Shaper Autopass Extension

Disclaimer,

 

Boys and Girls,

 

I’m planning/have started a series of reviews about the Shaper Origin and associated accoutrements:-

1.     Shaper Origin.

2.     Shaper Plate.

3.     Shaper Workstation.

4.     Shaper BenchPilot.

5.     Shaper Workstation Upgrade.

6.     Shaper Studio.

7.     Shaper Trace.

8.     Shaper Autopass Extension (this review).

 

 

This is how the Shaper WEB site sum up the Shaper Autopass Extension (SAE):-

This review is only applicable for owners of a Shaper Origin, or those curious about what they are missing… bye Pottzy.

 

Offset is a feature of Origin that permits cutting a fraction inside/outside the actual perimeter by a small offset and take the finishing cut on the actual line with a 0.0 offset that will smooth out any potential discrepancies due to multiple depth cuts as the depth of a cut should not exceed the diameter of the bit.

 

An extension to the Shaper Origin software/firmware that can be purchased is called “Autopass”. 

This bit of software is already bundled into the BenchPilot (BP) software, however, if operating outside BP, it is not available without a separate purchase. 

It is only licensed for one Origin and can only be transferred, not shared, with another unit. To transfer, one must contact Shaper support.

 

If available either through the BP of purchased, the option will be available on the Origin screen (1) and may be activated, using the touch screen, to break the cut into multi passes.

 

When using the Origin, it is recommended that a depth plunge does not exceed the diameter of the router bit. Consequently, it's suggested to perform multi depth passes for cuts deeper than the router bits diameter.

 

Without Autopass (1… mine is disabled for this demo ), 

and if you wanted to cut through a 18mm piece of timber using a 6.35mm bit (3), you would need to plunge around 19mm (2) for total separation.

The first cut would be nominally set at 6.5mm (2)

the second at 13mm

and the 3rd cut at 19mm

 

None of which had a prior offset for a fourth finishing cut.  If required the offset would need to be changed and a fourth cut executed with zero offset.

 

Now let’s invoke Autopass by touching the Autopass button (1) on the screen,

highlighting the Autopass “button” (1) and by touching the “#” Passes button (2)  

the passes screen is displayed,

 

… the number of passes is automatically calculated based on the overall depth of cut (1) and the bit diameter (3), displaying the cuts to be performed (4) and a summary (5).  Note that the offset (2) is set to 0, however, the offset is incorporated in each pass in table (4). 

Depending on one’s druthers you can increase/decrease the number of passes by pressing the appropriate button (6).

Each time the increase (+) button (2) is pressed, 

the number of passes is incremented by one (2) and the passes matrix updated accordingly (1),

with a new depth of cut… the offset will stay the same.. No settings on the left-hand columns are changed.

A negative (-) press will decrement the passes by 1 (DOH!),

and on exit the new passes will be displayed (1),

Note that this action could/would conflict the “depth rule” forcing a 9.5mm plunge with the 6.35mm bit… the plunge is not the issue, but lateral bit movement may be compromised.  This is the issue with manually settings without Autopass.

 

When you turn on Origin with the stand alone Autopass and start cutting the circle, once a pass is completed, the bit is automatically lowered to the next depth and you continue on the second next path of the circle until the final path where the bit is left at the same height but the offset is removed out of that pass.

You have to circle route according to the number of passes and if execution is interrupted, on resumption, the Origin will prompt the starting point and will continue at the last settings as would have been done with continual processing.
Progressive warnings/milestones are displayed (1 - "Approaching Finish Pass"),

 

With the BP, all this is automatic and the number of passes are transparent to the user. 

Origin highlights progress on its screen by different path hues (blue shading in above picture). 

 

For all the wretches not having Autopass, to can make the first pass on the Origin with a negative/positive offset/depth changing the details real time with each pass and setting the last pass with 0 offset on the Origin. Just make sure you offset in the right direction, as offsets between inside and outside cuts are opposite (+ or -). These changes need to be manually set before each pass.

 

You can stipulate multi passes using Studio, however, with my limited testing, I could only get 2 passes working.

         

 

 

End of the Shaper spruiking… AMEN!

 

Don’t be crafty  Craftisians,... SHARE  your craft!