Sheldon, the 8x8 Shelter 2.

0 design

INTRO:

The Shelter 2.0 design is a digitally-fabricated structure originally designed to be transitional

housing, needed in the time between initial emergency response with tents and temporary
housing, and permanent reconstruction/relocation. It has a raised floor, doors for security, open
space in walls for insulation, and is built from materials that give it a lifespan much longer than
many other options. It was also created to be fabricated efficiently in a CNC machine and to be
assembled by unskilled labor with minimal tools. More information can be found at the project at
www.shelter20.com

MATERIALS AND HARDWARE:

For the 3/4" material we like Advantech from Huber...it's stable, stays flat for easy CNC cutting,
is environmentally sound, and is strong and weather resistant. The ½” panels we generally cut
out of plywood and we tend to use Radiata Pine plywood from Chile. The two brands we like in
particular are AraucoPly and Selex for their strength and consistency. CDX construction
plywood is a bit cheaper, but can be pretty warped making it hard to CNC cut.

We’ve experimented with OSB and REALLY wanted it to work because it's pretty cheap, but it
just doesn't have the strength or stability needed for long-term use. Your mileage may vary.

The quantities of these and the other materials required for one Sheldon Shelter can be found
online at http://bit.ly/Sheldon_Materials

FILES:

These files have been especially modified for schools and other fabricators that may be cutting
with a router, possibly a PRT or PRS Standard tool and without a vacuum holddown systems.
They include VCarve Pro files created using an earlier version, v8.5, along with ShopBot files for
both holddown screw holes and parts cutout.

CAUTION: Be aware that although quite a few Sheldon Shelters have been cut in our
shop and others, they were cut on PRS Alpha tools with spindles and Vac holddown
systems. We have modified our production files to create these files, but until they have
been cut by others there is no guarantee that they are 100% correct. We have lots of CNC
experience and have used our best guesses for things like holddown screw placement
and quantity, but consider them untested
BITS AND TOOLPATHING:

We’ve toolpathed these files to cut pretty conservatively with a ¼” Endmill, cutting the ½” parts
at 2”/sec in two passes and the ¾” parts at 2”/sec in three passes. These are the tool database
settings we used, but feel free to modify to fit your cutting style.

The plastic ceiling panels and expanded PVC roof panels are toolpathed with an 1/8”
Downspiral bit to help keep the material held down to the table These are the settings we used
for that bit:
HOLDDOWN SCREWS:

Each sheet of parts has two ShopBot files. One drills holddown screw holes and the other does
the cutting and drilling of the parts. You can temporarily clamp the material to the table at the
corners when you run the holddown screws files, but remember to remove the clamps before
running the drill and cutout file.

Some of the holddown screws are in the waste material, but the majority are in parts and will be
used for screws or bolts during Shelter assembly. So don’t be concerned that some will drill all
the way through and others will be shallow indicator dimples…if the Holddown file drills a hole or
makes a mark, drive a screw in it!

VCARVE PRO FILES:

Each sheet has a VCarve file that is organized with entities on layers that have names that give
a few details about their purpose and a unique color. Please explore them before you cut each
sheet, so that you have a good idea of what will happen. For instance you can turn off all the
layers except for the Holddown Screws layer to see where they will be drilled, to make sure you
are clamping in a safe place.