Shaper Origin: Hand-Held CNC Machine • Hacker News Board

Re: Shaper Origin: Hand-Held CNC Machine

#41

Post by TheRealPomax » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 9:19 PM UTC

petra wrote: post #34

TheRealPomax wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but they're also operating in the "maker space", where ten people all pitch in $250 and buy a tool for everyone else to use. That $2400 buys you a tool that everyone, including kids, can use, as opposed to a real CnC machine that requires someone to become an expert operator needing to babysit anyone else who has an idea that requires CnC work. This tool has zero appeal to commercial operators. But it's _INCRED…

Is this really kid safe ?

What does "kid safe" mean? Is it safe once you explain the kid how to use it, and supervise while they pay attention to what they're doing? Of course it's kid safe.

Is it safe to go "this is how you use it" and then walk away from your hyperactive kid who doesn't even want to be there? Of course not =)

It's safe for any human who actually wants to use it to make things.

Re: Shaper Origin: Hand-Held CNC Machine

#42

Post by lincolnq » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 9:26 PM UTC

xellisx wrote: post #40

westoncb wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's still numerically controlled. 'Hand-held' just refers to its size, not how it's operated.

All the pictures I'm seeing are showing it being controlled by hand.

Yeah I was confused by this also. It is cutting a precise vector shape by making small adjustments to compensate for hand shake and such. The "circle" you can see it drawing on screen is the amount of error it can tolerate before it will start cutting in the wrong place.

Re: Shaper Origin: Hand-Held CNC Machine

#43

Post by westoncb » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 9:27 PM UTC

xellisx wrote: post #40

westoncb wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's still numerically controlled. 'Hand-held' just refers to its size, not how it's operated.

All the pictures I'm seeing are showing it being controlled by hand.

Actually looks like it's a hybrid approach: you have to move it by hand within a certain range of the path it's attempting to follow/cut, but the path it actually cuts when within range is determined by path data given to it (in the form of an SVG it looks like).

Re: Shaper Origin: Hand-Held CNC Machine

#44

Post by TheRealWatson » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 9:36 PM UTC

petra wrote: post #34

TheRealPomax wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but they're also operating in the "maker space", where ten people all pitch in $250 and buy a tool for everyone else to use. That $2400 buys you a tool that everyone, including kids, can use, as opposed to a real CnC machine that requires someone to become an expert operator needing to babysit anyone else who has an idea that requires CnC work. This tool has zero appeal to commercial operators. But it's _INCRED…

Is this really kid safe ?

Depends on the parent.

Re: Shaper Origin: Hand-Held CNC Machine

#45

Post by hexane360 » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 10:30 PM UTC

froindt wrote: post #32

opencl wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't take up an enormous amount of shop space, can be used on arbitrarily large workpieces, and probably requires far less calibration and maintenance work. I have a 2' x 2' CNC router and can easily think of usecases this would be better for. A 4' x 8' CNC router is sure as hell not going to be cheaper than this thing.

I wonder how accurately it would work on a 4' x 8' piece. If I cut some curvy shape near the edge of the piece and followed the dashed line perfectly, would I end up exactly back where I started or would I miss by half an inch?

It uses strips of QR codes to position itself on the workpiece. It's an absolute measurement not a relative one, so there's no drift.

Re: Shaper Origin: Hand-Held CNC Machine

#46

Post by gh02t » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 10:55 PM UTC

TheRealPomax wrote: post #29

aaronblohowiak wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At that price they are competing with options that you don’t have to babysit, which is a big advantage if you are commercial operator.

Yeah, but they're also operating in the "maker space", where ten people all pitch in $250 and buy a tool for everyone else to use. That $2400 buys you a tool that everyone, including kids, can use, as opposed to a real CnC machine that requires someone to become an expert operator needing to babysit anyone else who has an idea that requires CnC work. This tool has zero appeal to commercial operators. But it's _INCRED…

I dunno that this is really any easier to use than a Shapeoko, which is $1900 for the largest version (33" x 33" x 3" working area) with router included. The software for Shapeoko is pretty idiot proof, it can do a 2D carve from an SVG file with no more difficulty than the Origin, while you also have the ability to do 2.5 and 3D operations, which I don't think the Origin can do very well if at all.

There's some cases where the Origin would be killer (e.g., DIY furniture), but I feel like for most makers a stationary CNC router is a better choice. There are some really good, easy to use options at that price point, $2400 seems a bit crazy.

Re: Shaper Origin: Hand-Held CNC Machine

#47

Post by Mizza » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 11:14 PM UTC

I've been looking at products in this space myself lately, and stumbled upon the Maslow, which has similar, though not identical functionality, but is a DIY product an order of magnitude cheap than this (though obviously far less polished and producty): http://www.maslowcnc.com/

Re: Shaper Origin: Hand-Held CNC Machine

#48

Post by avanderhoorn » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 11:16 PM UTC

My biggest problem is not being able to get sharp corners. Thats not a problem with Shaper Origin per se, but more with CNC based routers (note the chess board on their homepage, it doesn't have squares with 90 deg corners). If something like Shaper Origin supported being able to do this, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Re: Shaper Origin: Hand-Held CNC Machine

#49

Post by ktm5j » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 11:21 PM UTC

My favorite youtube engineer (Ben Krasnow) did a video on this product a few years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8GFpSCK6Jk

Re: Shaper Origin: Hand-Held CNC Machine

#50

Post by darkmighty » Sat, Apr 21, 2018, 11:22 PM UTC

avanderhoorn wrote: post #48

My biggest problem is not being able to get sharp corners. Thats not a problem with Shaper Origin per se, but more with CNC based routers (note the chess board on their homepage, it doesn't have squares with 90 deg corners). If something like Shaper Origin supported being able to do this, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

You only cannot get sharp internal corners. External corners can be square/arbitrarily sharp. I don't think it's too big of a problem, usually you want things rounded to relieve stresses anyway, but indeed I can see situations such as aesthetics or piece compatibility this could be an issue.