Our local makerspace, Fubar Labs, received a ShapeOko kit as part of the initiative to equip makerspaces with CNC mill. I’ve never built anything like this before and was quite intimidated to be honest with you. Everyone knows so much more than me. What if I end up superfluous or what if I totally screw up. Ignoring these doubts and insecurities, I responded to the invite and forced myself out of my comfort zone.
A few people were already there starting the set up pieces. It turned out while they were more mechanically inclined, we were still figuring out how to put things together. Later, another member who had experience building his own Shapeoko guided us while the event leader also pointed the way to the online documentation. With our combined efforts, we made mistakes, fixed them and continued to build them. The crowd was a very amiable group. I found that I wasn’t as useless as I feared I would be and it was much like putting together IKEA furniture with a few more layers and twists. When it came to the more technical stuff involving the Arduino, the ones with expertise took over.
It was a long night but I was glad I participated. It was a step forward as it helped increase my confidence and it was nice to have a great group supporting each other. While I didn’t necessarily understand everything involved, the exposure helped me become familiar with tools and the more advanced stuff. As to what that advanced stuff was, I’ll have to be patient as I continue to learn more as I go along.
Check out the time lapsed video that documented the build — several hours of work in just a few minutes
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