ShopBot

The ShopBot Alpha is a CNC router that can be used for cutting wood or plastic according to CAD designs. The usual workflow is to create a design in CAD or drawing software (such as Inkscape, CorelDraw, or Adobe Illustrator), load it into VCarve, which plans the cuts and outputs parts files, which are then loaded into the ShopBot software to execute on the machine.

Basics

The essentials of operating the ShopBot are below. They are here as a reference, and not a substitute for taking the ShopBot class.

Safety

The typical and obvious woodshop safety precautions should also be used with the ShopBot: always wear safety glasses; keep your hands away; do not wear baggy sleeves, jewelry, etc. that might get caught. More specific to the ShopBot:

• Do not leave the ShopBot running unattended. Hitting the space bar will pause a cut and allow it to be resumed.
• Beware of the tracks that the x-axis carriage travels on. Do not rest your hands on them. The carriage can move quickly and crush fingers.
• Be sure your work is securely mounted on the table in all three dimensions (see yet-to-be-written section, below).
• Use adequate tabs for any profile cuts. Although there's no one tab size that works for any project, bigger tabs are always safer.

VCarve and planning ShopBot cuts

So you have a beautiful drawing of your part, and you have a ShopBot, which can move a tool around in 3-dimensional space. How can you put the two together to cut your part out? The task of planning toolpaths--where the bit is going to move, and at what speed--is usually accomplished using VCarve. A trial edition is sufficient for planning cuts, and then you can save your work and load it on the full version at TinkerMill to calculate and export toolpaths, which are then loaded into the ShopBot software to be executed. TinkerMill has a MakerSpace license for VCarve Pro, which allows members to activate a home installation of VCarve as clients. The activation key is provided to those taking the ShopBot class.