How to start up a micro-factory in your garage.

A Case Study: Ryan Patterson’s MyHue.

The potential for individuals to create, design and manufacture products themselves continues to be realized every day all around the country. With the affordability of robust digital fabrication tools such as the ShopBot Desktop, running a micro-factory out of handy space is not a dream, but reality. We …

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Hot new product “Ninja Standing Desk” produced out of TechShop San Francisco

The Ninja Standing Desk is just like it sounds — it may well be the world’s first portable and affordable version of the permanently installed workstations you see around office and home businesses around the country.

The “Ninja” behind the Ninja Standing Desk is San Franciscan Dan McDonley, and his product has become a huge …

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My 4 Motor Vacuum Setup

While waiting for our shipping date to arrive, my son and I, like most new users, agonized over all the details of electrical, vacuum, placement and layout of all the items necessary to running our Bot. We probably read every post on the TalkShopBot Forum concerning vacuum going back to 2005. After asking a few …

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A PVC Vacuum Table Part 2: A little more on Plenum Design…

A plenum is little more than a few slots cut into a piece of material, but there are some options to consider when designing one for the first time. Start out your design with a size that is very close to your finish zone size so that any resizing is minimal before cutting. The general …

Continue reading >>> A PVC Vacuum Table Part 2: A little more on Plenum Design…

The BradyVac II – A Production Vacuum Fixture on a Shoestring Budget

About 2 years ago, I set out to create a removable universal vacuum fixture for doing various jobs. (Please review my Nov. 2006 article) This universal fixture was coined the ‘BradyVac’ by Bill Young. The basic idea is to take a sheet of …

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A Removable Vacuum Plenum that Maximizes Hold Down Potential

If you are anything like me, you want to be ready for any job that comes through the door. For me, this meant being able to quickly tool up for cutting 2” hardwood shapes that needed to be screwed down to a rigid spoilboard one day, and be able to hold down 4X8 …

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