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For ongoing discussion related to Handibot App and software development (also see ShopBot Tools Github site).
Re: Vertical Mill - 3 years ago
The software doesn't allow for the manual controls to be used while the router is powered on -- What I've done in the past when I've needed this function is to plug the router directly into a wall outlet and just turn it on while doing the manual operation. The connector on the router in your tool isn't something that you could just pick up at the hardware store though -- whicby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: Handibot 3 - is a Lowcost DIY International machine possible? - 3 years ago
Hi everyone! I wanted to provide a long overdue update to this thread. Pretty much the week that I really started to get excited about all the input from everyone and dig in on some new design ideas -- a couple of changes happened throughout ShopBot (as was the case for most of the world around that time!). A couple of people moved on to new jobs at other companies. People that we'd beenby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: Handibot 3 - is a Lowcost DIY International machine possible? - 3 years ago
Andrew, Thanks for starting this new thread!! I'm hoping to have something interesting to share soon. Saturdays are the day I usually get to tinker a little bit with new designs and I had planned to put something up last saturday -- I'd spent the week modeling and toolpathing and came in Saturday to cut out the parts and assemble -- turns out the rails I had picked out are about 0.2by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: Brian out of office til 5/19 - 3 years ago
Very interesting thoughts everyone -- thank you so much for sharing! It’s actually really gratifying to know that there are people out there who got their CNC start on Handibot and keep coming back to communicate with us. Some thoughts on stuff mentioned above, in no particular order: V Rails -- I like V wheels and rails -- especially the extruded aluminum kind. The extruded rails fulfillby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: Fabmo - 3 years ago
The latest is 1.7.2 -- however, if you're currently at any version below 1.6.0 you'll need to first update to 1.6.0 then to 1.7.2. Instructions for updating to 1.6.0 are here on the support page: The link to download the 1.7.2 update is on the main page handibot.support under the bulletins heading.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: Brian out of office til 5/19 - 3 years ago
I think that cost is a big issue. Within ShopBot, Handibot has occasionally been described as a “loss leader” -- and for the first couple years of its existence, it definitely was a “loss” -- but leading to what exactly? Leading customers to get their start on the shopbot system and graduate to a bigger tool one day? I started working on Handibot in early 2015, after the kickstarter launch andby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: Brian out of office til 5/19 - 3 years ago
Hey Andrew G -- Thank you for your post! Everything you bring up is on my mind constantly! So I'm excited to have a chance to share my thoughts. Give me a little while to write it all out! Brianby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: Dumpster Fire ornaments - help needed - 3 years ago
The texturing toolpaths in Vcarve might give the surface a more "firey" lookby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: Help - Z-axis not moving - 3 years ago
One thing that I've seen cause this before -- is the move speed for the Z axis being set to zero. Try running a normal file with a move speed command at the beginning (This command shows up like "MS,3,1" in the header of the file) or open the editor in fabmo (pencil icon) and type in the following: MS,3,1 ZZ MZ,1 This will set the move speed of the z axis to 1 ips, set theby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: raspberry pi re-flash - 4 years ago
The most recent raspberry pi image can be downloaded here: You can flash the image to the SD card using a free tool like Balena Etcher. There will soon be a new branch of software versions -- we had been releasing software to run on the Intel Edison -- which is what the latest version on github is. With the edison being discontinued, we've switched to the pi. It's a nice step up iby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: router died - 4 years ago
That’s the number one way I fix things—take them apart and put them back together—and suddenly they work!by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: router died - 4 years ago
Lights coming on but no rotation isn’t something I’ve seen in one of these dewalt routers before. I’d be interested in getting this router back in the shop and tearing into it myself to learn about the failure mode. If you don’t mind, pm me your address and I’ll send out a new one with a return shipping label.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: tiling - 4 years ago
1/4 overlap on a 6" tile will require an extra 1/4 of cutting space to the "right" of the tile -- this is in the positive direction for your X axis. The handibot is set up to home the tool so that when it is a 6" it is only about 0.075" from the hard stop. So you don't currently have that extra 1/4" that you need. It may be possible to get it by changing how youby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: preventative maint? - 4 years ago
You only need your laptop to start or stop the file. Once it is running you can close up the laptop and take it wherever. The code for the file is stored on the tool. Also the Minder is just a helper to find the IP address of your tool. Note where it sends you when you click on the tool in the minder. Try visiting that same IP from another device that is connected to the tool in the same way.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: first time 3d carving - 4 years ago
I believe that you can look at your job history and permanently delete files from there. I think that the job management is an issue with FabMo that we need to tackle. It should require you to "overwrite" an existing job when you import one of the same name -- too confusing otherwise.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: importing slt files - 4 years ago
I had a customer stop by with this issue a couple weeks ago -- and what we discovered was that his model was SO huge that it when we looked at the drawing in vcarve it looked like nothing was there. In fact we were looking at a tiny flat area of the model. We went through the import dialog again and made sure that the scale was set to a reasonable size (like the model was 4" wide, not 200&quby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: preventative maint? - 4 years ago
The only thing that I might recommend is to pick up a spare set of brushes for your dewalt router. Running the router for hours at a time will eventually wear down the brushes. Other than that -- the bearings, motors and electronics should be fine. The motor drivers actually seem to run cooler when the machine is moving (trying to hold the motors at a certain location when the machine is idle actby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: first time 3d carving - 4 years ago
Here's the file where I tried it out:by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: first time 3d carving - 4 years ago
Does the preview in VCarve show the material being removed? It looks like you've got it set to cut "to model boundary" which means the cut will not go through the gaps in the weave. To fix this you need to create a vector boundary around your model and select the "machine to selected vectors" option in the toolpath. In the "modelling" tab on the left side of theby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: FabMo WiFi Name and Password reset - 4 years ago
Send me a PM with you address—I’ll send you a fresh control card to exchange that will get you set up with the most recent factory settingsby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: FabMo WiFi Name and Password reset - 4 years ago
Are you able to connect to the wifi -- but just unable to log into the interface? When connected to the tool -- you can access the back-end by adding ":81" after the IP of your tool ... so for example, in AP connection, the IP is always 192.168.42.1 -- and you would go to 192.168.42.1:81 to access the back-end menu. One of the options here is a "factory reset" which will restby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: aluminum - 4 years ago
Copper is very soft and doesn’t want to form good chips when you cut it—it will kind of deform around the bit, making for a really lousy finish. This is where something like WD-40 is helpful..not as a lubricant but as a heat absorber—the evaporating liquid will help keep the copper cool...and you’ll need to make really gentle passes. There are some copper alloys that are better for machining likby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: how close to the x/y axis is ok? - 4 years ago
The homing routine backs off from the hard stops by 0.075" -- there is more room still on the other end of travel -- so you should be fine!by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: 4 Axis Stock - 4 years ago
Hey KCB -- I'm sorry! I thought I'd responded to this earlier -- for square stock, you'll need to measure across the diagonal of the square -- so max diagonal = 4" --> sqrt(4^2/2)= 2.82" on a side for the square stock. Brianby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: what material would you recommend? - 4 years ago
I think you would just need to supply an .svg (vector) file -- those can be exported from VCarve easily.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: what material would you recommend? - 4 years ago
I think I misunderstood what you were going for -- I was thinking like the rubber grip on the handle of a power tool -- those are made by casting rubber around plastic parts. Cutting rubber with an endmill is going to be tricky unless it is pretty hard. The rubber on the bottom of the handibot is an adhesive backed sheet of neoprene that I cut with a donek dragknife -- that process is OK ...by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: what material would you recommend? - 4 years ago
I’d check on they’ve got all sorts of two part plastics and rubbers that could be used for overmoldingby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: Feed slowing due to data bottleneck? - 4 years ago
Ah you’re right! I do all my vCarve speed settings in ips— 1 inch per second is so much easier to visualise than 60 inches per minute. I forget that FabMo uses ipm . I’ll fix videoby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Re: Feed slowing due to data bottleneck? - 4 years ago
Steve, I made a video of a handibot doing a topographic map cut with different jerk values. In each example clip -- the handibot speed is set to the same value (6 inches per second). The only thing that is changed is the Jerk for the X Y and Z axes -- it gives a pretty good idea of how much Jerk can limit movement when there are lots of directional changes in a file. It also shows what hapby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum