled
out the reliefs in 5/4 Honduran Mahogany using MillWizard for the 3D,
and PartWizard for the profile passes. There are 12" X 14" reliefs on
each side of the rack, and precise dados in each step that the risers
fit into. After wrestling with my router table for a few hours, I
realized that it was much quicker to machine them on the ShopBot with a
simple vacuum jig. I also had to precisely drill holes in each step to
accept brushed aluminum retaining bars. Since the holes were between
drill sizes, only the ShopBot was up to the task of routing out a clean
precise hole that didn't require sanding. Almost every project that
comes through the door is created on the ShopBot. I couldn't achieve
this level of success or take on the projects that I do without it. "
Home Images, Inc
Bel air, MD
"My home improvement company
specializes in building home theater rooms. These have become extremely
popular in the past couple of years.
I had designed many components to be used in the construction of these
rooms. In fact it seemed I spent more time to design then actually
construct them. The complexity of setting up and making jigs to get
exact duplicate parts was so time consuming my designs were being
created faster then I could get them built. This is no longer a problem,
in fact I now have some difficulty keeping up with the cutting speed and
accuracy of the Shopbot. I have been building all my life and have an
extremely large collection of tools. There is nothing like having the
right tool for the job but it appears the Shopbot has made most of those
tools extinct.
Since last August 2003 when I purchased my Shopbot PRT96 I have cut out the parts for 4 complete theater rooms plus a few parts for some of my other remodeling projects. I have since sold this machine and purchased a new PRTalpha 120 with a three HP Colombo Spindle. I needed the larger table since most of the side panels in the theater rooms utilize full sheets of MDF to create arched reliefs reaching 10' ceilings at times. All designs where cut using 2D. I am in the process of creating and cutting some future decorations in 3D. I have cut two samples so far and am very pleased with the results."
Signs & Designs
Cedar Fall, IA
"The ShopBot in our shop is used a lot for cutting letters and sign panels. It is a big improvement over paper patterns and a jigsaw. It adds accuracy and saves a lot of time in cutting and preparation of cut material. On the Black Hawk Hotel sign I used the ShopBot to cut out PVC letters to be mounted to face of sign."
Jo's Wood Gallery
Holmen, WI
"Our business is primarily sign making and wood/art collectables, for wall hangings and pictures. Just starting out but have found some true niches for our art work. For example we did a huge plaque for the Blue Angels which was 2ft X 3ft as a thank you for a show in Lacrosse. The took it before we got a picture to share!
Beacon Custom Woodwork
Atlanta, GA
"The ShopBot is an incredible
time-saver for intricate, curved and angled work. Parts line up
perfectly, and accuracy and repeatability are way beyond what could
easily be done by hand. It allows more creativity in the design process,
since I don't have to worry about how to make all those parts that used
to be so time-consuming. The golf ball collection in this project
involved routing 700 precisely located holes in laminated MDF. Each one
came out perfect."
Kit-Cat Boats
Merritt Island, FL
"The boat design is an extensive 3D Solid-Model. Individual panels and bulkheads are exported from Pro/DESKTOP to Ashlar Vellum via IGES 3D-wireframe format. The objects are then optimized for 2D ShopBot use and exported from Vellum in .DXF format. Part Wizard is used to generate tool paths and the resulting .SBP files are simulated in Preview mode using the ShopBot Windows (beta) software. This may seem complex but the effective time-savings have substantially reduced construction costs. The precision of computer-generated, ShopBot-cut, panels results in better fit between components thereby reducing resin and filler-material use. Lower weight and costs are significant benefits.
The 3D Digitizer Probe has been used to
transfer wood patterns for aircraft Wing Ribs to ShopBot cut files. What
once required 8-9 hours of labor is now accomplished in about 1.5 hours
with precision and accuracy. More uses for the ShopBot emerge
frequently. We already need to replace the spoil board!
Cutting model of a
Kit-Cat
Good Harbor Bay
Durham, NC
"A chance conversation between parents
waiting to pick up kids at school led to collaboration between Michael
Hayes of Cary Academy and Sallye of ShopBot. Michael had an 8 inch
plaster elephant (shown at left with a quarter for size comparison) that
he wanted to turn into a 14Ft wide stage prop for a school production of
"The King and I". Sallye used the ShopBot Probe and the probing routine
that comes with the ShopBot Control Software to probe the plaster
elephant in 6 sections which would correspond to 6 pieces of 4x8ft blue
insulation foam. The resulting files were saved as dxf files, then
brought into Vector CAD/CAM, and scaled up 16 times on the x&y axes and
4 times on the z-axis. Next, each file was cut on one 4x8ft foam piece
using a Porter Cable Router and 1in round-nose bit. Michael mounted the
individual pieces on luan and built a frame around the entire assembly.
He then finished the elephant with body putty and added detail with
ropes and paint. The elephant was on stage for the entire play but,
during one scene, split to reveal Buddha."
NC State University
Raleigh, NC
Students at the North Carolina State University College of Design, Industrial Design, Jesse and Chuck used the ShopBot to turn pumpkins into decorations for the annual Halloween Bash. Jesse converted the "Space Invader" bitmap into a cutting file.
Timber Rick Woods
Anderson, IN
"I'm now 62 years old and it's hard to believe that I've been learning computer skills and doing such high tech wood working that I had never even heard of until a year ago. A big thanks to all the great people at ShopBot."
Baycraft Designs
Toms River, NJ
"I've spent much of the last few years
working on 3D files, and I am currently creating a library/CD of 3D
files which I plan to offer on my revised web site. The attached
pictures show a recent job where I used the Shopbot probe to generate a
point cloud of a kids toy. I then used ArtCAM Pro to fine tune the data
and generate a toolpath. The head was cut out of butter board because of
its dense nature ( 48 lb urethane foam). The “scales” were first rough
shaped out of Styrofoam, and then digitized with the Shopbot probe. The
final scales were cut from 18 lb Precision board and everything was then
epoxied to the fenders and tank of the motorcycle. After final shaping
and fairing, the pieces were painted, and then mounted. “Dragonslayer”
as the bike is called was the first of a series of custom motorcycles
we’ll be working on"
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