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It’s time to go back to camp! Camp ShopBot events used to occur several times a year throughout the country, but this is the first one since 2019. We had intended to ramp them back up in 2020, but things being what they are, we couldn’t get them going until now

To the untrained eye, the Honda Element is just a funky SUV. Its production run was from 2003 to 2011 and the big draw for this vehicle is the insane amount of cargo capacity! The back seats fold up against the inner sides of the car, providing 25

On a bright sunny day in early May, I found myself driving to the town of Fairview, just south of Asheville, North Carolina to visit Pisgah Banjos. Once off the main road, a series of winding roads led to rolling hills of farmland and the home of Patrick Sawyer, founder of Pisgah Banjos

Bobby Hartley with Brand 9 Signs in Jacksonville, Florida knew that the addition of CNC to his shop would change the nature of his business. When he purchased a ShopBot, he went all out: 5’ x 10’ cutting area, Automatic Tool Changer (ATC) with nine tool holders, dust collection, and a vacuum hold-down system that could be portioned into seven different zones

Now that the basic techniques for cutting risers with the ShopBot were in place, it was necessary to turn the CNC into the primary production tool. Due to Covid-induced supply chain problems, the bandsaws had been out of blades for weeks, and it was estimated that it would be at least another 6 weeks before any arrived

One of the advantages of ShopBot’s semi-modular system is that a user can customize the ShopBot to fit their application. Cerro Pacific lumberyard created a custom hold-down technique and way to remove waste from the cutting table that fits their production use of manufacturing risers out of redwood blanks

A motorcycle with carved foam body panels caught my eye when searching for a ShopBot user to feature. Before reading the description of this photo on Instagram, I could tell this was some sort of mock-up

Drive onto the lumberyard of Cerro Pacific in Redwood Valley, CA, and you will see stacks and stacks of redwood boards. A whiteboard in plant manager Roberto Carillo’s office is filled with notes for various orders for 2x4s, 2x6s, etc

When I check ShopBot’s social media channels to find tagged posts full of amazing woodwork, aluminum milling, acrylic and plastic products, foam prototypes, cabinetry, and structures of all sizes, it’s always nice to come across a unique art application. CNC lends itself beautifully to the art world

One never knows when a good idea will come to mind. Take Troy Turbeville as an example

ShopBot CNC tools are in educational facilities all over the world, everywhere from Fab Labs to woodshops, to theater programs and engineering departments. We recently came across a conversation on the CNC Entrepreneurs Facebook group where one Bryan Seward, Head of Wood, Design, and Technology at SUN Area Technical Institute, was singing our praises

Not all topographical maps are created equal. Color palette and geographical location have a lot to do with how eye-catching a map will turn out

Skateboard design has come a long way. Surfers in the 50’s used to dismantle roller skates and bolt the wheels and axles to simple wood planks that may or may not have been cut in the shape of a surfboard for the ability to “surf the streets”

We have been customizing this 1956 Airfloat Land Yacht (which we’ve named “Talulah”) for the past eight years and the 1999 F450 diesel box truck/mobile shop (which we’ve named “Clyde”) for nearly four. Many photos of this project (before, during, and completed) can be seen on our website

View video of Bill Young’s interview with Will Holman HERE.ShopBot’s Bill Young talks with Will Holman of Open Works Baltimore about the history and current state of the Baltimore-based makerspace