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Introduction
Introduction
A gusset is a flat piece of material—usually made from aluminum, polycarbonate, or steel—used to reinforce and connect two or more structural members at an angle, most commonly in robot frames or mechanisms. In FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition), gussets are essential for building strong, rigid, and modular robot structures. Gussets are typically bolted or riveted to parts like aluminum box tubing, C-channel, or extrusion. Teams use them to join parts at common angles (like 90° or 45°) while maintaining alignment and strength.
In this activity you will use the Shope Sabre CNC router to cut 2 L Gussets.
The following tutorial assumes that you have already powered on the machine. If you have not done that, you can follow along with the startup tutorial found here:
Shop Sabre Operating Procedures
Once the Router is on work through the following steps to route 2 L shaped gussets.
Find a Piece of Scrap 0.090 thick Aluminum sheet
2. Verify the Thickness with a pair of Calipers. It should be 0.090"
3. Use the drill and wood screws to secure the stock to the sacrifice board.
4. Make sure to secure all 4 corners.
5. Ideally, make sure the area you will machine is in the lower left hand corner of the stock.
6. Open the ShopSabre Software
7. Release the E-Stop
8. Click the home button.
9. The machine will finish the homing operation at the near left side of the machine.
10. Check to see if the 5609a 1/8 in upcut bit is in the spindle. If it is not, instal the bit in the spindle.
11. remove the spindle nut and install the 5609a in the bit holder
12. Install the nut with the tool and make sure not to cross thread the spindle.
13. Click Tool HT (tool height) to set the offset for the tool.
14. Use the arrow keys and page up and down to move the spindle to the origin of the parts.
15. Set the speed to slow when lowering the spindle.
15. The spindle should be a little above the part
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