Cool Tools: The ShopBot is a low-cost CNC, or computer controlled router. Think of it as a large-scale milling machine. It is great for small-scale production runs of machine parts in wood or metal.Friday, April 27, 2012
ShopBot
Cool Tools: The ShopBot is a low-cost CNC, or computer controlled router. Think of it as a large-scale milling machine. It is great for small-scale production runs of machine parts in wood or metal.
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3 comments:
so if i understand this right this is a high end cnc machine for the consumer. i think the most intriguing thing about the shopbot is that it connects directly with google sketchup. sketchup as a three dimensional drafting program is pretty approachable which means that your average joe could conceivably make really intricate parts for a broken tool or their own prototypes. one of the biggest hurdles into the cnc/3D printer is the software that takes it from a drafting program and tells the machine how to work.
Here at the CMU School of Drama we have a state of the art CNT Motion machine. Basically, this machines dad. It is the coolest thing that enables us to make some very intricate scenery and dinosaurs which would be difficult for us to create in convention methods. However, it has become a crutch, our professors are constantly challenging us to build things WITHOUT it. Ie. (“You do not need to AutoCad draft, then Master Cam, and then Tool Path that circle, you can just use the tables saw. “) In the race for technology to make our lives easier, this is a real world example of technology making our lives more complicated.
This tool is amazing and I would love to have it my high school theater. I really am happy to see that it is getting cheaper every year. The metal and wood designs the shopbot can make are really nice to look at but very precise since it eliminates human error.
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