Handheld CNC

[Meanie]

Anyone see this yet?

[Leon]

Yes, I saw it some time ago and totally forgot about it.

Looks pretty darn cool.....

[DerbyDad03]

Interesting tool, but I gotta comment on that Soap Box Derby car.

First off, if Dad thinks he's going to keep up with the car by running, he is sadly mistaken.

Second, that hill is far too steep for that car. I can imagine that the car will exceed 25-30 MPH once it hits the drop off shown at the end of the video. No one would in their right mind would let their kid run a derby car down that street. We clock cars in the low to mid 20's on tracks that are much flatter than that road. I don't know what kind of brake they put in that thing, but there's way a standard derby brake will stop that car at the bottom of that hill.

Third, you don't run derby cars down streets with cars parked on them. Just imagine what would happen if the kid ran into the back of that black SUV or caught one of his wheels in the wheel well of a parked car.

I gotta tell you, the last part of the video made me cringe. I can only hope that he stopped before going over the crest of that drop off. They couldn't have paid me enough to let any of my kids film that video and I've got championship winning racers on my team.

[Greg Guarino]

So at first I thought: it just *shows* you where to cut, but it's essentially freehand??? But I watched a second video and now I see that the router mount compensates to keep the router on the proper line.

So here's my next question: Obviously there's a limit to how quickly the router control mount can react; presumably designed to be faster than human hands are likely to jerk the tool off-course. But What about vibration? And, assuming you might want to use something other than plywood, tougher materials with inconsistencies? Does a 1/4" bit really go through 3/4 material smoothly enough?

I ask this not to make an argument, but as a real question from someone whose experience is limited.

[Leon]

I doubt anyone here can answer those questions. BUT Rockler is a partner so maybe they will be able to offer hands on in the near future.

Whether it can or can not cut through 3/4" material, in one pass, I would not want it to do so. My concern is if it can make multiple dept passes in the same place once it cuts through the indexing tape.

But still I could use this on every project. This tool will probably be as revolutionary as the Domino. CNC's are not horribly more expensive but with this tool being portable it will not have size limitations like a stationary CNC machine.

[Greg Guarino]

I was wondering about that too, even if it did not cut the tape. I think that would be a really excellent demonstration for them to do: make three identical passes at different depths and then inspect the edge. That would be a pretty good test of accuracy.

[Leon]

Mortise and tenon might be a possibility.

[Greg Guarino]

I saw a video where they made box joints. As best I could tell from the video, they seemed to fit pretty nicely. They first made a jig to hold the work vertically, protruding through a hole in a flat panel that had their tape on it.

[Meanie]

Would be nice to find a demo or workshop with someone using it. More questions can be answered.

[Martin Eastburn]

[krw]

Sure, but they're only taking pre-orders for delivery a year from now. I didn't read the whole page but it looked a lot like a crowd-funding proposal (complete with increasing prices as it went on).

[whit3rd]

(1) it requires you have a computer model of your project (good luck getting it to trim a cabinet to fit against your old plastered wall)

(2) it measures against tapes that you have to buy as supplies, presumably from the manufacturer (recall cheap printers with pricy ink cartridges?)

(3) it registers on tapes that you apply, presumably they have to be straight and on a perfectly flat surface? Won't happen outdoors in wind, or on a jobsite with sawhorses under a sheet of plywood.

(4) not sure how a vision system will work with the sawdust flying everywhere, but good lighting will have to be part of the solution

Best use of this will take up a big shopspace, and I don't have one. Space, that is (nor tool).

[Leon]

And it will not bake Sunday's dinner.

Yes. I recall many making similar comments about the Domino tenons. They will be expensive. They can be but the smaller ones, the size that I am on my 3rd case of 1800 dominos, compared closely in cost as biscuits.

Videos reveal tat the tape can be crooked, not parallel to other strips, and the table does not have to be straight. The unit is mapping the dots and memorizing where they are.

It does not appear to have had any dust issues in any of the videos that I watched and there appears to be a shield that will capture the debris an vent it out to a vac hose.

I can see it working out for me on small sections of a project and possibly save me hours of tedious work with another piece of equipment. I can see it being great for making groves and rabbets for drawers. Or counter sinking slots to allow a bolt head and washer to fit below the surface of the material. Currently I am doing that procedure with a Domino joiner.

[Puckdropper]

Leon wrote in news: [e-mail]:

*snip*

*snip*

Off-topic question...

Will the domino cutter work in the middle of a piece of plywood? I'm just thinking the size of the domino would be about right to cut a slot for a tortoise switch machine throw wire under a switch without removing it.

I wouldn't buy one for that purpose alone, of course. Just curious if it'll work.

Puckdropper

[Meanie]

It appears to me it would do most of what a regular router would do without the requirement of guides and templates.

[Leon]

Absolutely, just like a biscuit joiner. You just need to clamp a straight edge in the appropriate spot and reference off of the bottom of the base of the machine

[Leon]

Did you see that OpenDesk, Autodesk, Rockler and FESTOOL were partners? Wondering if this will also be offered by Festool or if Festool will be the manufacturer.

And with better optics the tool may, someday, be able to use the grain on the wood to map it's location.

[Leon]

Yes, that would be my take too, other than the reference tape.

[krw]

At that price, it ought to be green. ;-)

Maybe it could do the cut list, too.

[Leon]

Well some of the colors are right. LOL There is black lite grey, and green on the right control handle. ;~)

Probably so and perhaps it does if you use the appropriate CAD software. Seems Sketchup would be a natural for this application. I use a plug-in with Sketch up that generates a cut list and also exports in a format that I use with CutLustPlus.