Shapertool - Runs on Vectrics software

[rtfosmoe]

Saw this on Facebook. It seems interesting. A router which uses Vectrics software.

https://preorder.shapertools.com/


Rich

[srwtlc]

I was checking that out last night too. Pretty cool/interesting. At the end of the video, there's a link to a bunch of others about it and in use.

Shaper Origin

[Bob Eustace]

Have also been following it as there is a heap on line. Lost a tiny bit of enthusiasm when the guy making a chair from an 8x4 took 8 hours. Its fascinating though how Festool has their hands in this! It truly is fascinating technology. It seems to solve the indexing problems with the Handibot. Being a dumb bum I couldnt get my head around the marker method for a while and couldnt understand why placement wasnt at all critical. Oh to have a brain that comes up with such ground breaking technology! Cant wait to get one!

[rtfosmoe]

I agree that it sounds like it will be a Festool item soon as they prove it out.

[Bob Eustace]

Already got the lime green button on the shipping model!

[genek]

All this is, is a glorified hand held router with a pattern viewer... You still have to follow a line on the viewer, you still have to control the torque of the router. If you have use a hand held router before you know it is easier to follow a guide rather than free hand. Personally I would not invest in this system...

[bill.young]

The Handibot team just posted about the Origin tool from Shaper on the Handibot blog.

https://handibot.com/blog/2016/09/the-new-shaper-tool/

[genek]

The Handibot team just posted about the Origin tool from Shaper on the Handibot blog.

https://handibot.com/blog/2016/09/the-new-shaper-tool/

May be so. However I am still sticking with my opinion... you the operator is who moves the router not the computer...

[Ajcoholic]

All this is, is a glorified hand held router with a pattern viewer... You still have to follow a line on the viewer, you still have to control the torque of the router. If you have use a hand held router before you know it is easier to follow a guide rather than free hand. Personally I would not invest in this system...

Gene,
The thing to remember though, is you do not need a pattern. Just roughly guide the router around and keep within the general area and the electronics moves the motor to track precisely. Also, if you go outside the boundary it will raise the bit until you get back into the proper bounds again.

I can see this as being handy for cuts within a large object, cutting a hole into the back or side of a cabinet too big to get on the machine (or on a job site), etc.

Imagine setting an inlay into a finished hardwood floor job. Or a similar thing - just need to have the CAD drawing loaded up in the router - no patterns or templates etc.

Like every tool - this will find a niche and have a place in some shops and others will find it unnecessary. Im not yet thinking I will "need" one, but I can certainly see the usefulness of such a tool.

[Bob Eustace]

Andrew it does do one thing no other CNC can do with regards to inlay. As long as you dont remove the tapes you can come back and take a whisker out as many times as you like whilst removing the machine from the job. I'd post a link to this but watched it on a Smart TV! But it was done by the Shaper crowd on the latest unit (white). Will be interesting to see if Handibot give this technology a bash.