Fellow Hivers,
This is the first (of what will be serveral) posts on this forum Google group to democratically inform all members on the plan and progress towards our community’s build of this community machine. The subject line for all such sequential posts will start the same “HIVE13 ShapeOko Project - Post x” with “x” being a sequential number.
There are three rules: (1) Be safe, cause no harm, (2) Be excellent to the equipment and each other [the Golden Rule], and (3) Have fun!
Our objective in this pending community experience is to follow the rules, follow the instructions, and share this opportunity to learn CNC build and operation concepts. This experience is our way to participate to spread and advance the DIY digital manufacturing revolution. The target build completion date is Thursday, July 24. We want to include the machine in the kit loaded into the truck the next morning that will haul the Power Tool Drag Race setup to the HIVE13 booth at the Detroit Maker Faire. We will be at the Detroit Maker Faire on Saturday and Sunday July 26, 27. All are encouraged to attend and participate. Let’s GO BIG this year! We’ve got about five weeks at this point, and that should be enough time.
The guidance from Inventables says it will take 4+ hours to assemble the machine. They recommend we spread it out over two evenings. We need to see who is willing to serve as custodians for the machine. Some small group should assume formal responsibility to understand how it all works and how to maintain it; even as every interested member is also encouraged to be helpful. More hands makes for lighter work. The level of skill required is on the order of Lego Technics, with some light electrical wiring (no soldering required).
We need to do a bit of initial planning as we get started. This will be a topic at the next Tuesday night meeting 6/1.
a. We need to decide where the machine will be sited in our space (first thought is where the desktop cnc junk is now)
b. We need to start to clear out that area (who, when?)
c. We need to acquire/dedicate a good serviceable PC to this machine (who, when, which PC?)
d. We need to decide if we will connect it to the shop dust collection system (highly recommended by me)
e. We need to decide what kind of foundation base/table setup we want to build for this machine (I will own, but who, when will help?)
f. We need to schedule the two build nights (likely a week apart, how about Wednesday July 9 and 16?)
g. Other?
Reply to this post with any helpful discussion on these lettered points. The goal is to achieve a concensus at the 6/1 meeting.
In the mean time, the task is to read the ShapeOko assembly overview, ahead of time, at http://docs.shapeoko.com/index.html.
The outline for this Assembly Overview webpage is:
- Note on diagrams
- Note on safety
- Overview of the eight steps
- Assembly Steps
Software target week 1 build night
Electronics target week 1 build night
V-Wheels and Idlers target week 1 build night
Carriages target week 1 build night
Z-axis target week 1 or 2 build night
Gantry target week 1 or 2 build night
Y-Axis target week 1 or 2 build night
Work Area target week 2 build night
Electrical Wiring target week 2 build night
Hello, World target week 2 build night
First Job target week 2 build night
This will be fun and great for the HIVE,
Jim