Use of ShopBot in high school woodworking program

[jvaldez@gusd.k12.ca.us]

Hi shop botters,
I have been trying to get info on the ShopBot unit to use in a High School woodworking program. Do we have any drafting/woodworking/technology teachers that are using the Shopbot CNC unit in a school setting? I am seriously interested in purchasing one of these unit for my program but I would like get more info on the unit to see if it would be applicable and beneficial to my program. I welcome any and all information on the subject from any and all sources. I would also like to make contact with someone who is using this unit and is located in the San Jose/San Francisco bay area. Thank you in advance for your input.

[gary999s@aol.com]

Check this out:

http://www.hermiston.k12.or.us/hhs/teachers/gordon/START.htm

[Ed_ufford@rsd.edu]

To Jesus Valdez---
I am also a Woodworking/Drafting/Technology teacher in Richland, Washington. My students have been using the ShopBot for over 4 years now with great success. Last year my class received contract to build 14 custom two-sided bookcases for a local bookstore. We used the Shopbot to cut 90% of the project and drill over 5000 shelve pin holes. Saved us about 2 months worth of work-- and every bookcase was perfect. If your Drafting students know CADD, then converting a CADD file to a Shopbot file is simple. We also used it to make an 8 foot 3D Falcon out of plywood and various other projects. This is a great low cost machine. Get it if you can.
Email, me if you would like more info.

[ricks]

Jesus,
I have a ShopBot in your area.
I sent you an e-mail, but it bounced back.
Send me an e-mail, I will send you info.
Rick

[speicher@totelcsi.net]

I am also a woodworking/cad/cam teacher in Caney, Kansas. We recieved our ShopBot in November of 2001. It's impact has changed my students as well as my curriculum. It is an amazing tool and it's the talk of our community. It's also exposing my students to the world of technology communications. We communicate with fellow shopbotters, corel users and vector users through the forums. I also exchange e-mails from developers of shopbot goodies,(ex; Mark Dreiling Bartlesville Okla.). The machine has great support and it's affordable for schools to purchase. As for projects I'm still refining those but we do make the cd rack that comes with the shopbot software. We also make a foot stool with a bulldog routed on the top . I have also used my manufacturing class as signmakers for area consumers to purchase! Al

[jvaldez@gusd.k12.ca.us]

I wish to thank Gary,Ed,Alan and Rick for their comments to my query on the ShotBot CNC in high Schools. All the feedback has been very postive and with a little more time and research I will be making my decision. I especially want to thank Rick Samish who extended an invitation to see the ShotBot in action. I will be contacting Rick soon. Thank again! Jesus

[jmw60010@yahoo.com]

I teach drafting/CAD, and Tech Ed in Crystal Lake Illinois. We have several bench top CNC machines in our tech lab and the Shop Bot was the most recent addition. The students love it! I have used the Shop Bot in my drafting classes to show my students not only the the importance of accuracy in their drawings, but that their drawings can act as a road map for the router to follow. They just eat this stuff up. I have prepared seven "self-guided" activities for use in our tech lab. A pair of students can expect to spend about nine class periods completing the lessons. I have been in contact with Donna at ShopBot and was planning on giving her the activities for distribution along with the contributions of others. She should have these materials by 2/22. If you have a burning desire to see these activities right away, drop me an e-mail and I can zap them to you.

[hallwl@hotmail.com]

I teach at a rural school in central Ohio. We purchased a ShopBot last May to use with our Tech Prep Engineering class.
We've used it to do joint work, cut Metric 500 cars, and signs for a junior class find raiser.
(Oval signs that say "Rockets Live Here")
I even went off the deep end and bought a machine for my garage. Crazy.... but call it my boat. My wife likes it because it keeps me in the garage.
The ShopBot is like a magnet with the kids as well as adults. I'll gladly share a cnc unit that I'm in the process of perfecting if anyone wants it. It's in draft form.
Two of our area teachers are also buying machines. He doesn't know it yet but we plan to hire John Forney to do some training when they get their machines set up.

[jfhammond@kwic.com]

I am a boatbuider, artist and teacher at a Secondary School in southern Ontario, Canada.
I am hoping to purchase a new or used shopbot to help speed up my glued-lapstake double-ended row/sailboat construction as well as my flatbottom skiff construction time.
I keep reading about how many schools have these machines and wonder what kind of budget you have and if you are in pivate schools or public schools.
I know for a fact that our tech. teachers would love to have one for the class but, if they asked for one, the board would laugh them out of the office.

On the other hand I am extremely jealous that this is being offered to your students. What a treat!

I'll mail you back when I am up and running and maybe we can exchange some ideas on fundraising projects.
One project that seems like it will work is Adriondack chairs made by a shopbot and painted with funky designs ie. "absolute vodka ads" and then raffled off or simply sold. Art and woodshop would benefit.
Any comments?

Jim Hammond innerbayboats.com

[danhamm@abccom.bc.ca]

I received and email from a teacher who saw a reference to my video's of coreldraw on the forum.. His question was can you make a video of
a shopbot screen with different settings..Yes..
but what he really wanted was to capture the screen settings for a document for the class..

Here's how to: reduce your shopbot screen to the
start bar..then right click to bring up the properties screen...then click on screen...then default.. now you have a shopbot window..which can
be: (alt print screen) and pasted into microsoft word or your processor of choice..

[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.

[gerald_d]

Jay, see the little
3656 icon on each post? It is an "Edit" button, and gives you 30 minutes to fix the OOPS'es

[srwtlc]

Jay,

Just for the fun of it, here are some shots of a trebuchet that I built several years ago (before my ShopBot). The design was in a "Fine Woodworking" magazine article. It measures approx. 20" x 20" at the base and 32" high (uncocked). The weight box has approx. 7lbs of lead wheel weights in it. It will fling a cherry tomato 70-80 feet. We had an over abundance of cherry tomatoes when I finished it and I was flinging them off a picnic table at my wife while she was crusing back and forth with the riding lawn mower.
All in fun of course! She could dodge the bullets better than I could lead the shot.


3657
3658

[stickman]

Scott,

That is pretty darn neat, if I don't say so myself. I'll have to dig around in the garage and see if I can find the cataplut that I helped my son build. It was before my bot, as well. We could really create one now! When thinking trebuchet, I was thinking of a dirt dredging machine. I was looking the other day at syringe hydraulic arms that students had build. Pretty fancy ones.