The second way is to use the Shaper Origin’s internal processor and touch-screen control. SVG files are not common to the woodworking industry, but they are compatible with the popular commercial programs CorelDraw and Adobe Illustrator and the open source OpenOffice Draw and Inkscape programs. The Shaper Origin translates DFX to a Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) file for the cutting pattern. The shape, or cutting pattern, can be entered into the Shaper Origin three ways:įirst, a cutting pattern can be drawn in a CAD program that exports a Design Exchange File (DXF). This is all possible with a camera on the Shaper Origin that reads special marking tape applied to the workpiece.īut before the cutting can take place, the shape of the object to be cut has to be drawn.

The stepper motors inside the Shaper Origin make tiny correcting movements so the router bit follows the cutting pattern in the on-board computer’s memory.

But instead of carefully keeping the bearing of the pattern bit tight against the pattern, the operator watches the pattern on Shaper Origin’s on-board touch screen for movement directions.

The operator makes these larger movements just like if he were routing from a pattern cut with a band saw and smoothing with an oscillating sander. The cutting pattern the operator is working from is displayed on the on-board touch screen of the Shaper Origin rather than on the workpiece.

In a bit more detail, the Shaper Origin is a three-axis CNC router whose large movements across the workpiece are done by the operator. The magic happens with the signal-positioning information used to orient the Shaper Origin to the workpiece. The Shaper Origin uses a small trim router, controlled by stepper motors and smartphone apps that receive design files and translate them into cutting instructions.

Inkscape drawings shopbot