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Thread: Shaper Origin Capabilities

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
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    Brooklyn NY
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    Shaper Origin Capabilities

    Hey all

    I have access to a shaper origin and was thinking it could be beneficial to hire someone to create the .svg files for me in order to use it.

    I am working on a prototype for a custom speaker. 10" driver with a top mounted horn. The idea is that there will be 3 separate removable baffle boards so as to easily try different drivers out. The main body of the box will be glued and siliconed air tight and the baffle and speaker itself will be attached using t nuts with gaskets to keep it as air tight as possible.

    My question is this. Does the shaper cut at different depths? Say I need a counter sunk bolt pattern routed out. Can it bore out for the countersink as well as drill through on the same file? The cutout for the speaker itself will need a rabbet as well. Thanks for any insight.

    I could do all of this by hand pretty easily but I'd love to get some experience using this tool.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
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    Lebanon, TN
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    The big difference between a gantry CNC and the Shaper Origin, is your tool paths include GCode for X,Y and Z motion.

    The Shaper Origin, pretty much calculates the gcode on the fly, from the .svg file, but only for the X and Y paths.

    You pretty much decide the tool bit and the depth of cut for that pass.

    One area where this varies slightly is actually cutting holes. If the tool can cut the hole, with the specified bit down to the depth required, it will helix cut it, i.e. spiral down to the depth.

    So yes you can cut you countersunk holes and cut your through holes easily.

    When you do the drawing svg file, if the lines, say for a circle are complete, i.e. no gap in the line, the SO allows you to specify whether you want to cut inside or outside of the line or on the line.

    You can also specify a positive or negative offset so you can make either a cleaning pass or creep up to a specified size. So for instance, let's say you want to cut a 5" hole, 3/4" deep with a 1/4" bit. You would do this in several passes, setting the cut depth, per pass, at half the diameter of the bit, so 1/8", make the first cut and the go to 1/4" and then 3/8", etc., until you are through. With these set of passes, you set an offset of .005" which actually cuts .010" smaller diameter than your targeted 5". Then you set this offset to 0 and make a final, light cut pass to clean up an router marks.

    I may be able to help you create the svg files if you have good sketches with dimensions, then I can email you those files and you can load them onto the SO via the USB port.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Lawrence, KS
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    594
    Quote Originally Posted by chuck van dyck View Post
    Hey all

    I have access to a shaper origin and was thinking it could be beneficial to hire someone to create the .svg files for me in order to use it.

    I am working on a prototype for a custom speaker. 10" driver with a top mounted horn. The idea is that there will be 3 separate removable baffle boards so as to easily try different drivers out. The main body of the box will be glued and siliconed air tight and the baffle and speaker itself will be attached using t nuts with gaskets to keep it as air tight as possible.

    My question is this. Does the shaper cut at different depths? Say I need a counter sunk bolt pattern routed out. Can it bore out for the countersink as well as drill through on the same file? The cutout for the speaker itself will need a rabbet as well. Thanks for any insight.

    I could do all of this by hand pretty easily but I'd love to get some experience using this tool.
    As Chris mentioned, the SO can do everything on your list. However to be clear, you cannot change cut depth on the fly. It is a fixed depth for the cut (plunge-cut-retract) move.

    As to countersinks -- I don't know of any 82* router bits but that doesn't mean one doesn't exist. I would not use a HSS counter sink bit at the sort of speeds the router can spin. On the other hand, if you are OK with a flat-bottom countersunk hole, you are good to go with a standard spiral bit.

    Depending on what you want, you can use up-cut, down-cut, straight and compression bits with the SO. I mostly use mine for making templates so in MDF, an up-cut spiral does the trick most of the time.

    As to creating the SVG files, it is really pretty simple and if you are at all interested in using any CNC, its a good skill to have. I use Fusion360 and InkScape for the most part and if I'm moving to a gantry machine, I use Vectric's VCarve software. I can pull in my SVG, fiddle a bit and create the necessary paths.

    There is a short video series on YouTube from "BodgedButWorks" (I think that's his name) on creating SVGs using InkScape for cutting on the SO. He focuses on the sort of things you need to know to make 2D cut drawings.
    Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Location
    Brooklyn NY
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    Hey guys

    Thanks a ton for the responses and resources. I've drawn the different baffles up in fusion360 and hoping it will translate.

    Fingers crossed.

    Chris, I'll be in touch if this doesn't work out for me, haha!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Lebanon, TN
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    Shaper Origin has a plug in for F360 to export the files to the correct format.

    There should be should videos on YT on how to install this and utilize it.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Lawrence, KS
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    594
    Quote Originally Posted by ChrisA Edwards View Post
    Shaper Origin has a plug in for F360 to export the files to the correct format.

    There should be should videos on YT on how to install this and utilize it.
    It works well.

    And they had a "Shaper Session" video about using F360. You can access them on their YT channel and at the company web page. They are generally helpful.
    Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

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