Apparently they are sending out a bunch of demo units to youtubers
The second one he talks a bit about advantages over a laser.
Looks pretty cool really!
11 Likes
Glad they tossed one to Diresta. I have been meaning to watch some of his videos (since I have listened to all of his podcast now…).
I didn’t understand the marking tape at all. I thought you laid it out in the area the camera would see above your cut, and needed it perfectly straight. But apparently you scatter it through the entire cut area, and straight doesn’t matter.
So… a consumable supply. But overall not too bad (probably pretty cheap too).
3 Likes
This evening it’s $1499.00 
delivered Sept. 2017
I think it triangulates off the fiducial marks.
So as long as it can “see” enough of them it stays accurate.
2 Likes
Fascinating. Every time I see this thing I think it looks like it would be a little hard keep fine control over the cut line. I probably need to watch some other video that explains how it happens, because the products of the cuts sure look great.
3 Likes
Surely the fine movements must be computer assisted?
1 Like
I want to hijack @michael_mccool too and the shaper folks for a week to make my mower autonomous.
5 Likes
If you watch the dot inside the circle as Jimmy Diresta cuts, you will see that the dot wiggles around quite a bit to remain on the dotted line.
The dot represents the cutting bit, while the circle is the area it is able to move throughout.
So yes, you move it manually, and so long as you stay within tolerances, the computer moves the bit a very little nudge here and there to maintain a perfectly straight cut.
If you do shake far enough off the line that the bit cannot correct, then it is withdrawn and cuting stops. The Origin keeps track of what was and wasn’t cut.
I saw someone trying to do anything he can to force a bad cut, and no matter how fast he jerked it out of the way, he couldn’t get a bad cut to happen.
I haven’t seen someone try to raster the router across the table (going perpendicular to all expected cuts) to see if it can still cut that way. Would be an amusing rigor test to attempt.
I may just go hit their booth in New York and give it a shot…
5 Likes
Thanks for the explanation. It’s intriguing technology.
1 Like
Bi-coastal Faire attendance? That’s a pretty small club!
I am cheating, and convinced my department that the faire counts as professional development conferences. They haven’t called my bluff. And I could do a fair cop at justifying that they do contribute. 
9 Likes
Egads. They’re adorable.
They need costumes… Or, like… small (laser cut, naturally) chariot drivers…
Or wings!! (Okay, everything’s better with wings… but what eats grass…)
Omg little roving bison sculptures?
1 Like
Here is another great look at the Shaper Router from Tested.
@Brandon_R - It is a really awesome idea and I love the augmented reality use. It brings augmented reality out of the realms of pokemon and into something really useful. 
3 Likes
Grrr… just tried to avoid doing some homework for a while and look for a forum like this one for people who pre-ordered the Origin. But not able to find one. Now bummed about that (even though I was thinking I have no time for yet another forum in my life)
Anyway, loving the Shaper even more now. I had been trying to decide on a workflow for using laser + CNC router to get nice shapes which also have a bezel or other curve on the edges, instead of the sharp corners a laser makes by itself.
Doing the curve AFTER laser is hard. But doing the curve BEFORE laser means the laser is only being used to engrave now, and I am limited to the size of my router.
Well… Origin has no limit to size, so I can go ahead and cut with it. But I can also bevel after lasering, since it will remember the shape of my material, and I SHOULD be able to tell it to work on the edges of the piece.
5 Likes
I have inquired about a forum and they say it is in the works. I also volunteered to continue their beta testing for them. 
1 Like
I like where you’re heading here. 