Hey everyone, here are the Nov 2024 Production Updates!

AltMill

We shipped more AltMills out last month. We’ve ramped up production and you should find if you already ordered a machine that lead times may have gone down. We’ve worked on streamlining production, bringing on some more staff, training current staff with new skills in management and operations, and setting new production goals to move things along. We are aiming to finish both Batch 1 and 2, a total of 400 AltMills to be shipped and delivered by the end of Dec 2024. At this time, we currently have around 50 more machines left in Batch 2, so if you want to be part of this group, make sure to order soon!

We’ve now ramped up production for AltMills, and this past month we’ve shipped out around 70-80 units. We’re now waiting on some additional parts expected to arrive Nov 4th, and we will be aiming to keep increasing production more to clear the rest of the queue.

Some parts for Batch 2 have arrived, which means we are starting to build our next 200 AltMills. We expect the rest of the parts to arrive in November. We are currently ordering and building stock for Batch 3, which will be another 250 AltMills. Many of the parts have already been ordered for Batch 3, and we expect most of those items to arrive in Jan 2025.

We did run into a hiccup with our VFDs because this chip was changed, causing communication issues. Since then we’ve received a new batch of VFDs plus are expecting to receive new boards to replace these VFDs. This means we will have around 400 full VFDs in stock once our fix is complete.

This did slow our production a bit at the beginning, but we have been shipping machines without the VFDs first so that customers can get their machines ready prior to the spindles arriving.

Additionally, we’ve received a few messages from users about the spindles being wired incorrectly. We’ve implemented an additional QA step to check the full functionality and wiring of the spindle and VFD. Additionally, we’ve received some notes from users who have changed their VFD settings inadvertently, and so we are implementing a VFD setting lock to prevent users from changing settings without the proper precautions.

The good news is that the cables and spindle motors were here first, which means that they can be tested and packed first, so that we have some things we can work on in the meantime.

Additional to this, we’re making updates to the firmware to improve the communication and reliability between the board and the VFD. Although we expect the old chip to be more stable, updates to the firmware is expected to decrease compatibility issues for third party spindles.

As we mentioned in a prior update, we’ve been working on figuring out some improvements to make to make sure rails are straight and at the correct tolerance before assembly. Unfortunately, our current extruder continues to have some issues with having a good yield on these parts. As a way to mitigate issues and try something new, we’ve moved production to a new manufacturer for extrusions. This means we have around 200 sets arriving this month, and another 200ish sets being produced at this moment. The best case scenario is that the 200 rails we get in the next few weeks are flawless, but if there are a lot of issues, the new batch of rails should arrive a month or so later.

We’re currently working with two additional extrusion companies to build future batches of rails. These will be for Batch 3. We are also starting to work on production details for the 2×4 AltMills as well during this period.

Additionally, we’re working on vetting a few new CNC machine shops, as the shop we currently work with has been struggling with keeping up with the volume of parts we need, causing delays in their production shop. We are working on splitting up production of parts between different shops so that we can mitigate these types of issues.

In other, other news, our engineering team have started dabbling with the ATC spindle that we have in the shop. We don’t have any expected days we will have something available, but we are testing some different systems to make sure that third party support can be more streamlined, or we can understand and identify needs of the user for an ATC system.

LongMill

LongMills ship out on schedule, within a few days.

LongMill Spindle Kits, which use same components as the AltMill Spindle Kits, have also been delayed in shipping due to the same issue. We have started shipping some of the LongMill Spindle Kits, and we are expecting to have the rest of the queue completed at the end of the month.

gControl Panel Computer

The gControl Panel Computer has now launched! You can learn more about it here.

The first 40-50 units, we are aiming to ship out before the end of the month. We have now sold over 100 computers, and we are working on ordering an additional batch to cover new sales. These computers are expected to ship in December/January.

The brackets have for mounting the stand to the LongMill and AltMill, we have received the license codes for Windows 11 IOT, and we are expecting computers to arrive on Nov 1st. We have been working on filming and making the resources in anticipation of the new panel computers.

I also had a chance to test the computer with Centroid using the Ethernet cable. This opens up a wider set of options for people to use their panel computer on other CNC machines. From our testing, it worked flawlessly. Thank you John for letting us give it a whirl.

Vortex

The Vortex Rotary Axis continues to ship as usual. We’re excited to announce that our close-loop versions of the kit have started shipping.

You can now find additional resources on installation on our Resources Page.

LaserBeam

We’re excited to share the Magnetic LaserBeam Mount, compatible with standard LongMill and AltMill mounting! This has been designed to make it faster and easier to mount and unmount the laser, rather than using the screws.

Shipping and production are proceeding as normal, we currently have 27 LaserBeams packed and prepared for shipment within 1-3 days. New Driver Boards have been ordered, as well as more LaserBeam Mounts. Both will arrive well before we run out of our current stock.

We will be adding two of our LaserBeam accessories for purchase in our shop.

First is the steel LaserBeam Mount. We’ve found some of our customers enjoy using this mount for their own projects, setups and designs. Although it was designed specifically for our LaserBeam, it’s a versatile and robust piece of material.

Second is the Replacement Focus Finder Set. Every LaserBeam order is shipped with a full set but we understand that the parts are small and easy to misplace, so we created a solution.

As well as making these accessories available for purchase, we have added a new resources page to our website where you can find the design files for each accessory. Feel free to experiment and try making your own at home.

https://resources.sienci.com/view/lb-files-for-download

PWM Controllable Router

Sine we can’t call our thing the “Sprouter” anymore, I’ll just use PWM Controllable Router for now (or just “router” here for brevity). Here’s a short demo of the speed control being used to play music while cutting at the same time! (turn on your audio).

We brought down the newest version of the prototype router down to Austin TX for the Vectric UGM, where we did some basic demos switching between different speeds. We’re excited to share that we’re able to successfully control the router using a PWM signal!

Since we want to be able to make sure the router works with other popular hobby CNC machines, we’re looking for some volunteers who have machines other than an AltMill or LongMill, who’d be ok with us plugging it into their controllers. If you’d like to offer your help, please reach out!

Thank you everyone who’s been suggesting names for the router. We’re likely going to have a more official contest to help with the naming of the product, so keep an eye out for that!

Hey everyone, here’s our October 2024 Production Updates.

AltMill

We’re excited to have another batch of parts arrived in September.

We’re sort of hitting an interesting new wall in manufacturing, where the number of parts that we need to make with each manufacturer is more than they can handle in a reasonable time, so we’re working on diversifying our group of manufacturers so that we can move faster in scaling up production.

Shipping was put on a hold as we wait on restocking for spindles. They were expected to arrive Sept 20, 2024, but due to shipping delays at the port due to a recent rail strike, they are expected to arrive Sept 30th. We’ve asked for a rush on these items. Other parts for orders are being assembled now and we will work to ship as much out as we can as soon as the spindles arrive.

Assembly videos for AltMill are coming very soon to Youtube, as they are going through final edits now live on our Channel! These will supplement the written assembly instructions found on our Resources soon.

We now also have AltMill documents open-sourced! hey so I have the public version of the AltMill doc ready for release: https://resources.sienci.com/view/open-source/

LongMill

LongMill orders continue to ship out without incident.

We’re happy to share that the LongMill Spindle and Dust Shoe Kits are shipping and resources for installation are now available!

Due to the shipping delay as mentioned above for the spindles, we are expecting spindles to arrive Sept 30th and will start shipping kits soon after they arrive.

Vortex

The big news for the past month is that closed-loop stepper support and full 4th-axis support is coming out now for Vortex. Learn more about it in our article here: https://sienci.com/2024/09/05/vortex-rotary-axis-close-loop-stepper-motor-update/.

Motors and cables for closed-loop steppers for Vortex have already arrived. We are currently working on testing, packing, and a few other details before they start shipping.

LaserBeam

Focus rings and sets are back in stock! New LaserBeam Safety glasses have been ordered and will arrive well before we run out of stock.

We are continuing to work on updating and adding new resources to the website for the LaserBeam.

We have started building a new, enclosed laser testing area to improve safety measures and also the level of technical support we can provide to you, our customers. 

Keep an eye out for the new Magnetic LaserBeam mount, coming soon!

gControl Panel Computer

50-panel computers are now on the way! We are currently working on a few things to get these ready for ordering, such as the branding, the computer configurations, and other little things. Look out for a blog post coming out that’ll cover all of the details.

We now have 50 Microsoft licenses ordered and waiting on them to arrive. We are also working on doing the final configuration on the OS side. Brackets for mounting are also in manufacturing now and expected to arrive anytime.

Once we sell and ship the first 50, we’re going to be planning out how many we’re going to order for the second batch.

If you’re interested in this product and want to fill out a survey, please visit the survey here: https://forms.gle/E1vaWAaGsfuQB8yg9

Sprouter

So it turns out that someone else is using the name Sprouter for another project. So we’ll probably have to lay off on using that name going forward. If you have any suggestions for names, feel free to let us know!

Also, if you have a non-Sienci Labs machine, such as with a Masso or Shapeoko controller, we’d like to test if the PWM control integration works properly with your machine so that this router can work on all sorts of different hobby CNC machines. If you’re in the KW area and would like to let us test, please feel free to reach out.

Our first prototypes for the Makita clone have arrived and are going through testing. You can see from the photo, they are just like the regular router but with an extra cable sticking out the back for the PWM control.

In the mean time, the team is working on conceptual designs for the top motor housing to work with the extra cable for the PWM signal and for wire management and cooling.

In other news, we are currently waiting on a new version of a VESC driver to be made that can handle up to 200V. We recently tested VESC up to around 100V, with fairly good results, but to get to the RPM range of around 24,000RPM, we need to have a controller that can handle the 200V. One of the main questions we have now is if we’re able to get reliable and fast speed control response at the higher voltage and speeds. We expect the new drivers to arrive in the next month or two.

In our last tests for the BLDC version, we found that the bearings were operating at a higher temperature that we’d like. We suspect that this may be caused by a number of factors, suchas due to improperly machined bearing seats. New bearing seats have arrived and we are going through assembly and testing now.l

Vectric 2024 User Group Meeting

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ll be part of Vectric’s 2024 User Group Meeting! Join us at the Embassy Suites Round Rock in Austin, Texas, on Friday and Saturday, October 11-12, 2024, for a weekend packed with learning and fun. We’ll showcase the AltMill and Vortex, and Scott will be a guest speaker. If you’re attending, be sure to stop by and say hello!

For those new to Vectric, they’re the creators of VCarve, a top-notch design tool for CNC projects. You can purchase it from our website and enjoy full ownership without any subscription fees.

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

Hey guys, here are our September 2024 production updates!

AltMill

In August we received a lot of parts for building the AltMill. We’ve done a lot to continue ramping production up including:

• Building new carts and jigs to help with moving materials around and helping with assembly
• A much bigger and more stable tapping setup

We also ran into a few new issues:

• We found a number of the rail extrusions to be bent enough to have uneven machining. We do have enough for the time being to continue shipping, but we will have to make more to make up for the bad parts. We are currently in production for another batch of rails, so we are adding more rails to the new batch to make up for the bad ones.
• Over-sensitivity of closed-loop stepper motors and default acceleration settings, especially on the Z-axis causing false alarms for the first 50 AltMills. Updates to the firmware settings, which should be found now in the latest version of gSender adjust microstepping defaults, and any other outgoing AltMills have this issue already fixed.

In other news, we built a 2x4ft working area AltMill with some spare parts. It’s mostly for internal use so that we can do testing, but we suspect a lot of people are going to be interested in a slightly smaller AltMill as well. If you’re interested in this form factor, feel free to let us know!

We’ve also started making the assembly videos for the AltMill. We did the filming in the third week of August, and we expect to have videos coming out sometime in September.

We now have about 100 AltMills shipped, and we expect to ship another 50-100 in September and October. We should also be getting our Batch 2 AltMill parts in the next 2 months as well, so we expect to continue scaling production.

LongMill

LongMills continue to ship out smoothly, with most orders shipping out within a week.

One main update to share is with the T12 Spring Loaded Anti-Backlash Nut Blocks. We’ve initially made them from injection moulded blanks which were machined after, however, we found out that due to internal stresses, the threading would be inconsistent and require additional processing to machine properly.

We’ve now started machining them from cast blocks, which have lower internal stresses, which means that there is little to no deformation and changes to the overall shape of the blocks after threading. This method is more expensive, but improves the quality, saves time in re-machining, and reduces the number of rejected parts, which we believe is worth the tradeoff. Due to the time savings and other benefits, there is a good chance we’ll switch completely over to the new blocks and scrap most of the old ones that haven’t been QA’d.

Due to some variability in the tightness of the blocks, we’ve advised users to do a bit of break-in before starting their job. Our expectation for the new blocks will be that this break-in will not be necessary and we will be able to have much more consistency in the resistance in the blocks. We have completed testing for the new blocks and expect blocks to transition into production any day.

Vortex and LaserBeam

Both Vortex and LaserBeam orders are shipping out as usual.

Ikenna and Jen are currently working on new resources for LaserBeam and SuperLongBoard to bring new features and details on improvements and setup, so make sure to keep an eye out for that.

LaserBeam Livestreams are also coming to an end after 2 years of consistent episodes! Congrats to Ikenna and the team for running these livestreams.

More livestreams and content to come out soon with the UltraBeam, so keep an eye out for that.

One big update for the Vortex is that we are finalizing details for a close-loop Vortex kit that allows for full 4th-axis support. That means you’ll be able to control all of the axis (X, Y, and Z), plus the rotary (A) axis simultaneously. This is one of the big features we’ve been working on gSender and SLB for.

Please keep an eye out for news in the next few weeks!

Spindles

We have received another batch of 50 spindles which have been allocated for shipping AltMills. We currently have another 350 spindles on the way, but they are currently delayed in shipping. At the current timeline, we expect the spindles to arrive in the third week of September. Once those are received, we should be shipping the LongMill Spindle Kits shortly after.

If you’re interested in learning a bit more about spindle and router testing, make sure to check out our video here

We’ve also been experimenting with different size/voltage spindles since we know that the AltMill can handle more power. We’ve of course started with the 1.5KW 110V option since it makes things accessible for the typical hobbyist, we wanted to know where the limits of the AltMill are in case we start getting users that are more industrial or production-focused.

Here’s some testing with a 220V 4.5KW spindle.

It is important to point out that for most people, 1.5KW is still more than enough power for how fast hobbyists are comfortable pushing their machines, and the spindle is more than able to handle anything you throw at it if you slow down the machine to accommodate. Additionally, the 1.5KW spindle is the only option that can run safely on 110V power that comes out of your wall. Larger spindles will require higher voltage (220V) power.

I should also note that while we still recommend getting our AltMill Spindle and Dust Shoe Kit with your AltMill since it’s plug-and-play and will get you set up quickly, you can still also buy other spindles to put on yourself.

At least from our observations, we haven’t seen hobby users fully push the AltMill to its limit. However, we believe that people looking at the AltMill for industrial applications might be interested in a bigger, more powerful spindle, especially if they have power available in their shop.

If you’d like to share your thoughts and opinions, please feel free to fill out the survey below.

Sprouter

We’ve continued to work on this project this past month. We are continuing to test:

• Bearing longevity and performance in different configurations
• Heat management
• Sound and motor tuning

We feel pretty confident in our motor design and construction. However, we’re still left with another frontier to tackle, which is the driver. Having a good driver is important as it allows us to properly and accurately control the speed, improve motor efficiency which in turn reduces heat, and makes the motor quieter.

We have been testing and working with the Chinese manufacturers of the motors to provide us with their drivers. However, while they are close to the performance we are looking for, they still lack the overall performance and speed control precision we want. We will continue to do testing and iron out as much as we can with these drivers, however, we are taking another approach of developing our own drivers.

Here are some pros and cons of going down this path.

• Developing our own drivers means we can tune and perfect every aspect of it. However, we require more advanced hardware and computing on board which adds to the cost.
• Some drivers are already safety certified since they are already used in different applications. Developing our own means we need to do the safety certification, which costs time and money. However, overall, a custom driver will likely be safer since we can use additional safety features like current control and stall detection to stop the device when there are issues.

We also have a first look of PWM control of the Makita router clone!

We are now working on next steps to figuring out ordering and production for the first batch so we can prepare for a launch near the end of the year.

gControl Panel computer

After a lot of digging, we’ve figured out a couple things with the Windows licensing.

• Our computer hardware can run Windows 11 Home and Pro, but it is very difficult for us to get it at a price better than retail.
• Different licenses are needed for different regions, which means that we need to differentiate between computers shipped to different countries.
• An alternative OS is Windows 11 IOT, which is a version of Windows 11 that focuses on systems that require high levels of stability and used in specific applications. For example, they are used in bank ATMs, kiosks, and industrial machines.

As described on the Microsoft Website:

Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC is intended for fixed-function, special-purpose devices that require a long support lifecycle of 10 years. These devices are typically found in industries including banking, quick-service restaurants, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, and retail.

Windows IoT Enterprise LTSC is based on the same foundation as Windows Professional and Windows Enterprise, delivering the same compatibility, security and management capabilities required for commercial deployments. Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC provides additional capabilities to lockdown the device experience for public facing or employee facing scenarios along with the ability to customize the operating system footprint.

Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC is available for both x64 and ARM64 architecture.

For more information, see Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC Evaluation.

This is great, because, while a retail Windows 11 Home or Pro license costs over $100, the IOT license is around $35USD. Additionally, these computers can be deployed around the world without the same restrictions as a retail license.

I feel that Windows 11 IOT also aligns with the use case of why we want to offer our own PC solution, which is to improve reliability of the CNC system overall, and reducing the number of variables effecting the reliability of the system is an important way of doing so.

We have those first 50 computers in production now, and are expecting them be ready to ship to customers in late October/early November. More details to come. Depending on popularity and interest, we’ll scale up production for a larger batch shortly after.

Vectric 2024 User Group Meeting

We’re excited to share that we’ll be part of Vectric’s 2024 User Group Meeting! Join us at the Embassy Suites Round Rock in Austin, Texas, on Friday and Saturday, October 11-12, 2024, for a weekend full of learning and fun. We’ll be showcasing the AltMill and Vortex, with Scott as a guest speaker. If you’re attending, we’d love for you to 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 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.com/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.