Category: Production Updates

Hey guys, another busy month here for Sienci Labs. Here’s some news to share.

AltMill

We continued to ship machines out in July and we are excited to see people putting their machines together. Our first 50 or so folks should have received their machines and we are expecting to start shipping another 50 units at the start of August. The remaining parts for another 100 units will arrive around the end of August so that we can wrap up the first batch in September. As we typically do in these situations, we are full bore on the assembly of subcomponents, and we will be able to ship things rapidly once everything arrives.

While overall things went smoothly, there were a number of things we needed to improve on and change, or make adjustments to the manufacturing process as we continue to work towards starting shipping for the next 150 machines.

• A number of shipments arrived damaged and we have continually improved the packaging for the AltMill to address these issues. Since we did anticipate some issues to come up when we first start shipping, we’ve staggered some of the shipments to allow us to make sure we are able to fix things as we go along.
• We did also miss shipping the dust shields with the first 13 or so AltMills, which we’ve shipped out as soon as we found out.
• There are a number of improvements to quality we’ve addressed, such as the height of the bearing blocks, threading on the extrusions, and surface finish of some of the parts. These issues were manually fixed for the first 50 machines, of course, but additional QA checks and instructions have been passed down to manufacturers to have taken care of in the future batches.

Besides some of the issues, we’re glad to start getting positive feedback on the ease of assembly and overall quality and construction of the AltMill, and we believe that we will continue to improve this product in all aspects. Thank you to the first group of people who have provided us feedback and support!

Additionally, Batch 2 AltMills are now starting production. We are in the process of ordering 200 sets of parts for large components like extrusions and plates, and 400 sets of parts for smaller components, such as fasteners, bearing blocks, brackets, and couplers.

In other news, are working on a few more things including:

• Having replacement parts like bearings and linear guides up for sale on the store page
• Additional documentation for accessories, such as the dust shoe and Vortex
• Assembly video for the AltMill

LongMill MK2.5

LongMill MK2.5 pending orders have been caught up and new orders should ship within 1-2 weeks. We are now in Batch 9, with 1500 machines, which should keep us stocked for at least the next 4-6 months.

LongMill Spindle and Dust Shoe Kit

Due to the massive amount of interest from the LongMill community, we have now created a specific LongMill Spindle and Dust Shoe Kit! For those who might have already ordered one, the hardware is the same as the AltMill Spindle and Dust Shoe Kit, but with a 80mm router mount. You can find the kit on our store page.

These kits are coming with the AltMill Spindle and Dust Shoe Kits that are coming with Batch 1 and Batch 2 AltMills, and are expected to start shipping at the end of August or early September.

As with everything, we’ve done a lot of testing and research to make sure not only are we able to make sure that the kit is suitable for LongMill users but also to share testing data and our assessment. To read the full article, please check out our blog post.

Sprouter/Makita Router Clone/Spindles

We received another brushless DC motor sample to start another batch of testing. However, we have run into some minor issues and working on a few things such as:

• Making a new batch of motor and bearing mounts
• Improving the plastic sleeving for the motor

There still appear to be some speed-tuning issues we’re still trying to iron out. Development on the BLDC system continues to be a bit of a slow slog as we continue to work with and vet 2-3 different manufacturers.

We have some promising results with the Makita clone. Just for some context:

• We wanted to explore the option of selling our own version of the brushed AC router that other companies currently sell, like the Carbide Compact Router or the Openbuilds RoutER, and started talking with some companies that make them.
• We had done some testing on similar products in the past, as well as a deep dive into the construction of the Makita RT0701 and found some areas that we could improve.
• We could add a few features, such as using an ER collet system, better bearings, and PWM control

We have found that the overall power and speed control performance is acceptable and on-par with the RT0701.

Our next steps from here include:

• Creating a system for 5V input and a switch between manual and PWM control
• Safety and regulatory certification

Panel computer

I’ve been using one of the new panel computers and to this point, they have been fantastic. With regards to the hardware, they are solid and easy to work with. We’ve also tested a number of monitor mounts and designs and have settled on a pretty stable set up that should work well for LongMill and AltMill users.

Our main problem continues to be with trying to sort of a way to get access to Windows 11 licenses. Here’s a few things we’ve learned:

• There are a number of different types of Windows licenses. The one we want needs to allow us to install Windows on the customer’s behalf as a OEM or manufacturer. This means developing a relationship with Microsoft to set up an account. Even though we’ve tried, there doesn’t seem to be a straightforward way to make that happen since we’re way too small of a company it seems.
• As another way to do this, we’re in the process of talking with some solutions providers that partner with companies like Microsoft to implement IT solutions.
• Additionally, we’ve talked with some other, perhaps better known computer manufacturers that can sell us a similar type of touch screen computer.
• There are also some secondary markets for licenses that sell online for a reasonable cost. However, based on our research, buying from these sources do create some risks, such as the licenses stopping working after a while or arbitraged from countries that might not allow the licenses to be used in certain markets or North America. It is still an option to use this, but we are aware that there may be some risks and we are considering our first options as there are less risk of licensing issues.

Vectric 2024 User Group Meeting

We are thrilled to announce our participation in Vectric’s 2024 User Group Meeting! Join us for an exciting weekend of learning and fun at the Embassy Suites Round Rock Hotel in Austin, Texas, on Friday, October 11th, and Saturday, October 12th, 2024. We’ll be showcasing the AltMill and Vortex, and Scott will be a guest speaker. If you can make it, we’d love to see you—stop by and say hello!

For those unfamiliar with Vectric, they create VCarve, an excellent design tool for CNC projects. You can purchase a copy on our website and enjoy the benefit of owning the software with no subscription fees.

To learn more about the Vectric 2024 User Group Meeting, visit Vectric’s event page.

Hey everyone, welcome back for our July 2024 production updates.

AltMill

As we alluded to in the last update, we were hoping to start shipping AltMills mid-June. However, we did run into a few issues:

• There were some issues in the wiring for the spindles, which were done manually in-house to get some put together. We should have new ones arriving soon
• There were some parts on hold for coating due to some scheduling issues in the plant.

However, we are excited to announce we have started shipping AltMills! Horray!

You can also find resources for AltMill here: https://resources.sienci.com/view/am-welcome/

We’ve brought on several new people to help on the production and operations side of the AltMill so that we can ramp up shipping and iron out any kinks as they come up during our production.

Also… new gSender update is expected to come in the second week of July, which will contain settings and defaults for AltMill.

Our first batch of 200 is now sold out, and we are working on stocking up on our second batch. This means that new orders will be part of the second batch. The shipping schedule will also be largely determined by the timely arrival of those parts.

AltMill/LongMill Spindle Kit

I’m not sure where I should add some extra info about the AltMill Spindle Kit, with regards to LongMill compatibility but I’ll throw that in here for now.

We have gotten a lot of requests for the AltMill Spindle Kit to be available as a separate purchase, and we have planned to have it available since the beginning. It is now available in our store.

This also brought up a lot of interest in official spindle support for the LongMill. Some of the factors why we are working on supporting a spindle option include:

• Now that we have established a spindle testing and QC procedure for the AltMill spindles, we can use the same techniques for supporting LongMill as well
• We have created a relationship with an established spindle manufacturer who can build to our specifications
• The production of the AltMill provides enough volume for us to order more spindles, which brings the overall cost down.
• The addition of the SLB greatly improves and simplifies the installation and setup between the controller and the VFD. The SLB and the VFD used in this package allow for RS485 communication which allows for control of the spindle speed directly through gcode and the gSender interface, and can allow for features such as “wait for spindle”, which allows the spindle to get up to speed before starting the cut.
• This interface also allows for additional safety features such as being able to stop due to spindle issues and shut things down in the case of an emergency (with the SLB)
• With the improved motor holding capabilities of the SLB, the Z axis is better able to support the weight of the axis.

I should include that the spindle can be used with the original LongBoard, however there are some limitations

• Speed control through code or gSender may not be supported out of the box. It is possible to control it using the PWM, but a converter from 5V PWM to 0-10V analogue may be needed. The spindle can be controlled manually and turned on and off directly from the VFD, and so it can still be used this way.
• The added weight of the spindle may be enough to cause the Z axis to come down when no power is going to the motors. To mitigate this, users can use the command “$1=255”, which causes the drivers to hold their position. However, this constantly powers the motors and use a lot of power. There is no way to control how much power goes to the motor and each motor draws full current when this setting is turned on. The SLB allows for specific current values when the machine is stationary, so power draw can be controlled.

With that in mind, to take advantage of the new features, it is strongly recommended to use the spindle with the SLB.

We have ordered 200 spindle kits to finish the first batch of AltMills, plus an additional 200 kits that will be shared between AltMill sales and separate spindle kit sales. These are expected to arrive in mid-August.

At this stage, the spindle used for the AltMill has been tested on the LongMill and work is being done to have completed support documentation for the LongMill. Users can order the AltMill spindle kit for their LongMills. At this moment, we don’t officially support it, but we will officially support it once our testing is complete.

This also brings up the consideration of potential support for non-Sienci machines. If you have a machine that you want us to consider working with for the spindle kit, let us know.

Additionally, we’ve checked the fit for the 80mm dust shoe to be compatible between the AltMill and LongMill. We are also working on supporting 2.5in hoses (the 80mm dust shoe uses 4in at the moment).

LongMill MK2.5

LongMill MK2.5 machine are shipping now. We are working to get lead times down as we work our way through our list of orders, but at the time of writing, most are shipping within 3-4 weeks. Please refer to the order page information for most up-to-date estimates.

More shipments continue to roll in for LongMill production, and we aren’t expecting much news at this moment for production.

Vortex

Vortex orders continue to ship out. We’re excited to announce that we are working on the official version of the independent 4th axis, which combines and external driver with the SLB to allow for all axis to move simultaneously. For those who don’t know, the Vortex is currently connected to the Y-axis drivers so that you can switch between either the Y axis or the rotary axis. The SLB has an external driver output which allows another driver to be used to control another motor, in this case, the Vortex.

4th axis support is already officially supported and documented on the Resources. Users can integrate their own drivers for full 4th-axis support. The new development we are doing will be a plug-and-play option for the AltMill and SLB-integrated LongMills.

Given that we are purchasing a lot of closed-loop steppers, we have decided that the cheapest and easiest way to provide the 4th-axis support was to integrate them. While this might be little bit wasteful for existing users, since it leaves one unused motor in the conversion, in the long run as we move towards the SLB adoption, it will be the simplest and best option for this application.

SLB

A new batch of SLBs has arrived and folks who have ordered them after our first batch of 500 units should be getting them now.

A small change that’s coming to the SLB will be in the design of the e-stops. Our initial version had an illuminated switch. However, we found that it would make more sense to have lights on the case itself since it offered more button choices and we wanted to have something more durable/easier to replace. Both buttons work the same and are interchangeable so there likely won’t be any particular notice on when this change happens. We have another 500 of the original version in production now and we’re getting things together to make another 1000 sets.

Sprouter

I guess one of the things that the Sprouter project has become is an exercise in understanding spindles, routers, and machining science in general.

We have received another set of prototype motors and Johann has been testing that plus the Makita router and 1.5KW spindle. Here’s a breakdown:

• At the lowest level, the Makita has the highest torque, but drops proportionally to the speed (green)
• The spindle keeps a fairly flat torque curve, but needs to spin above 20,000RPM to see power advantages over the Makita (blue)
• The BLDC/Sprouter tested in various configurations show the potential to have a higher power output between the spindle and Makita router.

It also looks like the sensorless BLDC speed response was greatly improved in the new iteration. However, because the motor was built and tested to run at 160V (to be voltage compatible for both 110V and 220V), testing at 220V gives very good results, testing at 110V does not have an acceptable response time.

The manufacturer is currently working on a new version specifically tested and manufactured for 110V use only, which in theory should have similar performance as our current version, with the compatibility for 110V.

I should include some disclaimers here:

• While this shows the maximum power output, it may not reflect real-life optimal use. For example, running the Makita at it’s highest power level can destroy itself, whereas a spindle/sprouter is designed to run at the higher level for longer.
• Power output was calculated through indirectly with speed and torque simulation under real-life cutting loads, as our dyno cannot handle this level of power at this moment, it would be

Here are some current conclusions:

• The BLDC, after all the work, shows a lot of promise. These are results that we feel are “extraordinary”, which is that because they are so good, we have to make sure they are actually true. If the results are actually accurate, then in theory, it is possible to design a spindle using BLDC that could outperform a 1.5KW spindle.
• There is also a massive potential for this technology to be used in more applications outside just our machines. Perhaps it opens up a new roadmap for the company? We feel that after all of this work and development focused in this space, we may be one of, if not the only company doing this R&D, and perhaps the only one who is in the position to put out a new revolutionary (haha, bad pun), spindle design and platform.
• This also feels like uncharted territory, so there’s a lot of business end planning we need to do to decide how we want to keep committing to this project.

In other news, the testing of the Makita clone was not very good, as the speed control was poor. After some back and forth with the manufacturer, we are expecting to have a new sample with much-improved speed control soon. This version won’t have the 5V PWM input yet, but we should know if the performance is acceptable before moving onto this next step.

Panel Computer

We have now received the new batch of fanless panel computers and they are pretty great.

There are a few things we’re trying to decide on. One of them is which operating system to use. The two main contenders are Windows 11 and Linux. These are some of the things we are trying to weigh:

• Linux is free. Windows on the other hand, is pretty configurable, but does cost money. We aren’t exactly sure what that cost would be, as some sources offer it for $10-65USD, whereas the Microsoft store sells them directly for around $139USD. For us to be able to offer Windows as an option, we would need to navigate getting the licenses legally.
• Pretty much everyone either knows how to use Windows or has used it at some point. Linux on the other hand has a pretty small following. This may make some of the support for Linux more difficult, since there are a lot of info and resources available for Windows.
• Based on initial testing, the performance of gSender on the same hardware running Linux is slightly less fast than on Windows. We are still trying to iron this out, but we suspect that due to the differences in the drivers and optimization, going with Linux may mean there needs to be some additional optimization on gSender to make it compatible.

Here are my current thoughts.

• If we can get Windows licenses at a small cost, it would be a better option because we know that it works and people are familiar with it. We would of course have to pass this cost off to the customer, but I think people would be willing to pay a little extra for being able to use the platform they are familiar with.
• We can create images for both Windows and Linux, and they can be available for anyone to download and use. They should in theory work for both the panel computers we will sell and other computers as well, but we’ll only know once we do the testing. This means that if people want to switch between operating systems, or use their own computers, they can do that.

Currently, we are:

• Looking for a way to get legitimate Windows licenses
• Testing with Windows and Linux
• Testing and designing ways to attach the panel computer to the machine

If you want to provide any extra feedback for the Panel Computer, please feel free to fill out the survey.

Hey guys, a lot of things moving forward at Sienci Labs.

So traditionally I’ve been writing production updates for pretty much every product, but I’ve realized for some things there’s not much news with some things, especially if they’ve been shipping out smoothly for a while, so I’m going to stick to writing about new stuff. If you’re looking for an update on something and you don’t see it, check out the previous blog posts for more information. https://sienci-upgrade3.cospark.io/category/production-updates/

LongMill MK2/MK2.5

As we brought up in the last update, we are transitioning the LongMill to include a few new updates to the machine. Things happened a lot faster than we expected, resulting in the rest of our original LongMill (LongBoard) controllers being sold out and allocated to the previous batch. We are now into Batch 9 and are taking orders for LongMill MK2.5.

The LongMill MK2.5 Kits are expected to ship 6-8 weeks from the time of order. Once we start shipping the backlog, we expect to be able to get this lead time down.

Chris has written a new post “Introducing the LongMill MK2.5”, which covers everything you need to know about the differences, changes, and pricing for the updates.

We are waiting on more SLBs to arrive in the next few weeks, which will allow us to start shipping LongMill MK2.5 and the rest of the SLB backorders. This means that we have a growing waitlist of orders, which we are currently prepping so that we can get out the door as soon as all of our parts arrive. We are tentatively expecting them to arrive around the end of this week or start of next week.

We’re also hiring some extra staff to help with the packing for AltMill and LongMill to help with the extra production workload.

SuperLongBoard

We continue to wait for the second batch of SuperLongBoards to arrive. We are expecting them to arrive in the first week of June, which will allow us to clear the remaining backlog of orders and start shipping the LongMill. We will receive a batch of 1500 in total (but spread over a few weeks), which should allow us to stay stocked for some time.

Additionally, SLB-EXT for the first 50 AltMills testing has been successful. We are updating the value of one of the capacitors and soldering the first 50 boards by hand to fix some issues with the switching circuit. I look forward to the larger rollout of the SLB-EXT, as perhaps it may offer a solid offering for not just the AltMill but for other CNC machines as well.

AltMill

A lot of progress has been made with the AltMill project, and we are getting ready for shipping. As we discussed in the last update, we are expecting a few straggler parts for us to wait on before we can ship. It appears that our last item to arrive is the wiring harnesses for the closed-loop stepper motors. We expect these to arrive in the first week of June.

Based on the team’s estimates, we expect to start shipping on the second week of June, but wanted me to let everyone know to set their expectations not too high in case we run into issues.

Additional work and supply chain continue to happen to prepare parts to arrive in July/August for the full rollout of the AltMill.

Assembly for the AltMill is in full swing, as we have mostly finished building the jigs for assembly.

Some of the test packaging has arrived and we are double-checking the dimensions of everything and doing the final touches to the graphics for all of the packaging.

Also excited to share the first look at the AltMill Spindle Kits. We will have them available for sale additionally in a few weeks, as a lot of folks have asked us to allow the purchase of them outside of the AltMill kit. We likely won’t ship them until August, so there will be a bit of a waiting period for these if you’re ordering them without an AltMill.

In addition to manufacturing for the AltMill, we’re also working on building out the assembly portion of the AltMill, and we’ve already started putting together tons of resources to help users get their machines ready to go as soon as they arrive.

Sienci Router (Sienci Sprouter)

I think I mentioned this in the last update, but Johann went to China to meet with the motor manufacturers to iron out some of the things we were continuing to work on for this project.

Here’s a couple of takeaways:

• Based on our initial assumption, we believe that we are at the edge of how accurate sensorless control can be for controlling BLDCs. That being said, Johann was able to check on the progress of testing one of the motors using sensorless control. The result seems to be usable, although there is some more improvement that can be made, as the stability on 110V versus 220V is not acceptable yet.
• We were able to talk with a manufacturer that makes Makita clones, who may be able to make the modifications to a clone to offer external speed control, better quality bearings, and ER11 collets, which would offer a slightly improved alternative to the current Makitas
• Using a larger motor will improve the speed stability, but would cost more and be larger than the 65mm form factor we are aiming for.

There were a lot of things that we learned from Johann’s trip to China, especially about the manufacturing capacities and business structure and manufacturing processes of different companies.

If you guys watched the Garrett Fromme livestream, I talked a bit about the router vs spindle, and the name thing. So a lot of people like the name “Sprouter” so I think we might go with that for now…

From Johann’s trip we were also able to connect with another manufacturer who makes the Makita clones and we are also assessing if we should also have the clones as another option. We’d focus on:

• Having ER11 collets
• An input for PWM signal to control the router with the controller
• Better, higher quality bearings
• Pricepoint similar to the existing Makita router

So this sort of brings up another question for the development, which is whether it’s worth having an “in-between” option between an improved brushed AC Makita router and a 1.5KW spindle.

Here’s our general conclusions:

• Since we already have the 1.5KW spindle in the works for the AltMill, offering it as an option for the LongMill tackles most of the users who want to make a big upgrade to their existing LongMill. Since the programming and setup is mostly done and put together as a kit, the setup should be easy enough for most people.
• We found a company that can make the Makita clones with the extra features we’re looking for. Most of the development for this can be done hands off on our end so we can let this play out and test it once it’s ready.
• The BLDC option is still going through prototype iterations and development, and will likely take a lot more time than we expected. We’re pretty close to getting the performance we want out of it, so we’ll continue to work on it and see if we can get the pricepoint down further as well. Working on the first two options provides something for people in the short term that can help us understand more about the development for the Sprouter.

Panel Computer

If you watched the podcast that I was on with Garrett the other week, you might have seen me talk about the Panel Computer.

I think some people are going to recognize some similarities to the concept here between the Masso and this panel computer thing.

There’s a couple of things we’re working on now:

• Charles (our business development manager) has a lot of Linux experience, and is taking a stab at testing the device with a different OS.
• It turns out that the chip (i5 4th gen) that is on the test computer now is only compatible up to Windows 10. I don’t think this is specifically a problem, because it does still work, but I am looking at different chipsets that support future updates. Another contender is the N5095 or N100 chip, which is slightly faster and newer. It does cost a little bit more but is potentially a better option overall.
• We did some testing and research on doing the mass-preloading for the softwares, but need to do some more setup and testing to make sure we know how difficult and how long it takes to do.
• I’m looking at different monitor mount/arm designs to see if there’s any that stand out and improve the usability of the computer.
• The test computers we have have fans in them. Chris told me that he talked with some people working with a lot of wood that the main reasons their computers fail is because of the fans. So I am working on getting a fanless version for some testing as well.

At some point, Chris took one of the two computers I had for testing, so I suspect the dev team might be using it for some other stuff as well. I did hear that there will be a UI update in the future that makes improvements to the software that may improve the touchscreen experience as well.

I haven’t had the chance to install the computer directly to the machine yet, but one of our students from last term did set up an arm and portable touch-screen monitor to test the functionality of the interface and test out the “human factors” side of things.

It turns out with the LongMill MK2 and the AltMill, since there are threaded holes that are meant for the NEMA 23 motors on the front of the machine, this serves as a really good place to mount an arm.

Here’s some thoughts about the price point. Based on our BOM costs currently, I feel like the whole package is going to end up coming in at around $400USD. I think this is not cheap enough where I feel like it should be the default option for everyone, since a lot of people probably have a spare laptop or computer kicking around that they can use.

The only way we can get this pricepoint down further is probably if we can use lower-powered hardware, like something using ARM/RISC, but at this point, gSender optimization is not quite there for the smoothest experience. There is also updates with the new architectures that are improving its performance, especially with software that wasn’t made specifically for that architecture.

Another thing to look at is how much volume of computers we should get that would bring down the price. Right now I have quotes for 200 units, but at around 1000-1500 units, we’d save about 15% off the price.

I did create a short survey to see what sort of order interest there is for the panel computers. If you want to share your feedback, please check out the survey here: https://forms.gle/m2FAHcSBq6EJZ2sT7. This will help us get a better idea on how many computers we should start making.

Hey guys, things continue to chug along at Sienci Labs.

Growing the team

We’re looking to expand the team! If you’re interested in working for us, please check out our blog post here.

There are now some specific job postings available on Indeed.

LongMill MK2

Production for LongMills continues to move along.

Spring-loaded anti-backlash nuts continue to be a hot-selling item, with now over 560 sets of the T8 and 200 of the T12 sold. We have received another 1300 nuts (325 sets) with another few thousand in production. We expect to clear the backlog in the next week or so as we do assembly and testing.

We have gotten reports that the nuts work well, however, users should ensure that the M5 screws that hold the nuts to the gantry are not overtightened to prevent the nut from deforming and causing jamming issues. Hand tightening to ensure that the locking washers are is flush enough to keep them in place.

We are continuing to work our way through the materials from Batch 8 and are waiting on Batch 9 parts to arrive. There may be a chance that we will run out of stepper motors for the LongMill a few weeks before the new ones arrive, and so the lead time for the LongMill has been adjusted to reflect a potential slowdown.

We have discovered a small issue with the fit of the injection molded feet for the Y axis rails, and so we are not swapping over from 3D printed feet just yet. Our production and QA team are looking to fixing this problem so that we can implement them into the future batch. For now we have made a system/jig to grind them down to size. I should note that this part does not offer any performance advantages, they are just for ease of manufacturing, and so users should not be concerned about which version they have received.

LaserBeam and Vortex

LaserBeams and Vortex continue to ship out as usual, most are shipping out within a few days.

Now with the SuperLongBoard out in the world, we are working on supporting full 4-axis functionality. This means that the Vortex can be used without the switch and move around simultaneously with the Y-axis. Keep an eye out for more news in the coming months. The Vortex can still be used with the switch to change between rotary and regular milling mode with the SLB.

AltMill

We continue to hammer out things with the AltMill. We are now in production for the first 50 machines. Here’s what’s going on:

• The first test boards for SLB-EXT have arrived and are going through assembly and testing. We are expecting the remainder to arrive first week of May. Once testing is complete, we will build another approximately 200 units
• The first 50 power supplies have arrived and are undergoing testing. We are expecting another 50 to arrive in about a month.
• The first 50 gantries and extrusions are completed and going through QA and assembly. Another 150-200 sets are finishing production this month and are expected to arrive in June.
• Fasteners have arrived and are being used for assemble of some of the major assemblies
• Parts for the spindle and VFD are in production now and are expected to arrive in the end of May.
• We have been working on some closed-loop stepper testing for longer-term use.
• We have the bristles for the dust shoes in production and are finalizing the 3D printing design.

At the current rate, we have parts being made as quickly as possible, but there may be some stragglers that we may end up waiting on close to the end of the month that will determine the exact timing of the shipment.

These parts will probably be with the:

• Closed loop stepper motor cables
• Spindle and spindle components
• The production version of the SLB-EXT

This means that the first 50 AltMill customers should prepare to receive their machines in June, although we are working as hard as possible to start shipping in May.

In the meantime, we are prepping everything as we receive parts so that we can ship everything as quickly as we can once we do get everything.

Additionally, the team is hard at work in developing the resources and assembly guide for the AltMill. We don’t expect to have an assembly video this month, but are planning to make it soon as we get through the first batch of machines.

We needed to have something to test the AltMill with, so Mike made this guitar out of aluminum.

SuperLongBoard

We’re excited to announce that the first batch of SLBs have now shipped and we have just over 475 controllers in the wild. You can now find all of the setup instructions at www.sienci.com/slb

We are now in production for another 1500 controllers, with more to start shipping in the end of May/June 2024.

Based on Chris’ updates in our production meetings, while there are a few bugs to iron out, the launch of the new SLB has gone fairly smoothly. We expect to make some small tweaks to the fit and finish of the controllers and periphery materials soon to improve the assembly of the boards.

Sienci Router

As we discussed in the last update, one of the main things we needed to iron out was the reaction time of the driver of the speed control. Basically, when the router would go under load, it would slow down and speed up again, but the time for it to happen was slower than what we wanted.

We figured the only way to solve this was to send a working prototype to the motor manufacturer in China to do the testing and tuning directly. We are happy to share that the tuning as far as we can tell has greatly improved. At this stage, we still need to do our own testing in house to make sure everything functions properly, but this seems to be a promising step forward.

This also does bring us to something of an impasse, as we believe that we are reaching the limit of the speed response we can get from a sensorless motor (which is what we are using here). Any further tuning improvements may not be able to be implemented without a sensored motor.

Doing this was no small feat, as we needed to create testing processes and a makeshift dyno in-house thanks to help from the students. This dyno can help measure the power output and speed of different motors.

Some of the main things on our list to figure out now is the complete mechanical design, cooling, and safety certification. We are currently starting production on a small batch of prototype parts to build some working test setups.

April fools

LongMill MK2

LongMills continue to ship out as usual. We received another batch of controllers after being out for another few days.

Batch 9 production continues and we continue to focus on getting some of the new things such as:

• Spring-loaded anti-backlash nut
• Injection molded feet
• SuperLongboard

This also includes existing changes and improvements that already exist on the LongMills that are currently shipping.

• Motor to leadscrew couplers using M5 hardware
• New ACME locking nuts

To reflect the changes to the LongMill MK2, we will be calling this update the LongMill MK2.5.

We are expecting Batch 9 to start in June. At this point, we will increase pricing for the LongMill MK2 to the MK2.5 to reflect the addition of primarily the SuperLongBoard and other additions. Pricing for this new version is to increase by $150CAD/$110USD approximately.

LaserBeam and Vortex

LaserBeam and Vortex orders are shipping out as usual within a few days.

Ikenna and Abeku have been working on a magnetic mounting system for the LaserBeam to allow for faster and easier mounting and dismounting of the laser, and folks should expect more information to come out soon near the end of April. They also let me know that while the mount is suitable for the LongMill, they are continuing to work to improve the stability of the mount to work with AltMill and higher speeds.

The magnetic mounting system should work on all mounts either on the right or left side, or just on the front, depending on the version. More info to come soon.

AltMill

The AltMill can now be ordered on the AltMill product page.

Check out the Launch live stream below:

A couple of things going on with production:

• Due a random failure with one of the closed-loop steppers used in testing, we have started testing motors from 4 different companies to nail down the highest quality motor for the AltMill and ensure that we can understand the reasons for the motor to stop working.
• The gantries for the AltMill are done and have gone through an anodization process to make them black. This should improve the aesthetics of the machine and make it look more polished
• We are testing and manufacturing the dust covers for the linear guides on the Y-axis. Based on our testing results, this may become a standard included part of the AltMill
• We are working on testing a 4KW spindle to push the limits of the AltMill
• Testing on the relay and power distribution control board are being tested now. This control board allows us to distribute power from the power supply to the motors and kill power in an emergency setting, improving the machine’s safety

Additional parts for the first 50 AltMills are expected to arrive mid-April and we will start assembly as soon as they arrive.

Sienci Router

The Sienci Router project continues to move along. We have now received two controller boards, but have not been satisfied by the level of speed response we’ve gotten. For a bit of context, traditional motors will slow down when under load. In the case for CNC milling, we don’t want our router or spindle speed to go down, as it increases the chipload. If an end mill rotates at a set speed, each rotation takes a certain amount of cut per pass. If the end mill rotates slower, then each cut has to remove a large amount of material, which can overload the bit and cause a crash.

With the first two boards, because the motor slows down too much under load, it would not be optimal for CNC. We believe that there were some communication issues and misunderstandings with the motor manufacturer for this requirement, and so after a lot of back and forth and some group testing on a video call, we were able to sort everything out and are expecting to test the third version soon.

What is exciting is that the manufacturer has been able to get a response time of around 40ms, which is faster than the original Makita RT0701 and its brushless motor counterpart. Although in practice, this probably won’t make too much of a difference since users are not likely to load their motors to the extent we had in testing, this in theory means that the cutting speeds and loads will stay more consistent.

There are still some details to iron out for the motor, however, primarily in the additional tuning of the motor.

We’ve started doing some testing of loading the motor a certain amount and releasing the load quickly. You can see there is an initial amount of time where the motor slows down at first, and then when the load is released, it speeds up for a moment before returning to its original speed. The main reason we suspect this is happening is because the tuning of the motor was originally done using a motor without the larger shaft holding the collet. Because the final assembly of the router has more inertia, the tuning of the motor is not correct.

To fix this issue, we’ve sent one of our prototypes to the manufacturer to do additional tuning to reduce this variation.

We believe that there may be some limitations in the technology on how quickly the motor can react to changes in load, and so we are exploring other methods such as using an encoder or speed sensor in line with the motor. However, we do believe that with proper tuning, the motor will be able to perform within the scope of this project.

In the meantime, our co-op students are building a bit of a makeshift dyno to test the routers and spindles.

SuperLongBoard

Check out the completed SLB box, which will be the ones reaching the first 475 users soon! We have received our first batch of SLBs and are prepping them for shipping.

Due to some delays on the die for the box and the e-stop PCBs, there may be a few days we are waiting next week, but we are working on shipping the first 100 SLB before the end of the week if possible.

CO2 Laser

I’m excited to have witnessed the first firing and testing of the CO2 Laser currently in development. Ikenna will be making an update post soon so keep an eye out for that!

Hey guys, it’s Andy again with March 2024 production updates. I am currently writing this in China, where I am taking a bit of a “work-acation” but also to visit some suppliers and manufacturers that we work with. 

This also means we’ll film the typical production update video a bit later, probably on the week of March 11th when I get back.

March is expected to be a busy month, especially as we continue to make progress in our projects like the CO2 laser and Sienci Router, as well as prepare for shipping and launch of the SLB and AltMill.

LongMill

Last month we paused shipping for LongMills as we waited for more controllers to arrive. We expect around 100 controllers to arrive in the next week or so (shipped on Monday). Once these parts arrive we will continue to ship machines and clear the backlog. More controllers are expected to finish the first week of March.

Additional production is underway for the LongMill, with motors, power supplies, and fasteners in production now.

LaserBeam and Vortex

LaserBeam and Vortex are shipping as usual. Ikenna and Abeku have developed a riser mount for the LaserBeam which allows for easier use in combining LaserBeam and Vortex to do engravings with the Vortex.

Get Your LaserBeam Vortex Riser Mount – Available for Purchase Now!  

They are also working on some different magnetic mounting designs for the LaserBeam to make removing and attaching the LaserBeam faster and easier, and should have more stuff to share in the coming weeks.

AltMill

This month we have finally put the machine together and started running it through the paces. Check out Daniel’s video on some more updates. I would have been there for the video, but I am currently away.

For more info and FAQ, please check the AltMill landing page.

Testing is showing some promising results. Here’s an excerpt from Daniel’s notes about the rigidity of the machine.

Also just finished doing some preliminary deflection testing of the machine with some pretty good results. This was done using the standard Sienci testing parameters/setup for the most part.

• In the Y-axis, we have 0.003” of deflection at the tool with 80N applied 
  • This is 1.05 N/μm rigidity
• In the X-axis we have 0.0025” of deflection at the tool with 80N applied
  • This is 1.26 N/μm rigidity

For comparison sake, here are some misc numbers of other machine’s rigidity:

• 0.1515 N/μm in the Y-direction of the Shapeoko 3 XXL
• LongMill MK2 48” Y-axis rigidity sits around 0.13 N/μm
• LangMuir MR1 2.9188 N/μm in the X-direction, 4.3782 N/μm in the Y-direction
• Onefinity (with added ‘stiffy’ rail) estimated to be 0.5 N/μm (realistically much less) based on one user’s measurement of ~1 N/μm at the bottom of the Z20 plate.
  • This pretty much only accounts for beam bending in the Y-direction, and not much torsion for which is the Onefinity’s achilles heel. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was even as bad as 0.3 N/μm.
  • This is mostly speculative, so not a fair comparison but worth mentioning.

I also checked the X-axis rail’s isolated deflection contribution. The rigidity of the X-axis rail assembly is ~3.75 N/μm. This is pretty good considering the rail was sized to be 4.9 N/μm and this is real life with extrusion and alloy defects and the like. 

• For comparison sake, AvidCNC’s 8016 extrusion was estimated to be 3.8047 N/μm. Considering it weighs (I think) like 4 times more than ours, this is amazing.

In other news, we are continuing to put together the online ordering infrastructure to prepare the AltMill for launch at the end of March.

Sienci Router

At the start of the month, we received the sample motor we’ve been waiting on to do another round of development and testing. If you’re not up to date on the development here, make sure to check out the last post.

The new motor is much more powerful, and showing promising results. However, we are waiting on some improved motor tuning to happen as we have found some issues with the speed control to achieve a full 1KW of mechanical output. We are waiting on an updated control board expected to arrive in the next week or so.

Additional to this is that we’ve started exploring more spindle options for applications needing higher power past the 1KW the Sienci spindle can put out. If you saw Daniel’s update on the AltMill, the new machine is so powerful, that even the 2.2KW spindle ends up being the bottleneck in our ability to remove more material.

Eventually, we hope to provide several options, the standard Makita as a simple, powerful, and inexpensive option for routing, the Sienci Router as a step above with more features and power to run the LongMill at its full potential, and spindle options to maximize the AltMill’s performance.

Spring Loaded Anti-Backlash Nuts

I’m excited to say that the first set of the injection molded nuts has arrived. To learn more about this project, please see the long post about them here (put link here). While the T8s overall look good and function properly, unfortunately, we are still experiencing some warping and inconsistent threading on the T12 nuts. Since not all the nuts are affected, we’ve put on the store all of the nuts that are currently ok. We will work with our manufacturers to iron out the issues with the T12 nuts.

Demand for the new nuts has been super high, with all of the T8s already sold out, and with T12s expected to be close to selling out by the time this post goes out. Not to worry, however, we are working on making another batch of a few hundred sets and make sure we don’t run out.

It should be noted that existing LongMill kits will continue to ship out with the original style of nut. Once we catch up on orders sold for replacement, we will start moving to making them a default option for new machines. We currently don’t have a specific timeline for it, but likely in about 2 to 3 months, since production and assembly of the nuts can take a long time.

SuperLongBoard

We’re excited to share that the new SLBs have started production and should be ready to ship in the next few weeks. We are also waiting on parts for the controller and estops to arrive in the next few weeks.

Work currently being done with SLB primarily revolve around checking for reliability and making bug fixes. We’ve also sent the SLB for testing to key grblHAL community members for feedback.

gSender has now been updated to natively support SLB and it’s features. You may have seen a toggle when connecting your machine to allow for GRBL and grblHAL available.

Additionally work on building controllers for the AltMill to provide external driver support, higher voltage, while sharing the same features is also underway, with first versions of the design expected to be ready in the coming weeks. However for the full development cycle, we expect it to take till end of April to have production-ready designs and firmware ready.

In addition to this, we have continued to work on the computer side of the SLB at a bit of a slow pace. However, we have put together this proof of concept where we have attached a VESA mount arm to the threaded holes at the front of the machine to allow for use with a touchscreen, as well as a mount for the computer. This design was created by one of our engineering students working at the company this term.

Hey everyone, welcome to our February 2024 Production Updates.

Media Room and Workshops

Since we’ve moved into our new space, we’ve dedicated an area as a “media room”. The idea is to build a space that allows us to make content more quickly with dedicated space, lights, and machines for filming and education. Additionally, we’ve gotten a lot of interest in doing workshops, and so we’re now looking into planning workshops in the space as well.

If you’d like to provide some feedback and let us know what sort of workshops and content you’d like to see, please check out https://sienci-upgrade3.cospark.io/2024/01/10/fill-out-our-cnc-workshop-survey/

LongMill MK2s

Production for the LongMill continues to move smoothly. Orders are shipping out within one week, however we are running low on controller boards. Lead times may get longer this month.

Injection-molded middle feet that are used for supporting the rails have finally completed production and are on the way to us. We expect these feet to arrive in early Feburary. For those who haven’t been following along on this change, we decided to start injection molding these parts since we make a lot of them using the print farm and we crossed the point where it would be faster and more economical to injection mold them. It should be noted that this change is to improve production efficiency and reduce costs, but won’t make a difference to the LongMill’s performance.

The bristles that we use for the LongMill dust shoes have come in earlier this year but we have been dealing with quality issues. We have been able to use some of the good bristles, but we’re also working on sourcing a new manufacturer to improve the quality.

We are now starting production on Batch 9 LongMill MK2s. We currently have around around 750 LongMills in stock, and expect to start shipping Batch 9 machines in the spring of 2024.

Spring Loaded Anti-Backlash Nut

I know a lot of people have been anxiously waiting for the spring-loaded anti-backlash nuts. While they seem simple, these have been a really fascinating but challenging project as we needed to make changes and considerations to the design and manufacturing process of the nut.

For more details about the process of design and making the nuts, I wrote another blog article. The first 200 sets of T12 and T8 nuts are expected to arrive in the first week of February. Please note that the blog article will include more updates once the first batch of prototype nuts arrives.

Vortex Rotary Axis and LaserBeam

Parts for the Rotary Axis have arrived and are being packed and assembled. We have another 300 units in stock now.

Ikenna and Abeiku are also working on a new magnetic mount design and also a riser mount to be used with the Vortex to allow for easier laser engraving on round objects soon, so make sure to keep an eye peeled for that.

AltMill

We have our major components arrived here and are working on putting together and testing the first prototype. Based on looking at the linear motion and extrusions, everything looks great and we’re excited to get everything in to start building the first batch.

If you’re interested in ordering an AltMill, make sure to fill out our form.

Here are some other updates:

• While we have received one set of extrusions, the full batch of 50 sets have had some QC issues and are being worked on now. We expect them to be finished in the next 2 weeks and get prepped for shipping
• We have received a few additional closed-loop stepper motors for testing and will be working on having them set up for testing
• We are working with Andrew at Expatria to figure out what modifications we need to make for the SLB to allow for use with AltMill.

Also, check out this new logo that Leandro made for the AltMill.

We are tentatively looking at a launch date for the end of March. We’ll keep people updates so make sure to follow along on the development through the blog and such.

CO2 Laser

Ikenna and his team have been continuing to work on the CO2 Laser. Here’s a photo of the mockup in progress.

I probably won’t be continuing to put updates for this project on the production updates here because Ikenna will make a separate post as updates come. Make sure to sign up for the CO2 mailing list for all updates as they come.

Sienci Router

Testing with the 400 watt motor looks to show that using BLDC is a promising technology and shows that power output even at 400 watts is comparible to the Makita router. However, we feel that to bring the most value to users, having a bit more power will be beneficial since:

• Cutting using larger bits, such as the surfacing bit causes the Makita router to bog down
• Additional headroom allows us to run the LongMill faster alongside other future improvements to speed and rigidity
• Potential to be a viable option for higher-end machines and the AltMill.
• Creates a differentiation between our router and the Makita router

Having a larger motor is more expensive, but still within our budget. Pricing is still yet to be determined, but we believe that if we have an option around the $250 mark will allow us to provide a tool that sits somewhere between a traditional router like the Makita RT0701 and a 3 phase spindle.

A second batch of motor samples are expected to ship in the first week of Feburary. We are also in the design and sourcing stage for the motor body and bearings.

SuperLongBoard

Development continues for the SLB and third version prototype is currently in testing. Here’s some news:

• SLB resources continue to be developed ahead of shipping
• E-stop injection molded case, buttons, and circuitry have arrived for testing, and have started on full scale production
• Enclosure parts are getting prepared for shipping

Otherwise we are just working through general bug fixes and testing as usual.

Demand for the SLB has been strong, and we are expecting to sell out of the first batch before we start shipping, so we are working on

If you haven’t checked out Chris’ last update, make sure to read it here.

Hey there, thanks for checking in on our January 2024 production updates!

A lot of info to share here, some of which are updates we talked about in the December 2023 update here, so if you haven’t read it yet, then make sure to check it out.

Holiday Break

Please note that our offices will be closed from Dec 23 to Jan 1st. We will reopen on Jan 2, 2024.

During this time:

• Shipping of items may be paused until we return.
• We may not have someone answering phones at this time.
• Responses to emails may be slower than normal.

NEXUS taxes for USA

Due to the scale of the company and sales in the US, we may have to start remitting sales tax to some US States once we reach certain thresholds. Starting Dec 18, 2023 and going forward, we will be collecting and remitting sales tax for Florida.

We are continuing to work with our accounting and finance people to slowly figure out how all this tax stuff works, so keep tuned as things may change over the coming year.

Move complete

Our move is done! We are now completely cleared out of our 372 King St N, Waterloo location. For any appointments, mail, and packages, make sure to send things to our new address Unit 1B/1D – 120 Randall Drive, Waterloo ON.

LongMill Production

Production for LongMills continues to go smoothly, with most machines shipping out within a few days. With some people taking vacation at this time, it may be a little bit slower than usual, but we are also expecting to have a few new hands starting for packing and operations starting in the new year.

Vortex Rotary Axis and LaserBeam

Vortex parts are on the way and are expected to arrive around mid to end of January, at which point we will continue to ship Vortex. Orders are expected to take a few weeks to ship.

LaserBeam orders are shipping within a few days.

CO2 Laser

CO2 Laser development is now officially in progress! Check out the amazing video here:

Interested in following along development? Sign up for the mailing list here.

Want to help us understand what you’re looking for in a CO2 laser? Fill out the survey here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSffBHaWX0N8alf597e_5kbCjd_bsgglIzursC7rfZL8Pby68A/viewform

AltMill development

AltMill development continues to move along. We are now waiting for new parts to arrive for the AltMill. We were expecting parts to arrive by the end of December, but due to some initial shipping issues, we expect that it will be more likely to arrive by mid-January.

We’ve also started testing close-loop steppers with the AltMill prototype. With Daniel’s setup, we were able to achieve up to 17,000mm/min (around 670in/min) rapids on the X. We are waiting on a few more motors to come in to set up all of the axis, so that we can test them all simultaneously. For context, the max rapid speed set for the LongMill is 4000mm/min.

This is where things get a little dicey since the mass and inertia of the machine running that fast can definitely do some damage to a person. In practice though, having speeds that fast probably won’t matter that much without a spindle and bits that can handle it.

I have spent a few days in December working on a couple of personal projects with the AltMill prototype. Although this isn’t going to be the final version of the machine, I figured it would be a good way to start to understand the workflow of using a 4ft x 4ft machine. I also set up a Beelink computer and a touch screen for some testing of potential future interface for gSender.

Here are my notes:

• I haven’t made anything that needs the full bed, but what I noticed was it is a lot more convenient to work with larger sheets because they need less processing
  • I can see myself wanting a 4×8 sometime down the line because you basically can buy one sheet and just keep cutting with it. I have been getting full 4×8 sheets and passing them through the back without cutting them down so far.
• The machine is more solid and I have more confidence in pushing it harder. Because all of the defaults are set to the same/similar to the LongMill, everything seems slooooow.
  • Given this, I feel like going in the direction of close-loop zoomy steppers is going to make a big difference in the user experience
  • Having a chunkier machine does give a lot more confidence, especially not having to worry about stuff being adjusted correctly
• Having the touch screen is actually mint
  • Controlling the machine is super easy, the keyboard and things pop up and disappear perfectly
  • The zooming sort of doesn’t work but you sort of dont really need it much
  • The networking to share files is basically seamless

We were expecting to receive the first set of parts at the end of December. However, due to some delays and issues with the shipping, we are now expecting them to arrive in mid-January. Once these parts arrive, we will be putting together the first prototype of the new design. It looks like the rails have actually come in but I haven’t gotten a chance to look at them yet.

If you are interested in getting on the list to order an AltMill sometime this year, make sure to fill out the survey and read the blog post here: https://sienci-upgrade3.cospark.io/2023/11/22/putting-the-altmill-project-back-on-the-burner/

A couple of people have asked us about the QA process. Here is my answer from the forum.

https://forum.sienci.com/t/altmill-cnc-update-whats-new/10369/9

I think that it’s hard to have a specific QA plan or process in place until we go into production. The fact of the matter is that the process depends largely on the actual scale of the production.

There are a few things that we learned from QA for the LongMill that carries over to the AltMill including:

• Isolating parts and making them perfect, so that they can be eliminated as a source of error. For example. When we first started producing the LongMill, a lot of the parts were off the shelf, such as the coupler. What we found was that because the couplers from different manufacturers could be inconsistent at scale, we basically just designed and manufactured our own version at a higher level of specified tolerance. At this stage, nearly all of the parts that go into the LongMill are custom-made and redesigned internally, which has greatly improved the fit and finish as well as lowering issues that customers get with quality. The AltMill will almost certainly follow the same path, but likely even sooner because we have processes and manufacturer contacts that can make many of our parts.
• Focusing on good design and ease of assembly will pay large dividends in production. There are many aspects of the AltMill that take the strengths and weaknesses in the accuracy of the manufacturing processes to ensure that the machines assemble easily and are to spec. For example, and something we mentioned in the AltMill update video, is that because while aluminum extrusion is generally considered a process that produces very high-accuracy parts, it also has a tendency to twist and warp during manufacturing, having machined faces and using a frame that self-aligns itself allows us to compensate for minor deviations to our specs.
• The cost-benefit analysis of good quality always outweighs the cost of customer service. The result of having bad-quality parts and products is that we need to do customer service to fix the issues, which costs the company time and money. Some of these costs could be the part itself, shipping, the time from our technical support team, lower customer satisfaction, and lost time for the customer in using their machine. While the cost of the part might be a few dollars, after the time, troubleshooting, and shipping, the issue might cost us a hundred dollars or more. So basically in almost all cases, it’s a better cost-benefit to check our parts better and produce higher quality items.

I think generally speaking the AltMill will actually be easier to QA for, because we’re bringing more the assembly in house, which will allow us to make sure the machine works before we get it to the customer, and second, we are using more higher precision components around the AltMill so that there should be less issues that come from mismanufactured parts.

There are a few concerns we still need to test and address including:

• Because the machine is running faster and experiences more forces, making sure that bolts don’t come loose over time
• Tolerance for lack of maintenance, since components like the ball screw and linear guides need proper lubrication otherwise can fail prematurely

To answer some of the general questions we got in the survey…

Q: Any option to cut vertically?

A: I don’t think we are planning to build anything that would facilitate this, and the weight of it would make it much more difficult. It seems a bit impractical at this size, even though I feel pretty confident that the hardware could handle it.

Q: Will the AltMill use the SuperLongBoard?

A: Not exactly. The SLB doesn’t offer any outputs for controlling external drivers except the A-axis/4th axis. However, we are most likely going to make a new version of the SLB that has outputs for the drivers and no integrated drivers, so that we can offer the same functionality of the SLB and use external drivers.

Q: Will this support an automatic tool changer?

We don’t have specific plans to make a ATC right now, but with the IO on the modified SLB, you should be able to integrate your own.

Q: What is the overall footprint?

The AltMill will have a minimum cutting area of 4ft by 4ft (with some extra travel room to spare), with the ability to pass through the back of the machine. The footprint is approximately 59 inches by 59 inches square. Size might change slightly at production.

If you want to learn more about the AltMill project, expected pricing, and more, please check out the video and the blog here:

Putting the AltMill Project Back on the Burner

Sienci Router

After a bit of a mixup where we had the motor sent to the wrong address, we were able to get a new one and start testing. As we were discussing in the last update, we decided to dive into using BLDC motors because of the benefits we feel like worth getting over the universal motors we initially were exploring.

We found that for BLDC motors running at this higher voltage, there weren’t a lot of options we could find. We did find an off-the-shelf motor that are used in commercial grade blenders we got a sample from the manufacturer, and hacked together an old Makita router to build a sort of BLDC router frankenstein.

The motor that we got maxes out at 8100RPM, which isn’t the optimal speed for the type of cutting we want to do, but for the sake of testing, we tried to do some comparisons between the different routers we have here. We also have a power output limit of 400 watts.

Basically what is important is the torque of the motor at the given speed, since the motor can overcome the cutting forces on the bit. From Johann’s observations, at the lowest RPM setting on the Makita, the router stalls out at a torque of 0.47N.m, pulling 12.69A or around 1500 watts from the wall. The BLDC motor stalls at 0.45NM but only draws around 400 watts from the wall.

Additionally, the motor behaves the way we wanted it to, which is to run at the same RPM until it stalls. This is important because when a CNC machine starts cutting, there is a situation where if your RPM drops and your chipload and forces increases, it bogs the spindle or router down even more, eventually causing more issues.

It should be noted that based on our understanding of universal motors used in the Makita, the torque of the motor drops proportionally to it’s RPM, which makes sense because it is also partially limited by the amount of power it can draw from the wall.

The BLDC however is designed to keep the same level of torque through the whole speed range. We are specifying our second prototype to have a torque of 0.55N.m, which means that at 30,000RPM, it will draw a full 1500 watts, which in theory would match 1.5KW spindles. I think that in practice however, there aren’t much or any scenarios users would need to run their routers so fast, and we are focusing on having a max RPM of 24,000 instead.

We believe that if we modify the motor to run at the higher RPMs, the BLDC limited to 400 watts will run close to identical to the Makita router. However, considering that there are still situations where the Makita bogs down on the LongMill, if we can get a bit more headroom, that would be ideal.

Based on some general calculations, if we target a 0.55N.m spec on the BLDC, we can get about 1.3-1.5Kw of power, which may be close to on par of a spindle.

There is still a lot of testing and benchmarking to do, but we are continuing to make progress. The next sample will probably take 2-3 weeks to be made, so I would guess we’ll have them at the start of next year. In the meantime, Johann has been working on the mechanical design and housing for the motor.

gSender

The gSender team have been continuing to work hard to put together a new version of gSender which will merge features and functionality from gSender Edge to the main version of gSender. For complete list of features in gSender Edge, please check out the resources here.

• Improvements and bug fixes for running the Vortex
• Probing with touchplate on all corners
• Communication, flashing, and additional features for the SuperLongBoard
• Faster and smoother gcode visualization screen
• Warning for zeroing
• Improvements to the gamepad/controller functionality
• Improvements to remote mode/pendant functionality
• Maintenance warnings and tracking

All of our beta testers and myself have been using the latest version of gSender Edge to test the SLB and our machines and help with the bug fixes. So far the extra features have been amazing. You can also check out the latest version, V1.3.10, here.

We expect to have more updates and information come out around the middle to end of the month when the new version of gSender is ready.

Hey everyone, here’s our December production update! Many things happened in November.

On a side note, I just turned 27. I think it’s sort of crazy I’m in my “late-20s” now?

Holiday Break

Please note that our offices will be closed from Dec 23 to Jan 1st. We will reopen on Jan 2, 2024.

During this time:

• Shipping of items may be paused until we return.
• We may not have someone answering phones at this time.
• Responses to emails may be slower than normal.

We will have a shipping cut off of noon on Dec 22. Please place your orders if you’d like to have it shipped before the end of the year.

Moving

Moving continues to chug along, with the final moving to be done before the end of the month. Please note that response times and shipping may be a little slower than usual.

Our new address will be Unit D, 120 Randall Drive Waterloo.

LongMill MK2 Orders

LongMill orders continue to ship as usual. We were a bit low on bristles for the dust shoe, which meant that some orders took a few days extra to ship.

Thanks to a grant from the government, we are getting a new CO2 laser cutter and CNC mill partially subsidized for prototyping and production use. We’re planning on taking the old CO2 laser which we’ve been using for the last 3-4 years and taking it apart for R&D use for our CO2 laser project.

We are now waiting on injection molded feet for the LongMill, which we expect will help reduce our reliance on the 3D printing farm by about 25-30%. This should help us free up more capacity for printing other parts, such as dust shoes and LaserBeam parts so that it will be less of a bottleneck for production in the future. Ron, our print farm manager, also started working with input shaping, which is a feature that allows for faster movements with less resonance by analysing the printer’s movements and adjusting its movements to cancel vibrations. This also is helping to improve print quality and increase print speed by 15-25%.

LaserBeam and Vortex

LaserBeam continues to ship as usual. We are currently waiting on a new batch of heatsinks, drivers, and cables to arrive in the next few weeks so that we can stockpile more units.

Vortex also continues to ship but we now have around 17 (at the time of writing) left. Probably by the time this post goes out, we probably will have a few less. There is another batch in production now for 300 units, which should be ready to ship early January.

SuperLongBoard

Chris just put out a update video about the SLB which can be found here:

I’ve taken a step back from helping Chris with the testing side of the board currently and working on some of the manufacturing along with Daniel, but it appears that the testing in the back room continues to happen at a blazing pace. I just placed an order for another 40 controllers to ship in the next few weeks for final testing.

The designs for the SLB controller case have now been finalized and in production. We expect samples from production to be ready in the next 3 weeks, and parts to arrive in the new year. One of the main differences for the new controller is that it is designed to mount directly to the Y rail on the LongMill, which allows it to take a bit less space on the workbench. However, users will still be able to mount their controller using the screw holes as well.

We are also wrapping up the design for the new E-stop buttons and macro buttons as well now and starting production for it this week.

Pre-orders are slated to come in December 4, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled for that! For more info about the pre-order, please check the Blog post here.

AltMill

As we were alluding to in the previous updates, we’ve started working on the AltMill. Kelsey and I are currently working on the shipping of the first batch of parts for the AltMill.

For the latest update, please see our blog article.

Thank you to everyone who filled out the survey. It looks like we have quite a bit of interest in the AltMill. We’ll continue to post updates here and prepare for pre-order availability as we move forward with production on the first batch. At the time of writing about 5 days after the survey went out, we have over 50 respondants, half of which are ready to put down money to get the new AltMill.

Initially I was expecting sales for the AltMill to start out pretty slowly, maybe 15 machines per month, however I feel pretty confident that sales will be much stronger especially given the lack of information we have out for the AltMill at the current time.

Sienci Router

Continued development on the Sienci Router has been fascinating, especially as Johann and I have been looking beyond AC universal motors found in most power tools like the Makita RT0701.

One of the main important things we’ve been looking at has been the efficiency and actual power output of the Makita router. Based on loading and testing the router, we see that the true power output of the router is much lower than the 1.25HP rating in some scenarios.

In theory, this means that a more efficient motor could use less power, but get the same cutting performance as a Makita RT0701.

This is where we’ve been exploring brushless DC motors (BLDC motors).

One of the main advantages of BLDC motors is that they are much more efficient than a universal AC motor. Based on the suggestions from the company we are working with on developing the motor, it may be possible to use a 400 watt BLDC motor in place of a 1200-watt AC motor.

Additional advantages of using a BLDC motor include:

• Higher efficiency and lower power consumption means less heat, which also means a smaller fan that creates noise
• A wider speed range, allowing the router to be used more effectively at slower speeds
• No need for replacing brushes, which also lowers noise caused from the brushes rubbing

BLDC does have a few disadvantages. The first is the price. We expect a production-ready motor to cost 3-4 times more than a universal AC motor. Second is figuring out the additional complexity in understanding the motor control systems and feedback loops we can implement to ensure that we have steady and accurate speed control.

That being said we believe it is possible to keep the overall BOM cost overall low to keep the router affordable and we’ll be able to use some off-the-shelf designs and external expertise to optimize the speed control for the router.

We expect to receive some motor samples in the next week or two, and we’ll start conducting testing to determine if BLDC offers an effective option for the Sienci Router.

CO2 Laser

I just talked to Ikenna to get an update about the CO2 laser development. The CO2 laser development team just finished filming an update video today and plan to release it in the next few weeks. There will also be a survey to help us direct the development for the new product. We expect to start purchasing prototype parts in the next week and expect to have a working prototype at the end of January.