Furniture Society Visits ShopBot!

In late June, the Furniture Society presented its FS15 Symposium at the American Tobacco Historic District in downtown Durham, NC. The society is a nonprofit organization whose mission is "to advance the art of furniture making by inspiring creativity, promoting excellence and fostering an understanding of this art and its place in society." FS15 attendees kicked things off by attending a Durham Bulls game, and enjoyed many guest speakers including ShopBot's Ted Hall, who spoke of how the next industrial revolution (hint: digital fab is involved) can spell good news for small and medium sized furniture businesses. A summary of his talk is here.


ShopBot's Ted Hall talking to a group of Furniture Society members while on their tour of ShopBot World Headquarters

Friday evening June 26th, Furniture Society members moved the party over to ShopBot World Headquarters where they enjoyed a tour of the shop, a preview of new tools, cutting demos, and some good North Carolina BBQ! See the full story and photos here.

ShopBot was Here

EdCamp Magic

Classroom teachers, school superintendents, and teaching coaches visited the makeshift “makerspace” at EdCamp Magic, June 15 at Windermere Preparatory Schools just outside Orlando, Florida. EdCamp's mission is to help support the work of teachers in informal, free "unconferences" around the world. Many folks stopped by to see the ShopBot Desktop in action at Windermere Prep, where one of Florida State’s Theater Department grad students, Brandon Rada, was at the controls showcasing the tool’s creative and efficient production power. Read the blog post.

National Maker Faire

ShopBot was proud to be part of the National Maker Faire in Washington, DC, where inventors, tinkerers, and innovators from across the nation showcased their wares and shared their knowledge. ShopBot brought two Handibot® Tools and set them to work. While one churned out keychains for the kids, the other was mounted over a Handibot Rotary Axis, cutting out a lightsaber handle. And the extraordinary Bill Young and the team at Shelter 2.0 had two of their latest ShopBot-cut quick-to-assemble shelters providing shade for weary Faire-goers. Read more and see some great pictures.

ShopBotters at Work

Custom Furniture Maker: Andrew Coholic

Andrew Coholic owns Joe Coholic Custom Furniture Ltd., a custom cabinetry and furniture business in Timmins, Canada. Andrew reports, “The ShopBot has met and exceeded expectations. We’re able to perform repetitive tasks such as making the parts of tables, chairs, benches, and cabinetry much faster than before — so of course it saves us money. And there are some areas where CNC has afforded other benefits. For instance, I knew that we could do decorative carvings using the tool, but hadn’t really intended to do much of this work. Well, I’ve found that I’m doing more and more of it, because clients are really liking the work.” Read Andrew's story and see photos of his work.

100kGarager Profile: InHaus Fabrication

Kristopher Schaefer started InHaus Fabrication, a digital fabrication shop in Eugene, OR, in May of 2014, and things have been buzzing ever since. InHaus provides prototype production, industrial design service, custom promotional material, and high end packaging. InHaus is furnished with a ShopBot CNC router, 3D printer, and a laser cutter. Kris also offers software training classes to help the local community dive into digital fabrication. “The education piece of this business has really been taking off,” said Kris. “We’re starting to expand offerings in Portland as well.”  Read about InHaus and see photos here.

ShopBot Goes International

ShopBot has found its way to Japan! Koki Akiyoshi at Fab 9 in Japan was featured in a blog post for a popular Japanese web magazine. He was trained by ShopBot's Sallye Coyle, and she had this to say about him: "Koki has come a long way with the ShopBot. The sign he is holding in the last photo of the blog post was his 'final' for becoming a ShopBot guru."

He has become a terrific ShopBot ambassador, and handles training and tech support for other ShopBot’s in Japan. Good work Koki!