Congratulations Justin!

congratulations #24

Thanks guys! We had a baby girl on Friday night and all is well!

Congrats to the "Justins"!

Now we will see you posting at odd hours of the day - feeding baby with one hand and the keyboard with the other hand :D

Congratulations on the Baby Girl!

:D double happy - you are :)

congrats

...I know all to well what it's like to build a MM and have a newborn. Not easy sharing the focus. Good luck! I haven't slept since Jan 17th. :D

. . . and that is Jan 17th of LAST year 2008!

So true, I will have 3 kids, 3 and under until August. If I can build this beast in the midst of all that what is stopping some of you on the fence? Let's have 100 serial numbers by next year.

and I will take the No. 100 :D

Congratulations on the new baby girl.

Justin,

Congratulations on your new girl!

Made first cuts on Saturday will try and post video of very first cut this week.

We thought that cutting a square and a circle would tell us a little bit of where we are as far as scale and accuracy.

Here is a link to video of our first cuts with MechMate SN 24
http://picasaweb.google.com/Tadeo.Luna/FirstCuts#

Thanks for the video Tadeo. (sorry that you had to fight the anti-spam system)

Shopbot link for Ecabinets
 

http://www.ecabinetsystems.com/ecabi...opbot_link.htm

I learned ecabinets a few years ago but could not justify buying a Thermwood router. Hence the Mechmate! I wonder if converting to a Shopbot controller would be viable for me. Just food for thought. Would some of the cabinet makers that use ecabinets give some feedback?

Thanks

From that link: "This link will allow you to export your eCabinet Systems .twd files into a format that will run on a ShopBot - the cost for this link is $1,295."

Do they not have a link to export their files into generic g-code (Mach3) format? (for a similar or lesser price)

Justin I had a look at that system about a year ago,Yes It is nice but I found that to design my components in cad gives me flexability as on every job we do it changes.I have set a std for myself and that is the way I prefer to do things on the component side Hey it is cheaper.:)My 1 cent and the MechMate can do wonders.

I don't know if they have a link to export to generic-g-code but it would be a good idea to ask. The reason I am looking into this is because it is a screen to machine software that is good at cabinets and I know how to design (sell) with it.

Hennie and Gerald I know both of you have experience designing in cad or working in cad for everyjob. How are you doing this? 2D Cad to Cam to post to Mach? How fast is this process?

I personally feel like 1300 is a good price for screen to machine software what do you guys think?

Thanks

Method 1: (for decor outlines & boats)

3D (wireframe) CAD to "CAM converter" to machine

or:

AutoCad LT 2000 (it does 3D wireframe) to Vector 9.4 to Gcode

All the toolpaths are drawn in AutoCad, while 2 minutes is spent in Vector to convert .dxf to gcode.

Method 2: (for signs / text / graphics)

VCarvePro from Vectric to gcode

eCabinets will probably never be able to output generic g-code. I have been using this program (ecabs) for a couple of years now and absolutely love it. It has sold many jobs for me. The problem with it outputting regular g-code is this program was written originally for output designed specifically for Thermwood routers and was (and still is) a marketing tool to assist them in selling routers. Now, I feel, that once my router is done I'll be able to go from "screen to machine" within a design package I have become proficient at and not be required to learn yet another design package. Oh yeah, and at a reasonable price also!

http://www.thermwood.com/forums/view...php?f=3&t=9101

http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/mes...312/40938.html

ShopBot & Thermwood are probably in an exclusive arrangement because of the very fact that ShopBot uses their own coding and not g-code. If you want a MechMate to do E-Cab, then you probably need the SB V201 controller:
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=891

Dog House from the BFN (Beta Fabrication Network)
 

Some of you might want to check this out.

http://www.physicaldesignco.com

COOL. Thanks for the link.

The link in post #41 is dead.

Jack,
Still works ok for me! :)

Anyone who is trying to establish a CNC router business really needs to check out this link that Justin posted a few days ago.

http://www.physicaldesignco.com

This company was started by an architectural graduate student from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The company has three types of memberships. 1) Customer 2) Fabricator (CNC router owner) 3) Designer.

Designers submit designs that, if approved, are loaded into the website. Customers modify the designs using Google Sketchup. The Physical Design Co then takes the customers' modified designs and uses a special software that creates CAD files that are given to the fabricator to cut. I'm guessing that money will change hands somewhere along the line but that point isn't clear. I don't know if the customer pays the company and the fabricator or what. Right now, being a fabricator doesn't cost anything and who knows what kind of business might present itself in the future.

The website has a map to all of the CNC router owners so the customer can select one near them.

I sent an email to the CEO of the company and asked about joining. Below is a quote from his response to me.

"Dear Doug,

Physical Design Co is actively seeking and accepting members who own and operate CNC machines and who would be interested in becoming a part of our network of fabricators. We currently have a Beta Fabricator Network in which we're working closely with folks like yourself to establish a working relationship and to fine tune the communication and production process.

Joining the BFN is simple and free - we first ask that you sign a couple of NDAs and after which we send you predetermined CNC cut files from a few of our designs (a doghouse, a storage shed, and a kid's playhouse, and an artist's studio) which you can cut out and assemble yourself. We only ask that you document the process and provide feedback to us regarding the ease of fabrication and assembly."

This link is one of the projects shown on the Physical Design Company's website. The Architectural Department at MIT built a small house based on an architectural style used extensively in New Orleans. It is cut entirely from 3/4" plywood and uses no fasteners of any kind. I think one of the sites claimed they used 600 sheets of plywood that were cut on 2 Shopbots over a period of two weeks.

http://www.physicaldesignco.com/proj...ents_moma.html

One of the grad student that worked on this project started the Physical Design Co.

Do we perhaps need a new section on the forum for discussion networks of producers / designers / clients / sales ?

Doug,

Months ago, I followed up on the Physical Design Company's program. I have signed the NDAs and was sent some design information. I like the basis of the idea. The problem I had was that I did not have the money necessary to build the 3 models you need to build. Some of the model require an out lay of $5000 or more for the plywood. I am not in the position to do that.

I think the concept is good. It is simiular to the ShopBot 1000 Garages but they do not require you be a shopbot person. They also have designs that have been built.

I am looking for ways I can find avenues that will help me grow a business will I continue to market myself.