Fab Academy at AS220 Labs

November 25, 2009 1:22 AM

Shelves from the Shopbot

by Jenine Bressner

I designed some shelves and cut them out on a Shopbot. While working, all pieces have to be secured to the bed of the machine (or to each other) because the tool is so powerful that the router could send a loose piece flying and seriously hurt someone.

I screwed my 4' x 8' sheet of MDO (medium density overlaid plywood) to the bed of the machine, and we programmed it to cut tabs between some of the parts so they would remain attached to each other. The finished sheet resembled a plastic toy whose tabbed pieces would be broken apart and snap assembled.

tabbed.jpg

Here are some of the shelves after being cut on the Shopbot, and broken apart with a jigsaw.

sanded.jpg

Thanks to the Avineris for letting me borrow a palm sander. I used it to sand the tabs off the edges of the shelves.

scorner.jpg

I primed, painted, and installed the shelves in a corner. scorners.jpg

I have more shelf pieces cut, but I haven't yet decided where to install them. Photos of my pieces on the Shopbot at Keeseh Studios will be posted after the holiday.

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