Bill: Just a quick note-there will be four of us coming for the camp, three form Oklahoma, 1 from Texas. We will arrive on Oct 12 in Philly, and drive in from there. I see your direction on the forum post, so I will work with those.
Looking forward to the camp, will be in touch via this forum.
Best regards, enjoy your time off.
Doug
Senior Member
Camp Shopbot is still on..
In response to a few calls/e-mails, I want to confirm that "Camp" is still on schedule..We are 60 miles south of ground zero, and all services are back up and running as if….
Hopefully this will not interfere with the plans of those who are travelling here from outside the area.. So far I have 25 campers "confirmed" ( a rather loose term as I've learned from Camp # 1..). This means anywhere from 12-200 will be there, and that also means between 2-2,000 different ways to run the same parts file, etc. Some of the things scheduled will be demos of different approaches to vacuums/hold downs; software that people want to know more about ( Profilelab, Vector, etc) , a demo of most Shopbot accessories ( Gene Marshall may be moving his shop during the same time period, but he said he thinks he will still be able to do a demo of the indexer for those of you who have asked..); a boat building session during which I hope to unveil this week's version of the "Quicklap Qruzer" ( a testimonial as to what can happen when someone has too much time and epoxy on his hands..) which is Bill Young's Quicklap canoe "modified" somewhat into a 13-1/2 ft gaff rigged tri-maran with leeboards;
a little software surprise Ed Coleman has written which will help in viewing Shopbot files; a demo of a plastic nail gun ; examples of cutting in different materials ( marble, plastics, etc.); and the standard "show & tell" sessions where we all get to finally show some of our stuff to people who understand what it is we are trying to do with the machine. So far the range of expected products runs the gamut from turkey calls to wooden eyeglasses…
If anyone has other stuff to show, please get back to me, and I'll add it to the "schedule"..
Maybe the world HAS changed since last week, and maybe our best response can be to live our lives a little fuller, with much more appreciation for the ways in which we are still able to grow..
Bill, I would like to know more about the shopbot and just what are some of the kinds of things that can be done. sounds like the camp would be a good way to discover more. Please advise about place, time and cost etc. Thanks
Larry Prewitt
Senior Member
Larry, if you back up in this "thread", you'll see most of the basics regarding the Northeast Camp. It will be Oct. 13/14, and there is no charge to attend. If you need any further info, or directions, get back to me here on the Forum, or send me an e-mail...
A further note, Bill Young has volunteered web space within "Bill's Corner" on the Shopbot website for us to post stuff we do/learn at this Camp. This makes much more sense than me trying to do a pamphlet, etc. since everyone will have access to it whether they attend or not.. Regards, Bill P.
Senior Member
Fourth major topic;
With Camp a little less than 2 weeks away, I've had a number of requests for some time to be devoted to the generation of "3-D" files.To do so we'll spend some time discussing/using the Shopbot probe ( which they have graciously donated for the Camp, thanks guys..)In addition we'll have some work produced by a digitizer, and we'll dig a little bit into the major software out there.
Gene Marshall is going to be moving his shop in the next few days, so we're hoping he'll be up and running to have an indexer available for a demo as well.Even if he's not in place he'll have a bunch of samples on hand to show what can be done with the tool.
If anyone needs more specific info or directions please get back to me soon, since I expect to be running around a bit trying to wrap up last minute details..I think this is gonna be fun...
Bill: If you could give us detailed driving instructions from Philadelphia International, it would be greatly appreciated. We will rent a car at the airport and drive in on Friday. As of this moment, there will be four, with another individual flying into Baltimore from Austin, TX, and driving in.
I agree, I think is going to be fun!
Thanks for everything......
Doug
Senior Member
Doug, From the airport you will take Interstate 95 North until you come to the "Ben Franklin" bridge. You'll cross over into New Jersey following signs for "Cherry Hill/Route 70". Stay on route 70 for approximately 45 miles . It's not a major highway since it runs straight through the "Pine Barrens" of N.J. , but it is the most direct route..When you see signs indicating you are near the town of Lakehurst you'll also see signs for route 37 ( it might also say Seaside Heights, Brielle , etc.). Follow Route 37 for roughly 4 miles and you'll come to "Commonwealth Blvd." ( If you are staying at the Super 8 it will be on your left hand side near this intersection). Continue ½ mile East on Route 37 and you'll see a small strip mall/industrial park just before a Getty gas station. I am IN that park, and my shop is at the rear of the building which has a large sign saying "Carpet"in red neon on it's front façade..Shop phone is 286-2700..
If any Shopbotters from the Western N.J., or Philadelphia area can improve on these directions, or offer simpler alternatives, please feel free to do so.
As you might expect things will be a little frantic around here during the next week, but each day is producing more and more surprises which I hope will make this "Camp" an experience we'll all get a lot out of..Bill P.
P.S. I will probably be here that Friday night getting last minute things together so anyone who winds up in the area then can call me..
Senior Member
Some thoughts for this weekend's "Campers"-it would probably be a good idea if you brought some business cards, and a camera with you. I am hoping to "network"some people and with all of the goings on I doubt everyone will remember names, etc. The camera is just in case you see something you are interested in, and we somehow neglect to get a shot of it for "Bill's Corner".Latest weather says nights in the 50's, days in the 70's ( but they lie a lot, I still check http://www.wunderground.com for updates..).
Senior Member
I just got a great suggestion from Bill Young- His thought is that it would be a good idea to bring a floppy disk ( or two) with you to Camp in case there are some files you'd like a copy of. This way we can do it right there instead of trying to e-mail stuff after the fact.
Also in answer to a few last minute e-mails- we'll try to start the festivities at 9 AM on Saturday.
Senior Member
Camp report..Well the last Shopbotters have just hooked up their trailer and headed home. I don't really know how may people were here during the entire weekend since I was running from one group to the next a lot.
I would really like to thank Ted Hall, Bill Young, and John Forney for taking the time to come here and present a LOT of information to everyone. This was a different group of "campers" than last year, in that almost everyone who attended had some skills we were all able to learn from. There was a lot of trading ideas, techniques, and stories all weekend long. I picked up more than a few new ways to do things I have been wanting to learn, but never got around to on my own.
The "networking"looks like it will go on well beyond the weekend too. We have some new "toys"to work with on the 'Bot , and there should be some interesting follow up stuff coming out of all this. Hopefully anyone who took pictures will get them to Bill Young at billyoung@shopbottools.com.
Many thank you's to everyone who took time out of their regular schedules to trek here to New Jersey. I met some great people, and had a wonderful time as well.
Maybe this idea can be transplanted to other parts of the country so everyone gets a similar chance to exchange ideas with the 'Bot community. If not, we can go for a "threepeat"in New Jersey next year...
Posting Permissions
