After months and months of research, thought, patience, and saving…I’m finally buying a Shaper this week and wanted to check if anyone has this or has tried it on here?
I have been so back and forth on which CNC to buy and have ultimately decided that for the space and mobility, this is for me though handheld (which is not a major deal breaker for me because I like to be a part of my work). But has anyone had experience with one before I take the bite? TIA
It’s an incredibly interesting design. Hard to find a capable cnc in that price range, esp since the Origin let’s you work at a large scale. Reviews look good. It is interesting that Festool is heavily involved in the design.
Give us a demo please!
Note: where are you buying it? I wonder if our local working stores would give you the 10% off. I know Wood World does on large tools.
Rockler won’t do 10% on it (no power tools they say) but I am going through the Origin website. They have a small sale going on at the moment. I could definitely do a demo one of these days!
I use one at my shop. It’s slower than a gantry CNC machine, but surprisingly accurate. Edges will usually need a little bit of cleaning. The Shaper is best suited for larger work surfaces, due to the necessity of having “domino” tape visible to it at all times. For smaller parts I just leave a spoil-board set up with domino tape. Overall I am pretty happy with it. We keep it pre-loaded with jigs and consumables around the shop that we replace frequently, such as tablesaw inserts.
Ordered today!
@talkers Christmas came early! Both my new XCarve and Shaper came today! I’m excited about both but within a very short time, (maybe an hour or so) I was cutting on the Origin! Its going to take me a minute to put the X-Carve together. I am elated about the Origin though
Seems extremely cool! I would have to sell a lot of stuff to justify the price tag though…
It is super steep and proprietary added costs had me questioning the decision for a long time. But my initial response is that I’m in love! It is incredibly easy so far.
Is that tape expensive too? I’d imagine it’s not super cheap.
Yes, its about $18 for a roll but the trick is to save the unused tape. Its reusable that way. Definitely something I researched. People unstick it and put it on a different surface that is stored like acrylic or whatever then unpeel and stick again, makes it last a little longer.
Ah nice. Yeah it seems super cool. Does it also work with metal or wood only?
A router would work with soft metals, like aluminum and brass. But that would require some considerations, like clearing the metal filings safely. I believe the xcarve would be better, esp for detail work.
These are the ones the Origin Folks have tested and signed off on.
Acetate
Acrylic
Aluminum
Brass
Copper
Corian
Cork
Delrin
Hardwood
HDPE
Linoleum
MDF
Plywood
Polycarbonate
PVC
PVC foam
Soapstone
Softwood
I am super in love it with it. It’s absolutely awesome. Started my mortise and tenon journey today
What software do you use to generate graphics? My understanding is that it requires .svg files and while I saw there is an extension to generate svg from fusion 360, the makerspace version doesn’t seem have it.
Fusion 360 can export a dxf. The Shaper Origin will convert this into an SVG.
Not knowing the software with the Origin, I still look at fusion 360 DXF files in Inkscape. Extraneous info is often included, like construction lines, lines on top of lines… Easy to edit in Inkscape then save as an SVG/dxf
I think most people I’ve seen use Fusion but I learned (at Makerspace) about Inkscape first and so far it hasn’t done me wrong. One day I might use Fusion. I did find a free version so thats in my back pocket.
Made this yesterday just like that. I need to work on speeds lol but it is a cool tool to pick up and go. So far I’ve used zero Shapertape. The workstation is a must have.
Wow! The level of detail is fantastic.
Santa, please bring me a Shaper for Christmas!
EDIT: Mrs. Claus said yes!
Santa is bringing me $2,500 instead! 
So cool though!
