We've tried to keep as many of the parts common as possible. Much of the electronics used in the current and kickstarter handibots can be recycled into the handibot 2.0. There will be a new driver board that expands the capability to 5 driver channels (up from the 4 on the current handibot). There will also be the fabmo control card which allows wireless connection to the tool. The motors, bby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Eric, What Mark said is correct--we've been devoting the majority of our efforts to the handibot 2 for last few months (and the last year really). Ted has been working on a new idea for the crawler that will be easier to use--but recently he's switched to doing some heavy lifting on FabMo (the motion control and interface that will ship with new handibots). The design for thby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
You're definitely free to take anything you need from our documentation. Good luck!by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
In case anyone else is wondering about this--Ted has written about it over in the app developers part of the forum:by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
A long time ago, we created a section in the documents page on the Handibot website called "Part Making: CAD to Cut", located here: . The intent was to guide new users through a simple project to teach the fundamentals of CAD and CAM so that they could get off to a good start with their tools. We haven't added anything to it in a while though. Mark Evans, who is very active onby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Forrest, One of the guys in the office used the handibot along with the accessory base to machine some mortises in 4x4 fence posts a while back: The 6x6 posts would be a bit too big to fit through the accessory base but you could create a simple jig with a couple extra chunks of 6x6 and a few clamps. We're still thinking of the "creeper" as being in development. Basedby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Shoghi, One other possibility is that your z-axis limit switch is being triggered when you are attempting the x-y zeroing routine. Try moving the z-axis down and make sure that the green indicator input #3 is not illuminated on the position window in your shopbot control software. This should correct the issue and allow you to run the x-y zero routine. I will also echo Mark's suggestioby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Robin, I'm assuming that you're moving the router down to manually zero your z using the keyboard? The VS or MS commands bring up the move speed fill-in sheet. You can type in a more appropriate speed there (maybe 1 in/sec). These speeds are displayed on the left side of the command console. Check to see what the z move speed is displayed as when you pull up your keyboard controls.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Robin, To pocket using these commands, look towards the bottom of the fill-in sheet for the circle cutting command. There will be a pulldown menu for "features" from which you can select "pocketing" Brianby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Well, if you're using the CP command with a center point of x=0, y=0 and a diameter of 2" you'll need to be able to move 1" in any direction from your zero point without running out of travel on the machine. To do that I'd manually move the tool to a place that is roughly in the center of your cut area and then zero the x and y axes. This ensures that you have at least 2by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Glad you got it working! I often forget that the shopbot software starts out in "easy" mode because it's been so long since I switched. Sometimes when I install the software on a new computer I spend 5 minutes trying to figure out where all my buttons went until I realize I'm in easy mode!by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Robin, To use the cut commands with the router on, try pressing "alt+1" to turn on output 1 which is the router power. You can also click the blue "1" button on the position window under the heading "outputs". When you initiate a cut command with output 1 switched on, the router will run when the cut is started. Also, for what you're trying to do,by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
So glad that you got everything working the way that you wanted!by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Robin, Rather than editing the file you'll need to be running the file as if you were going to start cutting it from the beginning. However, under the menu from which you select "Part file load" you will be able to instead select "Goto Line". It will appear as though the tool is going to start up running again but it will instead allow you to skip ahead to your chosby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
That tapered bit is especially loud due to its length. If you are happy with the finish that it is leaving then I wouldn't worry about it. However, if you see signs that bit vibration is marring your finish, you should reduce the stepover for your roughing pass. This can be changed in the toolpath window by clicking "edit" next to your bit selection. Choosing a smaller percentage fby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
From the "file" menu; select "Goto Line/Single Step". This will open the normal part file load sequence where you will choose the file you want to run and go past the fill-in sheet. It will then bring up a dialog box that asks for the line number that you want to start from. Type this in, and then select "Set up a restart of this file". Click the Go button and the toby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Mark, Didn't mean to discombobulate! There is an easier way to do what you're wanting! press alt+1 with your shopbot control window open. You should see a blue button labeled "1" light up on the red position window. This is your output one which controls power to the spindle. Then press "K" to open the keyboard controls. You'll get a warning that the spindleby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
By any chance did you check to see that your Z axis was still zeroed correctly after the cut? If your bit is still sitting directly on the surface of the wood at x=0 y=0 then that would rule out some binding in the z axis during the cut causing you to lose position. If you wouldn't mind, could you attach your v-carve file to your next message. I'd like to take a look at it and see if thby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Just to clarify-- you're turning on "Output 1" before opening your keyboard; you hit OK to start the spindle, it starts but only runs for about a second? I'm curious if you turned on output 1 and entered a command like CR (cut rectangle)--how would that work? The other thing you may want to try is resetting your software to handibot defaults using the UR command. Sometimesby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
I just posted a brief development team report for July over on the blog. Rather than focusing on the ongoing Handibot 2.0 development I wanted to highlight some of the contributions that our summer interns have made this year. Handibot has also moved into its own building just down the road from ShopBot!by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Try setting a "flat depth" in the toolpath setup for your v-carving. I'd choose something like 1/4". I'm curious why this always seems to crop up on the cut of the "L" which is the deepest cut of the toolpath. A flat depth would rule out any z over-travel by the tool.by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
As Mark mentioned in the other thread this could be caused by binding. We've created a troubleshooting guide for that here: Other things to think about though; is there any debris under the handibot which could be causing it to not sit flat on your work surface? How close is the tool getting to the bottom of its Z-travel during these cuts--it could be that the tool is "bottoming out&by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Mark, Do you hear the relay clicking on and off when you're doing this?by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
The backing plate upgrade kit includes the screws, wrenches and drill bit necessary for any Handibot user to perform the upgrade. It will take about 30 minutes to perform and you can find the instructions here: The kit was created to allow for easier re-alignment of your tool based on the procedure documented here: We found that alignment could sometimes be difficult when the screws became sby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
It looks like the border layer was shifted up by about a half inch. When something like this happens to me, the first thing I check is that none of the cut it out of the reachable bounds of the handibot. If the tool was headed to the bottom left corner to start the border cut but ran into a hard stop, it would have completed the cut with the border shifted up by the same distance that the tool trby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
The challenge of machining aluminum with the handibot is twofold; ideally you would want a very rigid tool with a spindle capable of turning at around 900 rpm (vs. 9000rpm on a handibot router). This can be overcome by programming your tool to make shallow passes (0.01") at a high feedrate. However, copper would be even more difficult. The high speed of the handibot spindle would most likelyby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Also, to whoever ends up purchasing this handibot, be sure to get in touch with us so that we can update the owner file for this tool--it will make it easier to provide tech support (free) should you ever need it!by Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Jeff, please send me a PM with your info and I'll get you squared away. We've been doing trials with customer upgrades to the magnetic switches. It involves replacement of many of the metal components as well as holes drilled in the plastic exoframe--it can get a bit tricky. By no means are we giving up on an upgrade package--we just want to make sure that the process is well documentedby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Mark, my current HB2 prototype has a built in z-zero plate (you can see it on the rear view of the handibot in the blog post). It is grounded through the metal baseplate all the way to the control card--so no wires required. The idea is that the user will do a one time setup to determine the offset between that plate and the material under the handibot. They could then just flip this plate out whby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum
Both actually! In redesigning for handibot 2.0 I've made the x and z axes part of a subassembly that is built onto an aluminum plate. This plate can be adjusted in the tool to align it with the base. I also spoke with the guys developing our new control software (FabMo) yesterday and they are building in a feature that will allow users to touch off on multiple points in the x-y plane and corby Brian Owen, ShopBot - Handibot Forum