“Origin” The New Handheld CNC of the Future...

On one hand, the Shaper Origin is a self-guiding router. On the other hand, it's a CNC machine that can fit in a backpack. And on both hands - it's very cool!

For shops that need to cut complicated shapes out of wood, there were always two popular options: Use a CNC mill or a handheld router. The former requires lots of space and can be pricey. And the latter is much more affordable, but requires making templates for repetition.

So, along came a company called Shaper who has combined the two to provide a third option. Their Origin is a trim router wrapped in a small computer, equipped with a camera and tricked-out with a self-correcting mechanism that precisely places the cutting head, rather like an auto-targeting system; the user need only get it in the general vicinity.

Click on the pictures to watch the videos.

The above videos were made and edited by the people from Shaper, and below is a video from Jimmy DiResta using this amazing tool, and another one by the people from “Make”.

Click on the pictures to watch the videos.

The Origin will still have certain limitations that all routers do, like burning the work piece if your feed rate is incorrect, and having to deal with clamps getting in the way while working on smaller pieces, etc. But this is just an early stage for a powertool that will get better and better over the time.

And some other benefits of using Origin are:

• No need to take time to make templates
• No need to store templates
• Portable
• Affordable
• And the list will grow. I want one!!

I believe this is going to be huge!!!!

Cheers, Gaston