The Shopbot

At USITT there was alot of interest in cnc machining. Several people there was using a ShopBot. Though it was rumored to be very load, and needed 2 passes through 3/4" plywood, they seemed to like the equipment. Where I work we use a MultiCam for the bulk of our work, along with a Gerber machine. Our machines are no louder than any other shop saw, but easily cut through 3/4" material in one pass. Its amazing to me how much, and how fast technology changes. I think as more machines come out, and they are affordable for scene shops to own and operate, it will really change the way we build scenery, and will allow designers to create organic three dimensional shapes in a way that we have never been able to do economically and efficiently before.