Handibot hitches a ride to Penland School of Crafts

David and Sallye headed to Penland School of Crafts to do a bit of training for the Studio Techs on Penland’s new ShopBot Desktop.  A Handibot hitched a ride so that Studio Techs would have another machine to practice their new skills.

A conversation at lunch lead to an invitation to one of the students attending a session in the  letterpress studio to stop by the wood studio for an example of how a Handibot (or a Desktop) could be used to make print blocks for the letterpress.

Beck, of Atropress in Richmond, CA, breezed into the wood studio, ready to design and machine it.  She had a familiarity with CAD, so was able to draw her logo quite quickly. With a little help in the toolpathing arena, she was ready to “print” the block on the Handibot while the Studio Techs continued their work on the Desktop. 

The B and the logo, including text, are carved “wrong” so that they will print correctly when inked and pressed to the paper.  The B (raised above the background) will print, while the background of the logo will print, leaving the logo as negative space.

Check out the 100kSchools.org website for more examples of how 3D machining can be used in making art.