Thread: Shaper Origin - Handheld CNC router

This video answers my question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo0CiJjTGJE

The operator manually moves the router following the computer screen image. As you move slightly off course, the servo motors will adjust for it automatically within a small distance. If you go too far off course, it will lift the router bit out of the material. Kinda like colouring within the lines with a tolerance of +/- 20mm.

I think I am in love. 100,000,000 x 100,000,000mm CNC router for USD $1500. Only available to the yanks tho

And only takes 1/4" bits

Also saw it in my feed from a few different channels, here's one of the better reviews from the tested.com crew:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_wk3q8jWcs

At first glance I thought this was a bit of a gimmick, but it's actually quite ingenious and very usable. Sure it has limitations, but mostly that's due to the size of the spindle. It's not trying to replace anything, just another tool with it's own pros and cons.

The fact that you don't need to house a massive gantry machine in your workspace in order to cut from fullsize sheetgoods (practically unlimited in size actually) is a godsend for those with limited space. But then you have the problem of reaching your arms into the middle of a sheet, either standing up on it or ...???? not sure. String yourself from the roof, Mission Impossible style? Lack of unattended cutting and operator fatigue would limit how much you could cut and how fast. Overall I'm super impressed.

I think its amazing.

No more need for templates and jigs ?

Would this be a good thing for people out there doing a lot of routing in their own woodworking business ?

Bill

Originally Posted by steamingbill

No more need for templates and jigs ?

Would this be a good thing for people out there doing a lot of routing in their own woodworking business ?

Templates and jigs? It replaces the need for templates at least with a need for drafting software, computer, and the skills to use both. It can cut some regular shapes using its own built in software, requiring only user input of the shape, size and location on material, but the video examples I have seen of this have been single shapes, rather than nested items where there are multiple cuts precisely located relative to each other. Once you need more than a single cut for a job, it's back to CAD to develop the drawings, convert to DXF, and input to the unit for it to develop the paths.

A good thing for people in their own woodworking business? Maybe, maybe not. It would be totally dependent on what they wanted to produce and the quantities that they need to process. The comments about needing CAD software and skills above apply, although there is a possibility that the drafting work could be economically outsourced if you wanted to make a fairly large number of identical products using the same file set to program the machine. But if you wanted to concentrate on custom work, outsourcing the drafting then doing test cuts and tweeking paths would get very expensive fairly quickly, so you need the software and skills in house for it to be economical.

Beyond that, there is the work involved in operating the machine, compared to any normal CNC machine, it is as labour intensive as a conventional router, whereas a normal CNC needs attention to load the material, tool(s), and cutpath file, and can then be set in motion and checked occasionally, allowing the operator to be working on something else in the meantime. It is also currently using a trimmer motor for the spindle and limited to 1/4in shank bits, so definitely would not compete with an industrial style CNC, either in terms of cutting capacity or throughput.

Don't get me wrong, I like the concept and the way it works, but I doubt that it will make a $20K or dearer CNC redundant.

If I had lots of the same thing to make, I would use the shaper origin to make the template and then I would go the bandsaw/router table - spindle moulder route as it would be quicker than the shaper origin. But if I just had one or two things to make, shaper origin all the way and I am done.

I can accurately draw things in CAD heaps faster than I can mark things out accurately using rulers/straight edges/curves/compass etc etc.

Overall if I was making an accurate MDF template for a complex shape involving a series of curves, it will usually cost me about an hour of messing around by hand. Shaper origin would probably have the template cut to my satisfaction within 15 minutes. 45minutes saved a day, 2-3 times a week. Not bad for 1500bux.