Using the ShopBotto Cut a Student

in Half

For our production of Leonid Andreyev’s The One That Gets Slapped, the director

asked us to make a working replica of Horace Goldin's "dismiddlement" device

based on his 1923 patent. While this document included detailed drawings, none of them indicated the

scale they were drawn in.

As I began drafting the working drawings, I quickly became aware that this wasn't the

simple box that it appeared to be. Don't be fooled by my photos of the finished product

either. This thing took seven sheets of birch ply (with almost no waste) and had a

significant number of critical dados, rabbets, moving parts and other

complications that required precision craftsmanship to keep from revealing the

device's secrets.

Since exporting the working drawings to .dxf files required little more than a

mouse click or two, converting them to cutting files was a snap. For the record,

the hidden, nesting trap doors had a 1/32" tolerance and were so close to air tight that

we had to make a series of masked breathing holes to keep the carbon dioxide

build-up at a safe level for the "unseen" performer.

The Mockup…

…used to test thesize and access

to the secretcompartment

A file being cut on the ShopBot

The final product after assembly and painting

Details…

The test meterand a screen shot

during testing

In performance…

Look mom, no feet!

ShopBot part files and PowerPoint presentation created by

John D. ErvinTechnical Director

Department of Theater & DanceColby College

Copyright © 2008