ShopBot

VCarve and Useful Information:

1. set up the material by looking under toolpaths and press set under material setup and you can set your material's width and length

2. can enter material thickness by selecting the toolpath operation whether it be engraving or pocket or profile cut or many other options, and then you can select cutting depths, which can be the material's thickness, but can also do it under material setup

3. make sure z axis is off of the table and not the material to adjust the settings of many different settings in VCarve

4. in order to make vectors, press whatever vectors you want to make on the left side of VCarve under the create vectors section

5. If you need to set the vector scale according to the thickness of the material, you can change it by selecting the vector and it is under toolpath operation and cut depth and however deep the material is, set that to be the cut depth for the material

6. can create a 3d preview by going to the end of the right side controls under toolpath and pressing calculate and then preview selected tool path

7. can send a file to Shopbot by saving the file

8. can create toolpath by selecting the vectors of shapes you want and then selecting the type of cut or toolpath you want, under the toolpath operations of the right side controls and editing your specific settings for the cut from there like adding tabs, the thickness of the cut, and more

Settings on VCarve and Shopbot:

A 3d Profile:

Shopbot Workflow: (shopbot is a subtractive process, not an additive process like the 3d printers)

1. safety procedures

• must have two people in the room
• must have hair tied back
• have to have safety glasses on
• don't touch any of the wires behind the shopbot
• don't agree to any message that pops up on the computer for the shopbot or vcarve unless you have read it
• know where the stop buttons are in case an emergency (red button next to computer and red button on the right side facing the shopbot)

2. make sure the z axis on the spindle is high enough to safety slide your material in (usually material a quarter inch thick or thicker because if less, you can cut with laser cutter)

3. measure the thickness and measurements of your wood or material and put the dimensions or measurements on the board in several places, so when it is cut it will still be seen on all the pieces (write in pencil, so it won't bleed through the material)

4. secure the material onto the shopbot

• make small holes in the board to put wood screws into that go into the base board, but not all the way through to the metal board
• pick the correct wood screws that
• go into the base board but not past the base board to the metal
• use a drill to screw the screws into as many holes as you need to secure the board in all places of the board and all the places it will be cut

5. Turn on shopbot by turning the key on the side of the shopbot and hitting the switch right next to the key, it is red

6. make sure warmup routine has already been completed that day

7. change the bit on the spindle to the correct bit you need for the specific cut

• this includes different bits for engraving, up and down profile cuts, pocket cuts and more
• 1st move the yellow bar on the shopbot that contains the spindle to the very front of the shopbot to make it easier to work with (can do this usig the control key and the arrows on the yellow control keypad in the toolbox on shopbot program)
• 2nd you have to take off the dirt skirt
• on the spindle
• 3rd you have to loosen and spin the black dial on the back of the top bar of the shopbot, near the warning sign, to make the spindle drop
• then you use the two wrenches and attach the small wrench to the top of the metal piece holding the spindle and the larger wrench to the bottom of the metal piece holding the spindle
• Turn the top wrench clockwise and the bottom wrench to loosen the bit to make it come out
• pick the correct bit you need for the specific cut for your design, including the correct thickness for the bit
• tighten the bit with your hands as much as you can
• use the wrenches again and turn the top wrench counterclockwise and the bottom wrench clockwise to tighten and put the new bit into the spindle (make sure when tightening the spindle that you don't tighten too hard, it usually is like one tightening of the wrenches and it works, don't have to keep tightening)
• push the spindle back together and back to the top
• tighten or spin black dial to tighten the spindle at top again
• put dirt skirt back on
• repeat if need to change bit again

(Wrenches loosening spindle) (wrenches) (the black dial to separate spindle) (dirt skirt)

8. zero out the z-axis

• attach the blue hexagon with the clip attached to it, on the yellow side of the clip, to the side of shopbot
• place the blue hexagon on the base board of the shopbot to get the correct z axis measurement (zero z axis from base board, not material)
• press the yellow keypad on the control board, so you can move the yellow bar and the spindle wherever you need in order to get the spindle above the blue hexagon and make sure the spindle is high enough to go above the blue hexagon
• press the zero z axis button on the control board and then the z axis will be zeroed
• remove the blue hexagon once the z axis is zeroed
• repeat this every time you have a new cut or change a bit

9. zero the x and y axises

• move the spindle and the yellow bar to the place you want to start, also known as your origin, using the control key and the arrows on the yellow keypad
• select zero axises on the yellow keypad
• select the x and y axises, and then the x and y axises should be zeroed, so your origin should be set

10. press green button to make spindle start to spin

(red button = stop, blue button = resume, green button = start)

11. go over 3d offset

12. turn on vacuum

13. cut material

Practice Cuts:

Two Rectangles:

We had to create a project using the shopbot in order to make sure we understood th

e procedures and how to use the shopbot. We were told to make two rectangles and cut them out, on a piece of wood that had already been cut several times. In order to do this, we had to create two vectors using the vectors button on VCarve, and we added them in the open space of the design or outline or the board. We could also move the vectors around the board if we selected the vector and pressed the move button under the edit objects controls of VCarve. The settings for the board were already created and in order to change them, you have to go under material setup under tool path in VCarve and type in the length, width, and thickness of the material, and that shows up on the outline or design for your cut, and also depth of cut was already set. We had to save this design or the two vectors as a new toolpath, so that we could modify the settings for just those two rectangles, and also, so when we begin the cut, once we select the toolpath, we can just cut these two rectangles out, nothing else. We then selected the toolpath, which is what we named our file with the two vectors on it, we also had to highlight the two vectors, to know that that was the only part of the design going to be cut. We also had to determine how many tabs were necessary to hold the pieces that were being cut in place. First we had to press the 1st option under toolpath operations, which is a profile cut. Once we pressed this, we were able to press add tabs to toolpath and how thick and the length we wanted them to be, so they could stay attached to the larger piece of material. We decided on only two tabs for this specific design. We made sure the correct bit was selected as well. We also looked at the calculate profile by going to the end of the toolpath settings and pressing calculate the profile and then we previewed the profile to make sure it looked like how we wanted it to cut. We saved the file again, highlighted the two vectors again to show that was toolpath we created and this took us to the shopbot program. We had to z the z axis again from this file, but kept the same origin, so it would start at the same place, but really end up going straight to cutting the two vectors or rectangles. Under toolpath we selected the file we saved the two vectors to, and pressed load file. Then we put the offset to 3d offset in order to just run through what the cut is going to look like, so it doesn't look like it will hit any nails. First we had to return the spindle back to the origin by using the return to origin button on the control board and then made sure the spindle was already spinning, by pressing the green start button by the computer. The blue button means reset. Then we pressed enter or cut part on the control board and was able to see there would be no problem cutting the board. Then, we were able to press return to origin again, and load the file again, but instead of 3d offset, we used no offset, and then made sure the spindle was spinning by using the green button and turned the vacuum on to prevent all the wo

od dust building up on the table. Then pressed enter or cut part and started the cut. Once it was over, we were easily able to take the two rectangles out because there was only two tabs and they were not very thick. This project helped use further understand how to use the shopbot and the program VCarve, in order to make more elaborate projects in the future.

Design on VCarve for 2 Additional Squares:

Orignial Material:

Settings for 3d Offset and the Overview of Cut:

Coasters: (http://www.shopbottools.com/files/Projects/Wooden%20Coaster%20Set.pdf)

We worked on creating a project to understand the shopbot even more than with the two rectangles we created earlier. We used a file from shopbottools.com and downloaded into VCarve. First we had to write down the measurements to the board on our board, but then we were able to modify the file from the website, to the measurements we had on our board. Th

e measurements of our board were 35.75 in by 5.25in by .5 depth. That is what we put under material setup, and therefore instead of the original design of the coasters, we were only going to cut out six coasters instead of the stand for the coasters and everything extra. We also had to change the bit to a profile down cut bit. Also, we set the z axis and zeroed the x and y axises to make the origin. Before we did anything actually to the board to make coasters, we added tiny holes, made from vectors, around the perimeter of the design in order to make it easier to put screws into the board, after the board was secured, but not throughly. We made these their own toolpath and cut them out twice in order to make it clear where they were cutting. Then, we secured the board using the correct wood screws. Then, back to VCarve, we used the pocket cut toolpath and set the depth cut as .25inches, and we selected that we were using a 1/4 down cut bit to do the cutting. We also added tabs by pressing the add tabs button under the pocket toolpath and made the length .4 inches and the thickness .25 inches, and we selected make 3d tabs, and this allowed the coasters not to come off the original piece of wood unless being taken off by us. We also created another toolpath that would cut out the outside of the coasters. It was a 2d profile toolpath and we set the cut depth as .54 inches. We also set the machine vectors as outside to the right and the direction as climb, because the vectors were the coasters outer squares and the circles inside them that involve a pocket toolpath. We also adjusted the coasters a little by moving them a little up, down, left, or right, using the move tool under edit objects.Then once we saved this file as a new toolpath, we were able to move it to the shopbot program and open the file and select the toolpath, so it would cut the circles inside the coasters and the squares around them in one toolpath. We had to make sure the z axis was zeroed again and we zeroed our x and y axises, so it would go back to the origin we set when we pressed return to origin. We then calculated and previewed the cut. Then we had to open the file and use 3d offset in order to watch to see if the cut would hit any of the nails and was doing what the file said it was supposed to be doing. Before this, though, we had to make sure the shopbot was on, press the green button so the spindle would start spinning, a

nd then press cut or enter. Since it worked, we were able to change 3d offset to no offset and turn on the vacuum and press the green button then cut or enter, and was able to have the coasters cut. Once they cut, we had to use a hammer and a flat head screw driver in order to break the tabs and some places on the outsides of the coasters where it did not cut through all the way. Then, once we sanded the edges or the coasters with sandpaper, we were able to make six coasters using the shopbot, and now have an even better understanding of how it works and the features that come with it.

The Coaster File:

The Coaster Settings and Toolpaths:

Coasters Finished and Cut from Material:

The Coasters Cutting Out:

Removing Coasters from Larger Piece of Wood: