This series is meant to show you the ins and outs of entry-level CNC milling—the type of thing Regular Joes like you and I could do in our own shops or garages, no NASA experience required. To show you this we've got a ShopBot Desktop on loan from North-Carolina-based ShopBot tools, and this is no mere carving machine or toy; it's a powerful, very capable piece of production machinery. But despite that, we've found it's actually pretty simple to use.
One way to demystify CNC milling is to first take a close look at the machine itself. Which we do in the video below, while tackling the questions you might have:
- What's this thing made out of? - How is it different from competitors' machines? - What does it come with, right out of the box? - How much space does it actually take up? - What parts of it do I actually interface with? - How does this machine handle dust collection? - What's the difference between the router-based model and the spindle-based model?
This series is aimed at those of you with little to no power tool experience. But we realize some of you are shop veterans that might already have an assortment of valued bits, in which case you might wonder:
- Can I use the conventional router bits I already own with a ShopBot?
Let's take a look:
Next episode, we'll show you how to set the machine up, right out of the box.
Previously: Five Reasons to Go With a ShopBot Desktop // All Core77 ShopBot Series posts →
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