Erminio Marrese hosted his second Camp on Sat. May 17th. We had another good turnout, including 4 Canadian Shopbotters who drove South 9 hours to attend this one!
This year’s group had a variety of interests, but the majority of attendees were using their machines to build some sort of furniture, cabinets, etc. In fact Erminio used that “theme”to show a piece he is restoring for a customer which was obviously done by hand many years ago (see above) as a “pre-Shopbot” project…
Because of the group’s interests we spent considerable time in going over some techniques those in the group had developed in their own shops.
Jim Hansen brought in some great examples of inlaid flooring he has been working on. He’s got the technique down to a point where he can produce quality pieces in a very reasonable amount of time…
Dave Skinner did a great job of describing in detail how the new Shopbot/Thermwood “E-Cabinet link”can change the way a cabinet shop operates. Dave walked us all through the steps involved in designing, and cutting a complete kitchen.
Joe Luzzi showed off a great design idea he has for doing “double sided trivets”.
Phil O’Rourke is enjoying his recent retirement by doing some great v carving and signage projects.
Bob Dodd brought in an absolutely huge, and stunning lithophane of the World Trade Center towers he had created for a client whose home overlooks New York harbor…
Russ Todd of “Widgetworks” brought in some of his after market accessories for the Shopbot including the drag knife, vinyl cutter, and marking pens.
As a group we got into some discussions about materials, coatings, 3D carving, and vacuum systems. Erminio has a large vacuum pump, and he showed some accessories he has developed to make using the sytem a little easier.
And the single most prevalent topic of the year was gone over in great detail-“how do you keep your business afloat during the current economic crunch?”. This discussion included some great ideas on advertising , building web pages, consolidating efforts in the shop, outsourcing, and networking with other businesses.
In fact most people expressed the opinion that because they had a Shopbot they were in much better shape than those shops trying to make a go of it through more traditional techniques. Everyone realized from seeing other people’s work, and hearing about the way the machine was being used that they were much less likely to get “pigeon holed”in respect to ways of making a living…..
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