The ShopBot is a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) router. It can perform precision, large-format, cutting, drilling, routing, and shaping in many materials and is controlled by a computer. With the ShopBot you can mass produce a single item, or explore variations of plans, patterns, shapes and forms, and their reproduction in ways that would be difficult to attempt manually. It is one of the more popular machines in our shop, and can be found in the woodshop by our table saw. Materials are screwed down to its spoilboard before cutting, and our dust collection system is linked up to the tool for easier member cleanup.
Members use MADE’s CNC router to make furniture, custom signs, molds, odds-and-ends, and more. It’s great for plywood, and can also be used to plane down the surface of live-edge wood and other materials that won’t fit in our planer. It can also work with foam, hard woods, and other soft materials.
In our computer hub, we have V-Carve installed, which is a tool pathing software used for the Shopbot. In your first training session we will go over how to use V-Carve to create files for your project and export them correctly for our Shopbot. MADE has endmills for sale at our front desk, and members can use fluted endmills to cut perpendicular to their materials or v-bits to engrave more detailed designs. Some artists use our CNC router to cut into tabletops for resin inlay projects.
To learn more about V-Carve, check out their website here. To book training on the Shopbot, see our options here.