For me, working in a small workshop and not commercially, with the Origin, I can use my Festool MFT as a work surface and bring my CAD designs directly to the wood without needing to print them on paper and use bandsaw, belt sander, spindle sander etc. to cut them out. I love it Shaper Origin comes with Origin, a couple of rolls of domino tape, a dust collection hose, and a systainer. I don't know about this one, they all focus on one hip advantage and hide all the new inconveniences their solution creates. When I see the comparisons between these two machines as well as what has come before I see a major obstacle that I would have to have time and real life experience provide the ramp to overcome: dealing with workpiece resistance. IMHO there are 2 major innovations in the Shaper, one being the freehand form factor but more importantly for everyday use is the onboard CAM. Anyone who has experience in traditional CAD/CAM workflows should appreciate the ability to have the onboard motion control software take over CAM.

The big, big difference between the Origin and a flat-bed CNC is not this, however. It's that you have to move it yourself. If you have an hour of cutting to do, you need to move the machine around for an hour while you're standing next to it with ear protection on. This is tiring and you need absolute concentration the whole time. If you are doing things commercially and have enough shop space, having a flat-bed CNC would enable you use that hour for something else, even if you need to be in the vicinity just to keep an eye on it. As noted by @neilc the Shaper does not require CAM or even CAD, which it the game-changer for me. I am somewhat skilled in Fusion & very comfortable designing in Sketchup but creating toolpaths is another layer of complexity. Being a sometimes user I end up making mistakes that don't show up until midway thru cutting so there are a lot of do-overs. A CNC is for carving-type items with multiple features, layers, and detail. The main downside is the bed size for many affordable sizes, and the space needed for the larger bed size. A CNC does almost everything the Origin can as long as it fits within the confines of the bed, but a Shaper Origin cannot do everything that a CNC can do.

Getting Started With Origin

I have used my Origin to make some jigs - shapes cut out of 12mm ply for use on a router table with a trim bit. They are 30-40cm long. I haven't measured the accuracy but so far have found the following:

Hence I decided to voice my disagreement with ToS like the one from Shaper Origin, in the hopes that they'll see the light and change them (and it would likely be enough to have the ToS reflect the practice they claim to be doing anyway)... so I can continue to vote with my wallet, just then through opening it. It's cool to see it doing a small cut in the middle of a giant panel, as cool as watching an SUV commercial with it driving through the desert or on a beach. That just doesn't happen in every day life. Experienced Origin users achieve cut quality and precision comparable to a gantry-based CNC. Less experience is needed to achieve cuts far greater than 1/100th of an inch using Origin. Where is Shaper Origin made?Timtool - that's what I was thinking, you expressed it better than I could have. It's a novel idea but I think the Shaper is more practical. In reality you want your CNC to get the most out of your material, work close to the edge and cut out parts close to each other. bobfog - fair point. Not a major concern for me as I expect to use it for a lot of one-off small parts or operations like cutting finger joints or mortises in end/edge grain. Not trying to advocated for one over the other as everyone's use case will vary.

Credit subject to status and affordability. Terms and conditions apply. Axminster Tool Centre Ltd trading as Axminster Tools is a credit broker and is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Credit is provided by Novuna Personal Finance, a trading style of Mitsubishi HC Capital UK PLC, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Financial Services Register no. 704348. Like any CNC machine, pre-programmed computer software dictates the movement of tool. Origin features precision X, Y and Z axes with automatic tool tip detection. The large screen displays the path of the design for you to follow, the really clever bit is the full auto correction for the movement of your hands guaranteeing precise results every time. Quote from: Richard/RMW on October 07, 2017, 01:27 PM @Timtool - that's what I was thinking, you expressed it better than I could have. It's a novel idea but I think the Shaper is more practical.

Designing with Studio

Quote from: Timtool on October 07, 2017, 11:09 AM I don't know about this one, they all focus on one hip advantage and hide all the new inconveniences their solution creates. I love innovation. I am getting more skeptical on the whole crowd funding aspect because it is investing in a future product based on emotions. Shaper Origin is the first handheld CNC router. It is for woodworkers, and users looking to add CNC capabilities to their shop without the learning curve, footprint, and cost. That is in contrast to what a traditional CNC machine entails. When Origin is alone, the woodworker applies a tape to the workpiece, and Origin scans that to create a map. The Origin knows where it is and where it needs to go at all times. And when using Workstation as a fixture, do not apply new ShaperTape because Workstation has a permanent and reusable tape array ready to go. The tool has an automatic cut correction. Pros

This Shaper Origin handheld precision CNC router offers unparalleled accuracy, flexibility and efficiency. Shaper Origin features a larger 5.5” high resolution screen, a 25% increase in size. The entire assembly is now housed in a sleek, super strong aluminium unibody construction. The Shaper Origin, literally puts CNC routing at your fingertips.Still, all of this bodes well for the creation of a whole new category of tools for small shops/mobile work. I already have 3 CNC small machines and I believe the Shaper can replace them all. Anyone interested in an early version of the HandiBot at a great price? Personally I will sit on my fence post and wait to see how this whole concept works out once once it goes beyond the company and their network of beta testers and influencers. The Ts and Cs will always advantage the corporation. I can think of scenarios where they would want to take ownership of content uploaded to their platform (e.g. to advertise the platform without having to license every individual item uploaded, or to remove content that is inappropriate). This is a cloud service as much as it is a hardware device, so of course since they are paying to manage the infrastructure they could turn it off without legal consequences... Customers would vote with their wallets and likely avoid Shaper like the plague, and potentially Festool as well. I think the likelihood of that happening, at least in the short/medium term, is extremely low. Knowing that I probably only have another 40 years on this planet, I've decided to concern myself with more pressing priorities. Origin can’t see enough ShaperTape to guarantee cutting precision. That could be due to cutting through some of the tapes in the workspace. Before you begin cutting, travel over your entire design in Aircut Mode to verify that your tape metre will be healthy throughout the cut. which basically codifies that they can change the ToS to turn your shaper origin into a pay-per-use device, grant them ius primae noctis or whatever else evil things one can come up with... and the moment you turn on your (*sig*) shaper origin the next time you agree to let them charge your VISA per mm routed, to bend over and relax or comply with whatever else they might come up with. And in case you're not agreeing you, as of the first quote, only have the option to scrap the machine as you're legally unable to sell it as fit for the original purpose since you can not transfer the software license...