New Jersey Camp Shopbot

[billp]

Carpool?

I've had a few people contact me about the Camp and ask if anyone would be interested in carpooling to get here. If you plan to drive to the Camp and/or need a ride here, let me know if this sounds feasible for you. Right now the Northern contingent (Canada/New England), seems most interested….
While the "official" Camp schedule is Saturday the 26th , there will be people here before and after that day due to their travel connections, etc. I will gladly host sessions for all those who make it here, but obviously with NO idea of who/how many to expect on those days we will continue to "wing it"..
I have heard from a few more people confirming their attendance, but as usual it's those travelling the furthest who have been most diligent in checking in. I'm sure many of you assume that I "know" you will be here, but based on past experience I won't really have a head count until I open the shop on the weekend..
Since a lot of people are making it a one day trip with a long drive each way we won't be taking a long lunch break. I'm hoping to squeeze in as much as possible in the time frame we have, and that's when we usually have our "show and tell" session.
After a lot of thought on the matter I have decided NOT to have the "metal cutting experiment" which was suggested in an earlier part of this thread. In addition to the obvious risk factor, there was also the problem of "down time" while we tried to sort out all of the set up procedures for something like this. We have found a Shopbotter in North Carolina who will be helping Gary work on his project however, so I think everyone will be served…..
PULEEZE get back to me if you are planning on being here. While an RSVP is not mandatory to attend, it would sure make things easier in the final planning stages. As you can imagine I will be in the frantic mode for the next week as I try to fool most of you into thinking I always have a clean shop… If you need to contact me and I don't answer the phone, just leave a message and I'll get back to you. If it's outside work hours, e-mails are just as useful.

[bjwat@comcast.net]

"I will be in the frantic mode for the next week as I try to fool most of you into thinking I always have a clean shop…"- Hahaha!!!! I thought I was the only one that did that!

You can definately count me in Bill.

I just received my Colombo yesterday
The rest of the goodies should come the week after the Camp, so timing is perfect.

Thanks,
Brady

[billp]

Camp Schedule…

I've had a number of people write and ask me what the "real" time frame of the Camp will be this weekend.. While it is listed as being on Saturday from 9AM until-?? There are people arriving as early as tomorrow ( Wednesday), more are enroute Thursday, and still more on Friday…Then we have a number of people who have asked about activities for Sunday since they have late travel connections, etc.
SO, the "real" Camp schedule is from tomorrow until Monday AM when the last Campers ( literally in this case..) roll up the wheels on their rig and hit the highway..
I will make it a point to be here Friday evening ( until 9PM…)for those of you who are coming in the night before and staying at a local hotel/motel. Otherwise I will be at the shop shoveling stuff aside to make room for some of the people/products allegedly on the way…
There is some speculation of rain showers on Saturday, but since they lie to us about the weather regularly we might get lucky and stay dry. If not we'll just figure out some way to display what people bring inside the shop.
The ever growing list of scheduled attendees is getting very interesting, and we will certainly cover a very wide spectrum of ways to use the 'Bot. I will have the doors of the shop open by 8AM Saturday and since we have a LOT of stuff to try and fit in that day, I'd ask that you make it here as early as you can. This way we can make introductions, move stuff around, and allow for the usual confusion which results at these kind of events.
If anyone has last minute questions/concerns please get back to me -pronto..I'm looking forward to this year's Camp since I think we now have a deeper pool of experience to draw upon than before. Seeya Saturday!!! ( or earlier….)
P.S. Since I will have most of the shop computers set up for the Camp by late Friday I will NOT be connected to the internet, so e-mails won't be feasible after mid-day Friday..

[jlucas@kpf.com]

I've been using various small Roland CNC machines for about two years making architectural models . The shopbot sounds similar but cheaper, more robust, larger, and less precise. I'm stuck on how to do double-sided cutting to escape the 2.5D or no overhang limitation, plus the usual holding the work piece down, etc. I wonder if I would get any insight to same by coming to Camp this Sat?
regards,
John Lucas

[rgbrown@itexas.net]

John,

I think the limitations are in your mind.

Ron

[billp]

John, I have done a few small pieces as you have described, using both Millwizard, and Artcam Pro.
I still have one of the pieces at the shop and I can show you how it was done. Actually when I get back to the shop in the morning I will send you a few pix of the file in question, and that may help you make up your mind. I would suspect that you could get a lot more out of the Camp than just that particular trick however. There will be others attending who own machines which are not Shopbots, and yet we all tend to speak the same dialect: holdowns, cutting speeds, software, and accessories are universal constants and we all stand to learn from what others have figured out from their own experiences. There will be enough of a brain trust there on Saturday to possibly figure out a solution for you...Bill P.

[gerald_d]

John, we have more fixing options than the guys with the expensive CNC machines - we don't feel sorry for our tables! We even happily put screws through from the bottom when we feel like it.

[jlucas3@optonline.net]

Now I want to come. but how to get there from CT?I can get a train to Bay head NJ from NYC. So I'll just have hope there is some local bus service to Tom's River.
If anyone reads this and has any helpful suggestions, please posst or email me
jlucas3@optonline.net
thanks in advance

[bjwat@comcast.net]

Hats off to Bill Palumbo and ShopBot for putting on this gathering. Everyone at the event was friendly, knowledgable and eager to share techniques. I walked away charged up, inspired and excited about working with my machine when it comes.

Looks like I have started to "think in ShopBot" asking myself all day long, "How can I make that on the 'Bot?" Funny how every carved sign and 3D object that I passed on my way home was seen in a new light.

I think that the ShopBot community and network is what really sold me on this product, in addition to the high quality machine and value. I am confident that I made a wise investment with this product.

I am looking forward to attending the Jamboree next year after I have some cutting and designing experience under my belt.

-Brady

[chip1]

Great Show, Bill! Thanks for all of oyur effort!