Shelves from the Shopbot

Asher Dunn shows me and Shawn Wallace a cherry wood glassblowing mold that was made on the Shopbot at Keeseh Studios. Photo by Elliot Clapp.

I designed some shelves and cut them out on a Shopbot!
While working, all pieces have to be secured to the bed of the machine (or to each other) because the tool is so powerful that the router could send a loose piece flying and seriously hurt someone.
I screwed my 4' x 8' sheet of MDO (medium density overlaid plywood) to the bed of the machine, and we programmed it to cut tabs between some of the parts so they would remain attached to each other. The finished sheet resembled a plastic toy whose tabbed pieces would be broken apart and snap assembled.

Here are some of the shelves after being cut on the Shopbot, and broken apart with a jigsaw.

Thanks to the Avineris for letting me borrow a palm sander. I used it to sand the tabs off the shelf edges. Pictured above are some shelves of the smallest size.

I primed, painted, and installed the shelves in a corner. The largest piece is 45" wide.

I have more shelf pieces cut, but I haven't yet decided where to install them.

Photos of my pieces on the Shopbot at Keeseh Studios will be posted after the holiday.