The Possibilites?...

[johnandrhondawebb@netzero.net]

My name is John Webb, and I live in Paradise, CA, I wanted to start producing some unique wood signs and crafts with a ShopBot. Do you feel this thing has been worth it? How was the learning curve? What is the material of choice?... besides wood, I've hear a material HDU is becoming more & more prevalent in wood crafting. Are there any other materials? What are the costs, & who supplies them?

The other thing I wanted to do with it was output sculptures designed in 3D StudioMAX, export to AutoCAD, then "print" them in layers or cross sections (due to 6" z-axis travel limit) to the ShopBot. Cross sections would be stacked, glued, & sanded to produce a master from which to produce a mold for castings.

Anyway, this is probably a bit far fetched & scattered, but my imagination won't let go of the possibilities. Any feedback would be great. Much appreciated, ...John Webb

[bjwat@comcast.net]

John,
I would recommend locating someone in your area to give you a demo of their ShopBot and talk about what they have been doing with it.

You can do 3D on the Bot, however to do what you want to do will require software to create 3D toolpaths. Additionally, you will need software to do the slicing that you speak of. ArtCAM Pro (by DelCAM producers of ShopBot PartWizard) will do all of these things and more, but at the moment it retails for $7500...so the capability is there, if you have deep pockets.

It is possible to do a lot with MillWizard (Also a DelCAM product) for $250. You can effectively slice a 3D file, however from what I have seen ArtCAM is a better way to do it.

BTW, your layers would probably be no more than 1.5" on the Z since your height is ultimately limited to the cutting length of your bit. So plan on more slices...

All in all, even with purchasing a ShopBot and the ArtCAM Pro software you are still ahead of the game when considering other CNC machines/software package prices.

As I have found, no other CNC machine in or out of this price range has the community support that the ShopBot does. I bought my SB because of this and I will be learning techniques and strategies for years to come. It was a humbling experience for me using the SB for the 1st time, but after a while you get to know what to expect and what to plan for. Generally speaking, it is easy to use and you can do a lot with it in a short time.

I bought my Bot as a 'Plan B' to my current career choice and peace of mind for when I get old...

-Brady

[dands50@hotmail.com]

John, The Bot is well worth the investment. I have been doing all kind of things with it and what you talk about for your 3D can be done as Brady said depending on the complesity of the sculpture ie: if the piece is say more moden and say smooth freeform with no detail then you can do that a simple as doing the layers offset at 1/4 or 1/2 inch smaller than the last to give a stacked curve then when you assemble you use th trusty old belt sander and palm sander to bring the curve together.I designed a 5' rainbow trout this way and then air brushed in the details for a sign for a Motel. Looked great.I cut out the inside of the layer on each one an could use for one of the layers farther up for that side, this also made the piece hollow so that it was not as heavy. it was made out of foam board and then fiber glassed. David in Wyoming P.S. this way of doing a 3D image requires no expensive 3D software just a simple cad progam like Tubo Cad About $25.00 and saving each layer as a dxf file then the shopbot soft ware does the rest.

[valensign]

John,
I do alot of the stuff you are talking about I use HDU often and it cuts like a dream and I have also restarted making rtv molds and casting resin again for a few companys here in Nebraska and the bot works great for making my mold shells and prototypes. I was also working on the same idea as you are talking about with the sculpture but I was planning on doing pointups of smaller items with a microscribe then slicing them to remake larger.. If you would like to talk more about this feel free to email me at
debekker@inebraska.com (mailto:debekker@inebraska.com) or valensign@inebraska.com. (mailto:valensign@inebraska.com.).
Ohh By the way without the shopbot and artcam none of this would be possible

[Larry Fiala]

John I've wanted to build a laminated object
model for some time but haven't tried it yet.
I think it is not only feasible but a good
way to build 'stuff'!
http://www.rapidpro.co.uk/
sells a program for building models on a plotter
reads .stl files
the demo program has an editable .ini file
so you can specify your own materials ( it's metric though) so I added my own
for gatorfoam at 1/4"
and pink foam (insulation) at 2 inches

heres the additional lines (in metric)

MATERIAL=GATORFOAM (48" x 96" x 0.25in),6.35,1219.2,2438.4,1,6

MATERIAL=2inch pink (24" x 96" x 2in),50.8,609.6,2438.4,1,6

It generated nice cut files but doesnt allow
you to print or post etc..

It seems to be available in the US for under $1000

[rgbrown@itexas.net]

The "stacked cutting" can be done in Rhino. One can build or import files, offset surfaces and section in any direction.

Ron