Use of ShopBot in high school woodworking program

[pwojno@vassar.k12.mi.us]

Hello

My name is Paul Wojno and I am the high school principal for Vassar High School in Vassar, Michigan. My wood shop teacher has asked to purchase a shopbot for his program. In reseaching the product, it looks to be a nice way to add some technology application into the course. With that in mind, is there anyone in the area (Bay City/Saginaw or Mich.) that has one up running and can answer some questions we may have about it's use in the classroom. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[imserv@imsrv.com]

Paul, There have been several teachers who visited us, at our Vector-Shopbot training center, in the Ann Arbor, MI area. I would be glad to help you get in contact with a couple of them. 248-486-3600

Fred Smith
IMService

[canyontxshop]

I am a HS Woodoworking Technology Teacher in Canyon Tx. We purchased a Shopbot in Sept2004. We love it, although working on tweeking. Use it for everything. Would love to talk with other teachers around here doing the same.

[wiese]

By "around here" do you mean Texas. I am in Illinois and am always looking for other teachers to share ideas with.

[canyontxshop]

I like talking to any others, especially teachers who are using the Shopbot in their classroom. Anywhere. I teach woodworking and Cad, we use Microstation SE in our Cad class, we do alot of 3-D and have a good understanding of that, we just need to do some of that on the bot.

[wiese]

I teach drafting and tech classes at the high school level. In my advanced drafting class I pair students up and have each student pick a mechanical device from the "Mechanisms and Mechanical Devices Sourcebook". The only requirement in selecting is that the device has to couple with his partners selection to form one overall mechanism. Because dimensions are often sparse in the sourcebook, students have to design the mechanism almost from scratch. The final step is to generate toolpaths, NC code, and machine the parts on the ShopBot. The final mechanism must function as designed to receive a decent grade. Most students enjoyed this project. They were surprised by how much planning went into designing and anticipating potential problems and actually fabricating the design.

In my Tech II class students use a trebuchet simulator program to maximize the efficiency of their designs before drawing their trebuchet on AutoCAD. They are allowed only a 4'X4' piece of plywood from which to machine the parts of their trebuchet. This project is currently under way, so I will have to keep you posted.

[stickman]

Jay,

Is your trebuchet to be a powered device? It will be interesting to see what your students come up with. Look forward to seeing pictures and hearing more about thier experiences with designing.

Jay

[mikea@mts.net]

Hello

I teach Industrial Arts in McCreary Manitoba Canada with the shopbot. We build a lot of large cabinets with the bot along with smaller ones like intarsia. One interesting thing we are just completing is a wooden working padlock. looks good. always willing to share ideas with other teachers. i teach from grade 7-12.

Mike Annetts

[wiese]

Mike,
I too have toyed with the idea of making some working locks. Can you share a little more info on how you did it? Does each student design it from skratch or do you provide them with design info? Does each student machine a lock or is it a group project? Have you considered any other materials besides wood?

[wiese]

OOPS, I meant scratch not skratch. I miss the spell check.