The ravings of a handibot fan boy or this is the extended Y-axis in the wild

For anyone that wants to see an extended Y-axes in the wild go over to the G+ owner's forum. I posted there as it is much easier to handle photos there.

[plus.google.com]

Thanks for posting Mark.

I've gotten a lot of good feedback from Mark's experiences with the new accessory and there shouldn't be much that I have to iron out.

I would love to get my hands on this upgrade when its available..

Thank for all your hard work you guys !

Rob

Rob,

Thanks for your patience! Looking forward to getting a bunch of these out into the world!

Hi Brian,

Any further news about the extended length base? Have an upcoming project that it would be ideal for.

Thanks!!!

Eric

Still working on it! Last details always take a little longer than expected. One issue that I really wanted to solve before release was Z-Zeroing. Zeroing to a specific location on the tool works OK for the regular size handibot because you'll never be cutting too far from the z-zero location. However on the bigger version, you'll probably want to be able to zero your bit exactly at the spot where you'll be cutting, and directly on the material itself.

While I was waiting for an order of parts to come in this week (to build the first production batch of 24" handibots)--I worked on adapting ShopBot's Pressure Sensitive Z Zero plate for use with handibot, including writing a little app that will make it quick to use in FabMo. [store.shopbottools.com]
It's a pretty cool little accessory and I think it will be great for people that are cutting on uneven surfaces, or want extra precision for letter engraving.

That should be up on the store in the next few days.

Until I get the first few 24" handibots built, I don't wanna name a date--but it is my top priority right now!

Hi Brian,

If i'm interested in buying a Handibot with the Y-axis extender would it be better to wait until this package shows up in the store, or buy Handibot now and get the extender later when it becomes available?

Thanks,

Johnny

Johnny,

If you only want to use the handibot in its elongated form--I'd wait. Buying the tool as a whole will be a couple hundred $ cheaper than buying the upgrade later. However, if you want to use the handibot as a compact 6x8 tool with option to switch to the longer body--all handibots sold since March '16 will be upgradable. Older handibots shouldn't be too hard--but they won't be able to get the full 24" without some more serious modification.

Lest anyone think I'm just goofing off making new dust feet all weekend--my main goals today were to take photos for the webstore and to work out how people were going to modify their hood to fit on the new longer base if they go the upgrade route. It turns out that it is pretty easy to use the handibot itself to modify the hood!

The dust foot exercise may end up being useful as well because the current dust foot will have trouble reaching down to the depth that the handibot will be cutting on the 24" base. If you're curious, check Eric's thread where we've been discussing it and I've posted some ideas that I'm trying.

Here's a few photos that I got today of the final version: [imgur.com]

Hi Brian,

In the process of ordering that beautiful tool ( sorting out import hurdles for Egypt) and I am looking at the 24" ext, one question: how long will switching between the 8 and 24 body take between two jobs. How Fabmo will deal with the 24 extension ?

Thanks for the great work

Very nice Brian. Will the upgrade kits be available from day 1? Also (and you may have answered this before), how hard would it be to switch back and forth? My space is kind of limited, so I would love to keep the elongated version in storage until I need it.

What will be the shipping weight of the extended version

The upgrade will be available at the same time as the full tool. The upgrade will be the extended base--plus some parts that are needed to make the change. Some customers will need to switch out their old "Accu-tech" bearings to the new THK bearings. The bad news is that this will add an extra step to the change over process--but the good news is that these bearings are easier to slide on and off of the rails without doing damage to the bearing (a common problem with the Accutech bearings).

I think that the changeover should take about 1-1.5 hours. I've done it in 20 minutes or so...but I'm doing it all the time.

For people that want to change back and forth regularly--I may need to get them a set of THK rails for the 8" base of their handibot--I think that rather than making this a store item--I'll handle it on a case by case basis--knowing which customers will need the extra parts by looking at their date of purchase. I'll then be able to sell them a set of rails at our cost if they would like to update their original handibot base (roughly $30).