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Shaper Tool cnc vs. Maker Made cnc

Posted: Sat Feb 20, 2021 4:21 am
by TRENCH
Hello snowboard/ski builders. Has anyone used the shapertools cnc router yet? I have been looking at that or the Maker Made cnc. Curious to see if anyone has used either of these for core's, bases, topsheet etc. Thank you for any feedback.

Re: Shaper Tool cnc vs. Maker Made cnc

Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 12:35 pm
by skidesmond
I haven’t used either one, but I’ve been looking at the Shaper for sometime now. For me The Shaper is it. Small and practical for my size shop. Looks easy to use and load designs into.

Re: Shaper Tool cnc vs. Maker Made cnc

Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2021 11:27 am
by Head Monkey
I used a Shaper Origin once in 2018 and I posted about it for ski and snowboard building here: That group is public, so the post is visible without a FB account. Go check out the FB post for pics and videos, but I'll go ahead and copy the text here:

tl;dr: the Shaper Origin is a solid option for CNC for molds and templates with minimal space requirements and very good accuracy.

https://shapertools.com/

I spent a little time today with a buddy who just got a Shaper Origin, which is billed as "The world's first handheld CNC machine". This thing is very, very cool and I can't wait to see it get into full production. It's a game changer in terms of space for a CNC machine, and I think it's really applicable to our space.

I worked up a model of one of my nose blocks in Fusion 360, which you can find here: https://a360.co/2pCwsLA I shared it with him and he used the Fusion 360 plugin for Shaper Origin to generate the files for the tool and tossed them on a USB memory stick.

This is basically a laminate trimmer with CNC control in a handheld unit a little bigger than a normal full-sized router. The movement of the cutter on the X/Y axes is about +/- 1". You guide the cutter along the tool path, keeping the path in a circle on the screen, and the machine adjusts to keep the cutter true to the tool path as you do so. It keeps its position via computer vision and "domino" tape on the work surface. This is pretty easy to do, though it takes some practice to not move faster than the machine can keep up with, and the more steady you are the better the results.
We kinda screwed around cutting my part. My buddy slipped early on and gouged the part faster than the machine could emergency-retract the bit. We changed bit sizes half way thru and re-cut part of it, which made for a bit of a rough cut due to climb cutting thru half-cut material. All that said, this came out so well that I believe with 30min more of practice I could cut near perfect parts with no cleanup afterwards.

You can see from the pics that the end of the mold section hit 0.75" within +/- 0.0005", and the half-inch hole was 0.5005". That's stellar, frankly. I didn't expect it to be that accurate.

The software on it is surprisingly good. Easy to pick too paths, set cutter size, decide to cut on, left, or right of a tool path, etc. It even does auto touch off for Z to get the tool length, and you can touch off your stock in X & Y and it will lay down a grid you can use to place parts. Lots of built-in tool paths for hobbyists and woodworkers (letters and numbers, patterns for bowtie inlays, etc.)

This started as a Kick Starter, which my buddy backed. The tool cost him $1,800. They've shipped out the first run and are getting feedback before doing a second. Apparently Festool has bought them, and it even came in a taller, blacker Systainer 😉 I'd expect productization by Festool to be quite good, and I've added my name to the list to be notified when the next round is available. I have no idea when that will be, though.

This feels like a perfect alternative to a large gantry router for 2D work associated with skis and snowboards: molds, base and core templates, even cutting base material and til/tail fill directly. Only thing lacking is you can't profile with it, though you could of course make profiles for a planer/sander setup.

Re: Shaper Tool cnc vs. Maker Made cnc

Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2021 7:32 am
by OAC
I have had my eyes on this one for a while now... time to act?

Mike, since you made the tip mold/template, have you any idea/feeling how long it will take to route a full ski template? A ski that's 170 - 180cm.
I've read articles that praise the tool, but one issue or obstacle is the time moving it your self.

Re: Shaper Tool cnc vs. Maker Made cnc

Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 1:14 am
by Head Monkey
OAC wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 7:32 am Mike, since you made the tip mold/template, have you any idea/feeling how long it will take to route a full ski template? A ski that's 170 - 180cm.
I've read articles that praise the tool, but one issue or obstacle is the time moving it your self.
It's been a while since I used one, but I believe that with a bit of practice you could cut a ski template in just a few min.

One nice thing about a real cnc machine is you let the robot run while you do other work. This isn't that, of course. If you need to route 20 of something you're in for a boring and likely tiring afternoon. But one ski template? I bet you'll be done in 5 min.

Re: Shaper Tool cnc vs. Maker Made cnc

Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 6:54 pm
by TRENCH
Thanks Mike. I think that is the way to go. I build furniture and i think it would be awesome for inlays. Definitely gonna get the shaper. Ive been studying all the stuff you put online. Love the press build. Im really excited to start building. Thank you for all your input on my post and for everything you have done for the building community.