I hope you all have a great holiday and make lot's of cool stuff. Russby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
Brian, that is a great write up. Well done. Lot's of very useful information and very clear explanations. Russby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
"Shopbot seems to put too much emphasis on going to Maker Faires instead of putting work into a product to sell." Having had the distinct privilege to work some booth duty with the gang at a few Maker Faires I can tell you what WE as customers get from THEM doing the Faires. Being on the net or talking on the phone to customers is OK but, eye to eye, face to face is way better. Hby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
Richard - might I suggest going to and doing a search on 'milling aluminum'. Several folks over there do some good stuff on aluminum. Russby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
"The bit didn't seem stressed at all (if one can tell)." I can tell by the sound. You don't want to make sawdust, you want to make chips. A screaming bit will burn up and scorch your piece, it needs to be fed faster into the material. In regards to finding smaller bits with quarter shanks they are carried by all of the major bit suppliers. For learning purposes I used theby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
Looks like the kids are really into the project, very well done! In addition to the bit info how did you hold the material and or HandiBot? Russby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
" clamp material under the machine and then set X/Y to an origin point on the material by jogging it there and then Z2" That is how I do it on a full size Bot. So I think the answer is yes. Russby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
Marc only the Alpha ShopBots have feedback from the servo motors, so the speed issue may be the problem. If the servos are driven to hard they MAY skip a pulse and then be out of sync with the file. I always make several thin cuts when starting out with a new material. If it cuts good then I can always make a new toolpath with slightly deeper cuts. When I was playing with the HandiBot in theby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
David, the post pix was probably working all the time and it was cockpit error on my part. But the Smilies don't appear to be working at least for me. Thanks. Russby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
OK here is a first guess try. Looking at your engraving it appears the wood has high center bow in it (left to right). The engraving on the left is very light while the engraving on the right is pretty consistant. So when you did the cutouts the Handi might not have stayed in position since the base did not have a solid / flat level to stick to, Just a guess. You might try a simple c-clamp tby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
"How is the paper supposed to move?" Sorry for the confusion. I like the idea of getting the bit close by just shoving down on the router. After that then use the 'computer' for the final adjustments that allow the paper to move. Russby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
It appears some of the forum 'features' are not turned on. I.E. the ability to post pix. Very important. Second is the ability to do smileys! Not near as important but still fun! Russby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
I don't use cardstock, I use a sheet of note paper. I also use the 'K' keypad and the 'D' set increment to get it so the bit just barely drags. But I have to admit I really like being able to start off close by just a little push down! Russby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum
It really isn't as bad as all that. It only takes a few test cuts in different materials and differnt bits to get a feel for your particular machine. The values shown are USUALLY a good place to start. I personally don;t run as fast oras hard as the values shown but then again I have an older machine with older drives etc,. Vectric or any software compnay can only give you guidelines becby ChiloquinRuss - Handibot Forum