About This Bootcamp

Are you ready to make your own furniture? Want to learn more about using the Shopbot / CNC machine? This is your chance. Sign up for this 5-week Bootcamp series to learn to design and make a simple piece of furniture on the Shopbot that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

A basic overview of design principles will use the free Fusion 360 software package and the VCarve Pro software provided on Hacker Lab computers to develop the model and create toolpaths for your project. Using the Sacramento Hacker Lab Shopbot, you will get a chance to learn to carve legs and the base of stacked furniture designs, along with various options for joinery. In the last week of class, you will finish and assemble your cut pieces into a completed piece of furniture.

A Quick Look

Class #1 – Design:

• Furniture design considerations - General
• Furniture design considerations - CNC specific
• Furniture design considerations - Joinery
• Furniture Design considerations - Materials
• Designing using Fusion 360

Class #2 – CNC Practice:

• Toolpaths for furniture
• Bit selection
• Hold down considerations
• Speeds and feeds
• Shopbot refresher

Example cut: The instructor will take one completed design and walk the group through the process of cutting it. This will give everyone a refresher on using the shopbot.

Classes #3 & #4 – CNC Cuts and Overview of Finishing Options: Students sign up for time on the Shopbot for supervised help to cut their pieces.

Class #5 – Fabrication in the shop: Students sand, paint or stain and assemble their pieces, overview of possibilities for further advanced techniques.  

Prerequisite: You must have taken the “ShopBot 100” class at the Midtown Hacker Lab to sign up for this class. It is preferred that you have some design experience, and this isn’t your first time using design software. (Take our “Intro to Design for Laser Cutter” if there’s time.)

Class Dates & Times

Here are the dates and times:

Wednesday, from 6:00-9:00 pm: January 24th

Saturdays, from 2:00-6:00 pm:   Jan 27th, Feb 3rd, Feb 10th, and Feb 17th.

About the Instructor

Michael Rowan has been working with and around tools in one fashion or another since he put down his toy hammer and saw to help his dad with DIY projects around the house, shop, and garage as a kid. Taking a jack-of-all-trades approach to learning he focused on understanding how tools did their job with the idea that if you understand the how, problem solving and innovative use aren’t far behind. At 19 he decided that a career in the fire service would match his desire to work with his hands and problem solve while also allowing him to serve his community. He has been working locally since 2011 as a fireman, paramedic, and HazMat specialist and will draw on his variety of experiences to teach the basics of operating an Oxy-Acetylene torch with an emphasis on safe use as well as an understanding of the capabilities of the tool so students can implement it to meet their own needs going forward.