PRSalpha Buddy with Spindle, Powerstick, and casters	PRSstandard Buddy with Spindle, standard-length PowerStick and deck, and casters

Your ShopBot Buddy is either a PRSalpha or PRSstandard model.

• PRSalpha – The aluminum Control Box is already mounted to the stand. The power to the Control Box should be wired into a fused disconnect by a licensed electrician familiar with industrial equipment.

• PRSstandard – The aluminum Control Box is already mounted to the stand. For a PRSstandard with Porter Cable Router, plug the included cable into a 20A 110 circuit. For PRSstandards with spindles, the power to the Control Box should be wired into a fused disconnect by a licensed electrician familiar with industrial equipment.

Your ShopBot Buddy may have the optional casters – note that the Buddy weighs 600 lbs without the PowerStick

You furnish the computer, dust collection system, and deck for PowerSticks longer than the standard size (Standard 24” nominal work depth for X axis; PowerStick length = 48”).

Uncrating and assembly

The corners are held together with several 2” screws, as well as a few freight gussets. The longest sides have screws on the corners (fastening on the ends) and a few along the bottom (fastening to the pallet).

Line up the pre-drilled carriage bolt holes and insert the bolts, located in one of the legs of the “Buddy”, into these holes.

To remove the top of the crate, unscrew the screws located along the top edge on the end opposite the Ramp. Lift / slide top off. Carefully unscrew the crate walls and remove freight gussets.

Remove all right-angle bracing from the feet of the machine. If a caster kit was purchased, raise the leveling legs using a ½” wrench closest to the foot, to allow the Buddy to rest on the casters. Slowly roll / pull your ShopBot Buddy down the Ramp and off the crate. If you have any questions, please contact ShopBot (support@shopbottools.com)

• Remove any boxes from the deck

• Level the tool with the machine glides on each leg. Note that if you have casters, the machine glides should be lowered and the tool leveled when you are using it in order to keep it rigidly positioned.

• If your tool came with a standard size PowerStick, it will be in the crate already fitted with an initial Deck. Unless you specified an optional phenolic deck, the one on your PowerStick will be plywood. Install the PowerStick by pulling out the Release Knob located on the right side of the Buddy as you face it. Pull the knob out and move it to the right to lock it in the released position. This positions the motor and pinion so that the PowerStick can be installed.

Mount Your Router or Spindle

Since the power requirements are different for a Porter Cable router than for a Spindle, we install different components in the Control Box depending on which cutter you specified at the time you placed your order. They are not interchangeable.

If You Have a Porter Cable Router

The Porter Cable fits into the aluminum sleeve that is already attached to the Z-axis.

• Remove the plastic insert from the router mount.

• Slide the router barrel into the plastic insert and then into the aluminum sleeve. Note that there is a hole in the plastic insert so that the grounding screw can be tightened into electrical contact with the router shell. Line this up when you are inserting the router into the mounting sleeve.

• Tighten the router into the bracket with an Allen wrench. Then tighten the grounding screw “hand-tight”.

• Plug the router into the heavy duty extension cord receptacle.

If You Have a Spindle

The spindle will come fitted with a custom aluminum backing plate. This plate attaches to the pre-drilled holes at the bottom of the Z axis using 6, 5/16” socket-head bolts. These bolts pass through the beam and into the plate. As they are tightened, they will seat at the bottom of the groove in the slot..

• Pull the Z axis beam down to expose the back of the 6 bolt holes. Clamp it in position so it does not pull back up while you are working on it. Hold the spindle to the beam and start the 6 bolts into the plate. Note that these bolts have no washers.

• Pull the plate up evenly by tightening all the bolts gradually. Then do a final tightening of all the bolts.

Electrical connections

Hooking Up Your PRSalpha Buddy

Except for wiring the Control Box to your electrical service, all the electrical connections for your ShopBot Buddy have been made. Details of the wiring are provided in full here for your information and reference.

The power to the PRSalpha control box should be wired into a fused disconnect by a licensed electrician familiar with industrial equipment.

The Power Requirements for the PRSalpha control box and Router/Spindle vary according to your configuration. The table below outlines some of the power requirements for different configurations. A schematic for the power requirements for your specific configuration can be found in the door of the PRSalpha control box

Since the power requirements for a Porter Cable router and for a spindle are different, we install different components in the PRSalpha control box depending on which you will be using. This is not user configurable. Configurations were specified at the time these components were ordered.

ShopBot Configuration PRSalpha: US Standard, 60Hz

PRSalpha Control Box and Porter Cable Router

220V single phase, 25A circuit. The 2 legs will be split into two 110 circuits inside the PRSalpha control box: one for the PRSalpha control box, and one for the router.

PRSalpha Control Box and Spindle (3 phase)

110V 25A circuit for the PRSalpha control box plus 230V 3-phase circuit for the spindle. Specifications for full-load current of the different models of spindle are provided with the spindle.

PRSalpha Control Box and Spindle (single phase)

110V 25A circuit for the PRSalpha control box plus 220V single phase circuit for the spindle. Specifications for full-load current of the different models of spindle are provided with the spindle.

PRSalpha Control Box and two Porter Cable routers

220V single phase, 30A circuit. The 2 legs will be split into two 110 circuits inside the PRSalpha control box: one for the PRSalpha control box, and one for the two routers.

PRSalpha Control Box and two Spindles

110V 25A circuit for the PRSalpha control box plus the appropriate 220V or 230V circuit for the spindles. 

ShopBot Configuration PRSalpha: European Standard, 50Hz

PRSalpha Control Box and 230V/50Hz Porter Cable Router (single speed)

230V single phase line with 15A circuit for the PRSalpha control box plus 15A/230V single phase line for the Porter Cable Router.

PRSalpha Control Box and Spindle (3-phase)

230 V single phase circuit (15A) for the PRSalpha control box plus 380V 3-phase circuit for the Spindle. Specifications for full-load current of the different models of spindle are provided with the spindle. 

Hooking Up Your PRSstandard Buddy

The power to the PRSstandard control box should be wired into a fused disconnect by a licensed electrician familiar with industrial equipment. If the PRSstandard control box is on a ShopBot Buddy, the incoming power will need to be wired in, but the Zzero plate and proximity switches are already wired. ShopBot Buddy owners should use this as a reference guide to how the systems work. The 60Hz PRSstandard with Porter Cable router is the only exception to this, it comes pre-wired.

The Power Requirements for the PRSstandard control box and Router/Spindle vary according to your configuration. The table below outlines some of the power requirements for different configurations. A schematic for the power requirements for your specific configuration can be found in the door of the PRSstandard control box

Since the power requirements for a Porter Cable router and for a spindle are different, we install different components in the PRSstandard control box depending on which you will be using. This is not user configurable. Configurations were specified at the time these components were ordered.

ShopBot Configuration PRSstandard: US Standard, 60Hz

PRSstandard Control Box and Porter Cable Router

110V 20A circuit. This single source 110V line will supply service for both the PRSstandard control box and for the router. This will come with a 20A plug installed.

PRSstandard Control Box and 2.2-3HP Spindles (single phase)

220V 60A circuit for the PRSstandard control box and the spindle. Specifications for full-load current of the different models of spindle are provided with the spindle. This will need to be wired by a licensed electrician.

PRSstandard Control Box and 4-5HP Spindles (single phase)

220V 90A circuit for the PRSstandard control box and the spindle. Specifications for full-load current of the different models of spindle are provided with the spindle. This will need to be wired by a licensed electrician.

PRSstandard Control Box and 2.2-3HP Spindles (3 phase)

230V 40A circuit for the PRSstandard control box and the spindle. Specifications for full-load current of the different models of spindle are provided with the spindle. This will need to be wired by a licensed electrician.

PRSstandard Control Box and 4-5HP Spindles (3 phase)

230V 60A circuit for the PRSstandard control box and the spindle. Specifications for full-load current of the different models of spindle are provided with the spindle. This will need to be wired by a licensed electrician.

ShopBot Configuration PRSstandard: European Standard, 50Hz

PRSstandard Control Box and 2.2-3HP Spindles (single phase)

230V 60A circuit for the PRSstandard control box and spindle. Specifications for full-load current of the different models of spindle are provided with the spindle. This will need to be wired by a licensed electrician.

PRSstandard Control Box and 4-5HP Spindles (single phase)

230V 90A circuit for the PRSstandard control box and spindle. Specifications for full-load current of the different models of spindle are provided with the spindle. This will need to be wired by a licensed electrician.

PRSstandard Control Box and 2.2-5HP Spindles (3-phase)

380V 30A circuit for the PRSstandard control box and spindle. Specifications for full-load current of the different models of spindle are provided with the spindle. This will need to be wired by a licensed electrician.

Grounding

The Buddy requires no separate grounding. However, a dust collection system and/or vacuum system should be grounded to the System Ground according to their respective instructions.

Leveling

ShopBot Buddies are meant to be mobile so that they can be readily reconfigured for a shops needs or to get them out of the way when not in use. However, they should always be leveled before use to make sure that there is no distortion or unexpected binding in the motion of any of the axes.

Adjusting the Rollers

Roller height is preset at the factory. If they need to be adjusted, set the height so that they are level and just touching the bottom of the deck. Make any adjustments you need to make to the rollers for a particular project before you surface/flatten your work surface or material.

Adjust the rollers by moving the height of the bolts at each end of the roller axle. Make sure to lock in the height with the nut when you get the height right.

Installing the PRS Dust Skirt

The ShopBot Dust Skirt is designed to collect dust from routine operations as well as to prevent discharge of debris from the cutter. However, use of this dust skirt should not reduce or replace common industry safety practices and recommendations. Safety glasses should always be worn whenever the machine is in use. Be especially careful when the spindle or router is in operation.

These instructions show how to install the PRS dust skirt on both the PRSstandard and PRSalpha ShopBots.

Mounting the Dust Skirt

On the back of the Z axis extrusion, loosen the ¼”-20 thumb screw. It is not necessary to remove the thumb screw.

Align the shroud assembly shaft with the opening in the bottom of the extrusion. Insert the shroud assembly shaft upward into the extrusion and tighten the thumb screw.

The dust skirt is designed so that the height of the dust skirt can be set by tightening the thumb screw into the dust skirt bar. The dust skirt will then move up and down with the Z-axis as it moves throughout the cutting file.

The cutter may not be aligned in the center of the hole in the dust skirt but this should not affect performance.

Connecting to the Dust Collection System

The dust skirt comes with about 24” of flex tubing and a 4” hose clamp which can be used to connect to 4” hose. You are responsible for furnishing the dust collection system and any necessary connections that run between the dust skirt and the dust collection system. We recommend the use of tubing/hose containing a built-in metal conduit. ShopBot does not provide either dust collection solutions or hose to connect the dust skirt to the dust collection system.

Grounding the Dust Skirt

Dust collection systems can generate a high amount of static electricity. We recommend that users ground their dust collection systems to help prevent static discharge. This static discharge can create electrical noise which can disrupt the control system and has the potential to start a fire in the dust inside the hose or collection system. If using tubing with a metal conduit, the grounding clip on the dust skirt can easily be clipped to the conduit. The other end of this conduit should be grounded to a good electrical ground such as the frame of the dust collector. If tubing without a metal conduit is used, it is recommended to run copper wiring through the inside of the tubing as well as around the outside. Run a thin-gauge wire through the inside of the tubing that will reach from the dust skirt’s grounding clip to a grounding location on the dust collector’s frame. Wrap a second thin-gauge wire from the dust skirts grounding clip to the same grounding location on the dust collector. This wire should encircle the tubing every foot for the full length of the tubing. Both wires should be clipped to the dust skirt and grounded to the same location on the frame of the dust collector.

 

Using the ShopBot with the Dust Skirt

Caution: Never attempt to place hands in or near the dust skirt while the spindle/router is turning

Changing Bits with the Dust Skirt in place

To change bits, loosen the thumb screw until it frees the shroud assembly shaft. With the collet of the Z-axis resting about 6” above the material, allow the dust skirt to rest at the bottom of its travel . The dust skirt should fall out of the way so that the collet and shaft of the router/spindle are exposed to change tooling.

After the bit change, position the dust skirt to the desired height and retighten the thumb screw

 

Setting the correct height for the Dust Skirt

Setting the dust skirt to the correct height is most often dependent on the material thickness and length of bit. Set the height of the dust skirt equal to the material thickness, minus 1/8” above the tip of the bit. This allows the bit to reach full depth of cut and only deflects the dust skirting slightly

Positioning the dust skirt at a depth equal to the tip of the bit will cause the dust skirting to grossly deflect and may cause premature wear or even failure in the plastic shroud . In some 3D applications the dust skirt may not be applicable or practical if relief of the part is greater than 4”.

Decks for the PowerStick

The deck is the first level of support for your work surface. If your Buddy came with a standard size PowerStick (24” nominal work area; 48” stick) we’ve put a plywood deck on it to get you started. As you begin to use your tool, you will develop an idea about the type, size, and shape of deck that best suits your work.

Typically, you will attach an additional sacrificial sheet of material (also called a spoilboard) to the deck, or you may attach a plenum for a vacuum hold-down system. The t-track slots in the PowerStick provide a convenient system for securing the deck to the PowerStick. We’ve used bolts and t-nuts to attach the “starter” deck, but you can also use clamps in the slots.

Suggested Materials

for Future Decks

• ½” or ¾” Plywood
  Always a good choice - 2 laminated pieces of ½” is particularly stable

• ¾” MDF or LDF
  Not as stable but may work well for many applications particularly when you are not using a full size deck

• ½” or ¾” Phenolic

• ½” Aluminum Plate

for a Vacuum Plenum

(2^nd layer, only used if installing a vacuum hold-down system):

• ¾” extruded sheet PVC

• ¾” MDF (must be sealed after machining)

• ¾” Phenolic

• ¾” Polyethylene

for the Top Layer (sacrificial or spoil board)

• ¾” LDF

• ¾” MDF

• ½” or ¾” Plywood can also be your sacrificial layer

Sizing Your Deck

Your deck can be sized for the projects you will be doing. It can be as narrow or wide as convenient, however, you will probably want the deck an inch or two wider than the PowerStick to keep debris from accumulating on the tracks. Keeping the deck about 3” wider than projects will improve dust collection by providing an extended surface at the edges for the dustskirt to work.

We recommend that the length of the deck be extended to within about 6” of the PowerStick at each end. Keeping the deck long is a SAFETY measure. It avoids creating a pinch point behind the front and back rollers under the deck.

Attaching the Spoil Board Material to Your “Starter” Deck

You can screw, glue, or clamp the sacrificial spoil board surface on your deck. But to keep it simple, let’s say you are using ¾” MDF. Screw it on with drywall screws from under the deck. Make sure you completely sink the heads of the screws so that they do not bump on the rollers. You can take the deck off and turn it over on the spoil board to hold it while you are attaching it, or you can leave the deck on and have someone press down from above while you drive the screws in. For many types of projects, after you’ve installed a spoil board you will want to surface it flat before beginning work. See “Surfacing your Table”. Use a surfacing bit such as the one included in the ShopBot Starter Bit Kit. Also, see the next section on adjusting rollers before doing your surfacing.

Working with Longer PowerSticks

PowerSticks of varied lengths add great versatility to what you can accomplish with your Buddy. The moving work bed on a CNC tool allows you to cut, drill, and machine projects of much greater length than the standard bed size of your tool. The work area of your Buddy can be lengthened with a longer PowerStick. One or more PowerSticks can also be used as multiple work fixtures that can be readily swapped in and out of your tool. And, you will be able to quickly switch back to using your standard length PowerStick at any time.

Longer PowerSticks are installed and used similarly to the standard PowerStick. But, there are some additional things to think about due to the length of the stick.

Out-Feed Support

A PowerStick over about 6’ will typically need some sort of out-feed support. ShopBot offers an Out-Feed System for Buddies with PowerSticks that includes 4 configurable, 4-ft long out-feed rollers -- 2 on each side of the Buddy tool. However, there are many other out-feed support solutions that should suffice for PowerStick work. These include using adjustable-stand, shop rollers, or fabricating special-purpose feed systems. Note that even though the PowerStick seems quite rigid, pressure on a long, unsupported stick can cause the work surface to bow and affect cutting.

Part and Material Hold-Down

Holding material down to keep it from moving on the table during cutting and to keep it flat will be a challenge with PowerSticks just as it is with standard gantry tools … perhaps more of a challenge. As with traditional CNC, vacuum hold-down is one option. However, the space for vacuum under the PowerStick table is limited and the weight must be kept low.

Spring-loaded hold-down wheels also offer a useful method for material holding with PowerSticks. Support for such hold-downs can be positioned across the table sides at each end of the Buddy frame, and then spring-loaded wheels might be swung down from the support. Wheel pressure can also be applied with other methods and may be directed around the cutting area itself or the edges of the material being machined.

We believe that new uses of the Buddy such as in construction will promote development of additional clamping methods, particularly in the area of semi-automatic clamping, fixturing, and fencing for jobsite applications. The Buddy with PowerStick is the first robotic tool ready for onsite construction work.

Tempering Expectations for PowerSticks with a Little Realism

The Buddy with PowerStick is a whole new concept for flexible CNC. We have a number of applications in mind for this new flexibility but we believe that even more interesting applications will arise as ShopBotters begin to put these tools to use and develop creative new approaches and techniques in their use. That means we can give you some ideas about where to start and issues that may arise, but also realize that you are an early adopter of a new type of CNC tool having new and un-explored opportunities and possibilities -- and there’s a lot still to be worked out.

It is true that some pretty big material can now be cut on little tools with PowerSticks, and that a small tool can now be used for a big job. But a PowerStick will not replace a table and gantry tool for intense commercial applications such as cabinet production from full sheets. A PowerStick does not offer the same rigidity or perfect flatness afforded by a gantry CNC router for cutting full sheets of plywood. Additionally, it does not offer the space for installing an industrial vacuum hold-down system in the way that a gantry table offers. A PowerStick tool will require almost twice as much floor space during the cutting of a large project because the entire panel must move to each side of the Buddy for full cutting.

When deck material, sacrificial spoilboard, and project material are added to a PowerStick, the X-axis can become heavy. This will place a large load on the X-axis motor. Particularly with PRSstandard Buddies, be careful to avoid pushing the PowerStick beyond the motors’ capabilities and causing it to miss steps. Although this is less of a problem with the more powerful PRSalpha Buddies, be aware that when large loads are placed on the X-axis, mechanicals and speeds should be adjusted downward accordingly. In any case, please note that it is dangerous to move the tables too quickly as persons standing around the tool may not be expecting the table to move towards them at a high rate.