Working with the large material jig

Gil, take a look at Bill's post above. If you have a developer edition you can use the jig as you have the pointer insert that works with the X axis rails.

Sounds like if you want to be future proofed getting the new baseplate is the way to go. Having that full 8" if cutting area is nice. Once we all really get going with posting things to cut online, you might find that you can't cut certain things because of the travel you'd have on the Y axis.

I have both plates here, I'll take a look tomorrow and compare them, maybe someone from Shopbot will answer before me.

If you want to try and cut your own rail check here:

[github.com]

These are 3D models of all different versions of the Handibot.

That replacement rail they ship is not only cut, but drilled and tapped from the sides just so you know.

Eric,

I already downloaded the files to cut the wooden rails and spacers. I was wanting info on the aluminum rail that allows for the extra .3" and whether the existing Developer Edition baseplate would work with it. It looks like the x/y zero location may have changed, but that could be worked around, I believe.

Yes, I realized that the aluminum rail was drilled and threaded for mounting.

The files I posted Gil are the 3D models of all Handibot versions.

You could compare by opening those STP files, or just waiting for someone to answer here. I haven't imported those into Sketchup yet, so I can't do a comparison.

I believe I got the impression from David that the new Y rail comes the jig kit for every older machine, no matter what. I'll let them confirm all that though. It would make sense to get all machines operating the same going forward... Especially if you're going to be developing on it, you'll want what everyone else is getting.

Eric, I looked at those files again and I don't think, except for the jigs, that the files for the base plate are up to date with the one that is included in the jig kit. Sorry if I am wrong. The files of the models on github haven't been updated for 3 months or more.

IMO, the baseplate and aluminum rail should be a separate kit. To say that we have to purchase the entire kit to get our Handibot up to date is wrong. I'll go even further and state that I believe that everyone who has purchased the Developers Edition should get the baseplate and aluminum rail as a free upgrade. Our Handibot is just over 3 months old and we already need to purchase an upgrade that should have been planned prior to the Developer Edition release. And please, don't state that we bought the Developers Edition knowing that it was a beta unit and should have known that upgrades would be needed. It wasn't advertised that way.

Wow, Shipping is crazy.
I thought $150 for jig was a little steep, but was willing to pay until I found out shipping cost.
Shipping to Hawaii cames out to $250
I know I'm in the middle of pacific ocean, but $250?
Is there cheaper option to ship?
How big is the biggest piece?

The biggest piece, the rail, is about 5' long.

For those that are seeing big shipping charges, another alternative as Bill suggested earlier is to cut your own. All of the cutting files are on Github:

[github.com]

You could probably make the long rail yourself if you were super accurate... What I would do is rip a nice long piece of plywood on a table saw, and then use your Handibot to cut the female V shapes in that.

All you'd need to do is to cut out some scrap 6" wide blocks and use those as spacers as you move down your rail...

I have another idea that I am going to try out today for you all to see if I can make some rails in an even slicker way....

Hey guys,

We're aware that the shipping calculations on the jigs the Handibot store are wonky, and our web team are working on getting it sorted out. In the meanwhile if you've already ordered a jig set, the folks in shipping are manually re-calculating the shipping and will be in touch about refunding the difference.

We'll post an update when it's fixed...sorry for the inconvenience,
Bill

Okay guys,

I got the jig and got it installed. It went like clockwork. Much easier than I had anticipated.

As soon as I got it installed I HAD to try a cut with it so I grabbed the file for the lumber jig front, loaded it and went to cutting.

I learned three things with that 4 panel cut.

1) The jig is much faster and more accurate than I ever got with my own pass-through jig.
2) I've been using too slow of a feed, this file made the nicest chips....
3) The lumber jig file has not been updated for V3 base plate.I fixed it and cut again.....

Anyone wanting to preview the instructions for installation and alignment can see them from the main handibot site.
Click support, then the the top most hyperlink.
If you click "view unverified version you will see some additions I made.

I fully expect some good project reports to start coming in from all of you that where "just waiting on the jig".

Thanks for the report Mark...glad they are a help.

Redoing the lumber jig to the latest baseplate is my next project. It's mostly done but just wanted to get the large material jigs done and out the door before moving on. Hope to have it done and on GitHub this week.

Bill

Hey all, I am lucky enough to have one of those large indexing rails already. I have a nice setup for one on my bench that I have very carefully locked into place. There are times I'd like to have a more portable rail, or have multiple setups.

So, I set about a way to make a large indexing rail WITHOUT first having the large indexing rail...

Check out how I did it:

[www.youtube.com]

So what is really happening here is this:

First you create a top and bottom fence. If you have a ShopBot one, it's easy to bolt on. If you don't just cut some scraps. You need one to hold the piece at 0, and the other on the top. You can see in the video I used a simple scrap for one side of my fence.

Next, you run the ShopBot file that is included in the link below.

That file will cut the "V" shape and a straight line across the top of the board. I did it this way so that you can guarantee that the top of the board is straight, assuming your fence is on straight and your tool is squared.

After the "V" is done being cut the tool jogs over to X 6" and Y 1" and pecks a little dimple in the wood. Then the spindle stops and the ShopBot software asks you to release your clamps.

After hitting OK the tool, now off, drops into that dimple and slides the board over 6"

You then reclamp.

The V cut starts all over again. This will continue to happen until you push stop.

Now you can create an indexing rail as long, or as short as you want anytime.

For those of you that had high shipping, or wanted something different, this is for you. Open hardware is awesome huh?!

Here's the GitHub link to the files you'll need. Note that this is custom code that was based off of code created in VCarve. It's really simple code, take a look:

[github.com]

Also, I'll start another thread for the indexing arrow

Just published this instructable on use of the jig, let me know what you think.

thanx

[www.instructables.com]

Very nice!!

It appears that the jig is out of stock. Any idea when more will be available?

Chad,
At this moment looks like there are some still in Stock, just says getting low.

Mark, that is what it says until you try to add it to your cart. It then returns an out of stock error. I was going to order one right away when it was released, but was headed out of town so I decided to wait. Hopefully it won't be long until more are ready.

Chad

Yes, I hope they do a run early this week as getting these into peoples hands is one key to getting people using the handi and growing the community! It is a great little jig, make sure you see my instructable after you get yours.

I hope they will run a couple of sheets of just the first stick at some point as well. You can may your own and I have but I always suspect the accuracy somewhat of a jig built jig. Their full size machines will cut them down to +- a few thousandths
.

ChadBuilds Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mark, that is what it says until you try to add it
> to your cart. It then returns an out of stock
> error. I was going to order one right away when
> it was released, but was headed out of town so I
> decided to wait. Hopefully it won't be long until
> more are ready.
>
> Chad

Finished up 12 sets of plywood parts over the weekend, so they should be back in stock very soon.

Hi Folks, we've been selling these jigs fast, which is great! As Bill mentioned, we have another small run in stock and material to make more in house as well, so order away!

David