I've been exporting indexer toolpaths and trying to figure out what might be causing this issue...but I can't see what it might be...Could you post what line 13 looks like in your code? You should be able to open it up in notepad or a similar program.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
The way that I do long signs on handibot is to break the job up into multiple tiles--but make sure that the breaks always come between letters. This makes the tile generation process more manual...but not that tedious. I'm working on some signs this weekend and will hopefully have a more in depth tutorial up soon.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Thanks Steve! I've been working on a project to cut some trail signs for a parks group in Durham--it involves tiling the job along an 8' board. Hopefully can put that video together soon! I've got a few handfuls of accessory orders to catch up on after being on the road for a couple of weeks. So hopefully I can knock those out today and get back to video stuff!by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Dave, I know that I've definitely spent a lot of time perusing Shaper's marketing and admiring their style. I do get the impression that Shaper and Handibot are unique businesses with different goals. Those goals drive the decisions that we make and our admittedly, occasionally wacky goals can result in some things that really excite some people while leaving others scratching theby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
RS--definitely silly--who designed this piece of junk?! In all seriousness though--I actually did think about it before making that choice. One bit of feedback that we got from owners of the original handibot was that the frame extended too far forward...meaning that there was a limit to how close you could get the cutter to an obstacle (like a wall). So I removed the front wall of the frame anby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Dave, Agreed! and I appreciate the feedback. I've been doing project videos lately, trying to show some unique set-ups on the tool as well as some techniques in v-carve: I've been out of town for a couple of weeks and am hoping to put together a video about interesting stuff I saw at Maker Faire followed by the conclusion to the 3D map carving project. After that--what does evby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Hey Eric--I know we just resolved this one over email but I wanted to share here in case anyone else has a simliar problem. It turned out that the blue pointer that plugs into the handibot base was protruding a bit, blocking the full motion of the Y axis. Motion issues like that can be pretty tough to diagnose--but the first thing I always check on my own tool are things like "is the tooby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Hey Mark, I think we've already spoken about this over phone or email but just for everyone else's information...new fabmo updates do make the 4th axis work more like how we had intended it to (and how it has worked in ShopBot software in the past). To enable, go to the configuration menu and select the axis tab--there you'll find the drop downs to enable the B axis and defineby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Thanks vegas! I'd been bouncing that one back and forth with some guys from Autodesk and had heard that it helped, but hadn't actually tried it myself yet.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Mike; I think we've all been there before! Also just to be sure--did you check that the handibot wasn't running out of Z travel? If it is, you can always adjust the position of the router in its bracket or let the bit hang a bit farther out from the colletby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Steve, I've not had as much of a chance to play around with Fusion as I would have liked--but I took a stab a few weeks ago at making a post processor that plays well with fabmo. You can download it here: Brianby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Yes, you can leave the rotary axis active all the time. It uses a separate driver channel from the other 3 axes. So the tool still functions as a regular 3 axis tool even when you are using the 4th rotary axis. This would definitely be the way to go if you had a complicated 3D part that needed to be machined from 3 or 4 sides--clamp it in the rotary and turn 90 degrees between each 3D cut.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
The accessory base was designed to be as tall as possible while still being able to reach the center of rotation of the indexer when it is mounted on the tray. That's with a standard length bit (like the V bit). When I'm doing work on boards that are too low in the accessory base--I usually slide a 2x4 onto the tray and clamp it in place. Then I can attach my material to the 2x4. Theby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
It looks to me like the control card might be set up for a tool other than handibot. Let's try re-setting that first. You can do that by clicking on the "Utilities" menu and selecting "Reset Default Settings..." Then select handibot under PRS tools. That will refresh your settings. The "Stop Button" warning occurs when using large size ShopBot tools...whichby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Russ, I'm sorry to hear that those steps didn't work. I'm still working with the Fabmo guys on a fix for you. The fastest way that I can see to fix this is to have a new card flashed for you and overnighted to you. I know that you also need to use an indexer so we will make sure that the unit values are set up correctly for that. One last thing to check...are you able to acceby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Russ, I replied to your email as well but I'll post a reply here as well for others' information. There is a Tool Finder program that we've written for locating your tool on the network (it's possible that it is on a local wifi network). You can download it here: You can also try the alternative method for sending the tool to AP mode--pressing and holdingby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
I'm trying out something new on the ShopBot youtube channel where I do a project each week and step people through the process with some (hopefully) helpful narration. The first episode is about my monthly job of making limit switch circuit boards for the ShopBot Desktop tools:by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Ilan (co-founder) actually stopped by handibot the other day to check out what we were up to. Very nice guy and really sharp. We've been following them for a long time and what they've done is really cool! I think that the tape is not too bad a deal actually. 2 150' rolls cost about $30 and would be enough to cut out three full 4'x8' sheets of plywood. For me, theby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
I was thinking that there would be more to it--but given the way that the parts are machined, there isn't a whole lot to modify. Really I'm just going to switch to hex head screws and include a small open wrench in the kit for tightening those screws. We actually still haven't built an accessory base for me to try it out on. But I've got the new parts sitting on my desk alreadby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Zeeri, The motors that drive the handibot aren't geared--so the grinding that you hear is just the rotor jumping around as the magnetic field of the stator rotates. This doesn't have a negative effect on the mechanical or electrical life of the tool. Though I will agree that it's not always fun to listen to repeatedly. The macro that controls this routine is marcro #3-by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Zeeri, I was actually thinking about this yesterday. I've got a couple of users that I've helped get back to the old version of the software. I'm hoping that we will be able to work out a simpler update process. We have a single step update now...but it still requires being on the network. I'll check in again today and see where we stand on that idea. Brianby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Russ, If you have an earlier version of the software on your card, there is an alternative way to send your tool back to Access Point mode. There's a tiny black button on your edision card: If you press and hold this button for 4 seconds you'll reset the card. One of our tech support guys made a helpful flow chart for troubleshooting connection issues: And I've got a quicby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Russ, To send your tool back to AP mode (its own wifi rather than your network) you can press the green "start" button for 10 seconds continuously while the tool is powered on. After you release the green button--give the tool about 30 seconds to appear on your list of available wifi connections. Once you're back in AP mode and connected to the tool you'll be ableby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Well that was a lot easier than I thought it would be--I had kept this one a bit better organized so it didn't take long to find all the pertinent files: Let me know if there is any more info that you need!by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Yes! and Mark, I did see your email--I made the mistake of reading it while I was on vacation in Asheville last weekend--so of course I forgot about it completely by the time I got back to work. I started to work on getting these models up last night but ended up messing with a video of some handibotting that I was doing during the day: I'm about to get distracted by a meeting in a few mby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
That is correct--3" square stock.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Steve, I did get a couple of bounce-back emails from some customers on our mailing list; yours may have been one of them. Please send me a private message with your preferred email and I'll make sure it gets corrected in our records.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
The 3" thing is a point of debate even within the shopbot office. The old woodworkers point out that a 3" swing means that you should be able to turn a square bar with 3" sides. To me it seems to make more sense to call out the distance between the center of rotation and the bed (plus some allowance). However, to avoid disappointing anyone, I chose to go with the most conservativeby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
The laser that I'm working with is a 3.8W laser--So far I've been able to cut through cardboard, paper, 3/16 Lauan, an english muffin and some pepperoni.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum