This week I started a project helping our local high school bring their ShopBot 48 by 96 PRT CNC Router back to life. The Router was set aside for many years in the high school woodworking shop and during one of their cleanup drives to remove old computers the control box was mistaken for a PC and out the door it went. Years ago ShopBot used PC cases for their control boxes so the mistake was certainly understandable.
The folks at ShopBot identified the machine for us and the school was able to order a new control box for just over three thousand dollars. The arrival of the control box this week kicked off the project, yesterday we removed the gantry and both rails so we can start the tasks of getting the frame square and level again. Its very close to being level but the frame is skewed about one quarter inch between the corner to corner diagonal dimensions.
Last Wednesday I contacted Vectric to inquire about updating the VCarve Pro software the school had ordered when they purchased the router. Apparently the software was purchased though ShopBot, however when Vectric found out about our project they provided VCarve Pro version 8 with a 40 seat student license and one extra for the Shop Teacher. This is way more generous than anyone expected and although I wasn't surprised by their generosity I was so pleased that Vectric was so supportive of our project. I have always felt that Vectric is the best software company I have even been associated with based on the quality of their software to their top notch tech support.
Monday I will be removing the old spoil board and the plywood backer, then loosening several bolts so we can get the frame square again. I hope to to get this done quickly and reinstall the gantry so we can start moving forward on the project. I will undoubtedly be spending some time on the phone with the ShopBot Staff later next week as we mount the new control box and start the wiring process.
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