Rockland,Maine Camp Shopbot

[billp]

There will be a Camp Shopbot held in Rockland,ME on Saturday, Oct.14th,2006. It will be held at;
The Mid Coast School of Technology
1 Main Street
Rockland,ME 04841
Clare Stinson will be our host.It's obviously a little early for details on this one, but I have been to their facility before and it's a large, very well equipped school right on the water in Rockland harbor. Please keep an eye on the Forum in the next few months for updates. To minimize interuptions at the school any questions can be addressed directly to me in the interim..

[billp]

We've received a number of inquiries/RSVP's for the Rockland Camp, which is coming up fast. An issue that may have confused some people is that Bill Thomas is now in charge of the Shopbot setup at the Mid Coast School of Technology, having taken over the reigns from Clare Stinson. Bill's e-mail address is; willim.r.thomas@qmail.com
As mentioned above it might still be easier to contact me than Bill as he's usually tied up in classes, meetings, etc.
The people who have responded so far show quite a cross section of interests. We've got educators, and boatbuilders. Sign makers, and cabinet shops. So we'll try to cover the full range of what people are doing with their machines, both locally, and around the world.
If you've attended this, or any Camp before you'll recognize the format. We will have our coffee/donut get together between 8-9AM, and sessions start at 9.
There will also be a lunch provided for all attendees which is one of the reasons we always ask for advance "reservations".
As usual there is NO charge to attend our Camps, and you don't have to own a Shopbot to attend. In fact these sessions are usually a great place to learn about the CNC process if you've never seen one operate before.
There's a lot going on at Shopbot lately, with new software and hardware coming on line this month, and we'll explain what these new products entail.
We'll have "Campers" there with varying levels of experience, and expertise, and I'm hoping we get to see some interesting "Show and Tell" items again. Last year's group had some of the best and varied products of the year.
If you are planning to attend, and have specific interests, or have NOT contacted us yet, please do so soon. We'd like to make sure we have enough materials and food for everyone.
Hope to see you in Maine! Bill Palumbo

[paul_z]

I just wanted to say thanks for the Rockland Camp. Bill Palumbo was most entertaining and informative, our hosts couldn't have been more gracious, and the facility was like … well … toy land.

Thanks,

Paul Z

PS Bill, You convinced me. I'm going to start cutting foam.

[billp]

Let me second Paul's thank you for our Hosts- Bill Thomas, and Clare Stinson. As Paul mentioned they work in a school facility ( The Mid Coast School of Technology )which would have any Shopbotter drooling. We got to meet some of their students, and they love the opportunity to learn "real world" skills with hands on training. I got the tour which included everything from the hydraulics lab, to the aquaculture/hydroponics building where the kids are setting up wind generators to run 12 volt pumps to keep their trout tanks clean (and the trout "waste" is being used to help fertilize the veggies they are raising under everything from grow lights to LED's...). Etc. etc.
AND they are going to use the Shopbot and Artcam Pro to assist them in one of their next major projects which is building a foam "plug" from which they will make a carbon fiber solar electric vehicle to enter in national competition! They recently won a regional prize for their entry in a national robotics competition, and there's a wonderful energy going through the school which encourages kids to "think" instead of just parrot some pages out of a book.
This was one of those Camps where I think we all got a bonus, and almost everyone there said "I wish I had a chance at coming to a place like THIS back when I was in school".
Bill Thomas ran through some tricks in Part Wizard and Artcam Pro (he had just completed the 3 day training session down at Shopbot).
Paul Zank showed off his clever "V carved inlay"process.
The guys from Union River Boats showed pictures of a 52 foot vessel they are building in which the Shopbot cut out all of the framing parts in 3 days.
Gary and Dianne Reynolds of Shopbot were on hand to let everyone know about the most recent goings on in Durham.
And to add to the mix we hit the "peak" weekend for the Fall foliage colors in Mid-Maine, absolutely beautiful...
Bill and Clare, Many Thanks!

[Towersonline]

Bill, another great camp, I always come away with some excellent ideas. I'm glad Gary and Dianne made it, it was good to meet some of the people on the other end of the phone. What a great location for the event. Fantastic learning environment for the students that attend Mid Coast!

Bill Thorpe

[williamthomas]

Thank you everyone for coming to the camp - we had a great time and were happy to host. Sorry I had to leave quickly but one of our other football coaches was MIA and I had a teamful of little guys waiting at the field.

We are always happy to have people come to the school and see what we are doing with students - and like everyone else, I think all of the teachers here wish WE had a place like this when we were in high school!

Thanks Bill and Shopbot!

[tim_m]

Thank you to everyone for a very informative day. The topic came up to try to find a source of Trupan here in Maine. I eamailed the manufaturer and they do not distribute to Maine at this time.
this is what they had to say:
Tim:
We do not have a dealer for Trupan MDF panels in Maine. Our MDF panels are manufactured in Argentina, and we currently only have ocean transit to the Gulf. For Trupan UL Moldings, one of our current distributors is:

Huttig Building Products

65 Spring Hill Road
Saco Industrial Park
Saco, ME 04072
Phone: 207-283-4392

#7 Gaywalk Street
Augusta, ME 04330
Phone: 207-626-0175

Thanks,

Justin Latone

[billp]

We've posted a few photos from the Maine Camp on the Shopbot Flickr page;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/campsho...7594333498927/
If anyone else more pictures please send them to us at Campshopbot@shpbottools.com Thanks!