field notes — the shop
Every machine in our shop has a story: what it is, how it works, and what you can make with it. Scan the plaque next to any machine and it lands you right here — or browse the whole lineup below.
in the wood shop
CNC router
carves full 4×8 sheets
The ShopSabre PRO 408 is an industrial CNC router with a 4′ × 8′ table — big enough to swallow a full sheet of plywood. It lives in its own room off the wood shop, with a viewing window so you can watch it work.
read the field notes →
the whole room
sawdust and real tools
The wood shop is where raw lumber becomes finished projects — a full fabrication space with the real tools professional woodworkers use, set up so learners can work with them safely.
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in the machine shop
CO₂ laser
cuts with a beam of light
The Full Spectrum PS48 is a large-format CO₂ laser cutter and engraver with a 48″ × 36″ bed — one of two big CO₂ lasers in our shop, with room to handle a half sheet of plywood in one go.
read the field notes →
CO₂ laser
our biggest CO₂ laser
The Nova 51 is the biggest CO₂ laser in the shop, with a 51″ × 35″ bed and pass-through doors that let it take on material even longer than the machine itself.
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fiber laser
a laser that cuts steel
The BesCutter Cube 1313 is a fiber laser metal cutter with a 4′ × 4′ bed, sealed inside its own cabinet — the machine in our shop that cuts through solid metal.
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CNC mill
carves solid metal
The Haas VF-0E is a CNC vertical machining center — a computer-controlled mill that carves finished parts out of solid blocks of metal. It's the heaviest-duty machine in our shop, built for the kind of precision manufacturing real factories run on.
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laser welding
welding with light
The welding area is home to the xTool MetalFab, a 1,200-watt laser welder. Instead of the electric arc of traditional welding, it uses a focused beam of light to fuse metal parts into one solid piece.
read the field notes →