Exploring

The last 2 weeks have been something I'll always remember, but the last 3 days have been especially awesome.
It began with turning on the power to the spindle on the ShopBot.  It quietly came to life and sat waiting for my first set of instructions.  I could barely tell the spindle was even running! My experience with the CarveWright turned out to be a tremendous help.  In some ways, it's like learning a new language, but already having some basic vocabulary.  I can build rockets and robots with my CarveWright, but I have to learn new techniques in order to make the ShopBot fly. 

I have spent some time looking at various pieces of software and decided that rather than listen to sales pitches for them all, I'd just start from scratch and try several of them to see how they look from the vantage point of someone just starting out. How hard would it be to create a file? How difficult to set up a set of instructions for the machine to cut (called a toolpath)?  While I enjoy reading manuals as much as the next guy, I believe an intelligently designed application should allow you to find what you need without a trip to the manual every few seconds.  Additionally, features these days are added at a fast rate. An application that looked great 2 years ago might or might not look as well rounded today.

I decided to begin with a tutorial for one of the demo applications and followed quickly along.  It wasn't too difficult to take a pre-made file (in this case a set of vectored lines and curves) and generate a toolpath based on a 90 degree V-shaped bit.  I decided I'd start small and work my way up in size. I have a 4'x8' table but it just isn't time to explore that whole space just yet. Baby steps will ensure success.  I set up a small piece of Azek pvc material and put in my V-bit.  The spindle was warmed up and ready to go.  Once I'd done a few things (for instance you have to do a process to let the machine know how thick the material is  and where the tip of the bit is as well) I loaded my file and hit enter.

For the first 15 seconds my hand hovered over the emergency stop button as I watched it go to work.  I was waiting for some indication that I might have missed something or selected some setup function improperly. I had nothing to worry about.  In under 4 minutes this little piece was done.  My daughter was with me (her school is on break) and we watched it quickly carve the little file.  Once done, I lifted it off the table, blew off a few stray shavings and handed it to Elena:

My daughter was as excited as I was at this first, small success.  We decided a celebration was in order.  We made some sandwiches, popped a bag of popcorn, grabbed some drinks and jumped on our bicycles.  Elena just learned to ride without training wheels a couple of weeks ago, and it was time to get her some more experience.  We are fortunate enough to have the Rock Island Trail pass through our town and just a couple miles down the path in one direction is a bridge that crosses a small creek.  We rode there, parked the bikes and had our lunch on a small patch of sand below the bridge.  We talked about what candy the easter bunny might bring and Elena found a tree with roots sticking out of the bank that looked like a perfect home for some garden fairies.  Eventually we just sat in silence enjoying the sun, our popcorn and each other. 

Once we returned, I decided to take the first tutorial and do something "off tutorial" with my own file.  I have a vectored image I'd made of our local school sports mascot, the stark county rebel.  I quickly created the toolpath without having to check the manual or tutorial, and generated the file.  I loaded up some black pvc a friend had left with me, and ran through the process to begin carving. In under 11 minutes, this 32" tall version of the rebel was carved.  I'd done it correctly! 

Now I can move on to the next tutorial about carving 3D shapes...bit by bit (ha ha) getting closer to understanding the techniques I'll need to stand eye to eye with my friend Dan in what I'm calling "Router Wars II".  As the spindle cycled down, I couldn't imagine a better day...and this is just the beginning.