Hi everyone. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy out there. Yesterday we shipped another 50 machines, which covers for most of the remaining Feb-March orders. We are currently packing March-April orders and expect them to ship in the next week or so.
Lead times for new LongMill orders
Now that we’ve cleared out our backlog, we will be shortening our lead times for LongMills.
LongMill 30x30s should take about up to 2 weeks.
LongMill 12×12 and 12x30s should take 2 to 3 weeks to ship.
Pick up orders
We are still allowing pick-ups for orders, however, visitors will not be allowed inside our facility. If you want to arrange a pick-up, please email or call us to schedule a pick-up and we will leave your order on the dock.
Although we are still allowing pick-ups, we recommend having your order shipped to reduce contact. Shipping within the local area is typically quite fast (1-2 business days).
Working from home
Dropping off and picking up materials for our team working from home
To reduce the spread of COVID-19, most of our production has moved to work from home. Ikenna, our operations manager remains at the office to conduct shipments and day to day activities.
Version 1 of the LongMill mounted the back steel plate for the dust shoe using the two M3 screws on the X-axis gantry linear guides which were finicky. The latest version for the LongMill now uses M5 screws mounted independently from the M3 screws that provide easier assembly and more secure fitment.
Thank you for everyone’s feedback on the fitment and design of our dust shoe, we are excited to continue to develop our machines and additional add-ons that go with it!
Please note that this video only applies to customers with the latest version of the LongMill shipped March 2020 and later.
Folks assembling their dust shoe may find that fitting the t-nuts into the aluminum extrusion is easier by turning the t-nuts opposite to what is shown in the video. This will depend on the 2020 extrusion profile that was provided with your kit.
Hi everyone. As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected day to day lives of people all around the world, and we are no exception. This post will cover the extent of what that impact looks like to us and to our customers.
We want to thank everyone for their patience and support in this tumultuous time.
Ontario list of essential businesses
To slow the spread of COVID-19, the Ontario government has ordered all non-essential businesses to close. Under these new regulations, we fall under number 19 as an essential workplace ( https://www.ontario.ca/page/list-essential-workplaces ).
19. Businesses that extract, manufacture, process and distribute goods, products, equipment and materials, including businesses that manufacture inputs to other manufacturers (e.g. primary metal/ steel, blow molding, component manufacturers, chemicals, etc. that feed the end-product manufacturer);
On top of this, all online commerce is permitted at all times. We will be open for the time being under our own discretion and we will continue production as scheduled.
Local pickups and visitors
Visitors will not be permitted in our shop. If you have arranged for a local pickup of your machine we can prepare your shipment and leave it on the dock or make other arrangements. This is to ensure the safety of our employees and prevent the risk of transmitting COVID-19.
Pickups can be made between 10AM and 5PM.
If you want to pick up your machine from our office and you have received a notice for your pickup, please call us 10 minutes before pickup and we will leave your order on the dock.Our phone number is 1-855-220-1231.
If you want to purchase any other items and pick it up from the shop, please order items on our website ahead of time and call us 10 minutes before pick up and we will leave your order on the dock. Our phone number is 1-855-220-1231.
If you have indicated that you want to pick up your order previously, but would like for us to ship it instead, please email us with your order number and shipping address to hi@sienci.com. We will send you a Paypal invoice for shipping costs. Shipping costs within Ontario range between $30-50 for LongMills.
Shipping progress
By the end of day today, we expect the first 100 machines to be shipped or ready for pick up by courier tomorrow. This covers orders between November to January. Orders from February to March will most likely ship by the end of this week or by the start of next week.
Lead times for new LongMill orders
We are changing lead times for LongMill orders from 8-10 weeks to 4-6 weeks. We currently have stock for approximately 200 LongMills. As always, we try to orders as quickly as possible and there is a possibility that some orders may ship sooner than this.
Giving ourselves 4-6 weeks lead time to ship helps ensure that we can take appropriate measures to stay safe and healthy, as well enough buffer if we are further affected by COVID-19
Here are some things that may impact lead times for orders.
Things get worse with COVID-19
While business and production is currently not closed for us, there is a potential that 1) the Ontario government may place new regulations that may affect production 2) someone on our team gets sick, requiring us to go into quarantine.
Supply chain lines are affected by COVID-19
We send and receive components and shipments domestically and around the world. If supply chain lines are affected, such as couriers that ship orders to customers, that may affect lead times.
How quickly we can pack
The speed of which we can ship is determined by how quickly we can pack orders. This may be affected if some workers elect to quarantine or work from home. We will not be bringing on additional workers beyond our core team at this time.
We will continue to monitor the situation and provide production updates if there are significant changes to lead times for new orders.
We have started shipping orders! Customers should be expecting emails and tracking info from us soon. Please be patient as we get through our backlog.
Orders from Dec and January should be shipping this week and next week, and orders from February and March should ship by the following week.
We will be shipping all orders for LongMills, all order numbers will be fulfilled.
Pickups
We will be getting in touch for customers who have opted for local pickups.
If you are unable to arrange for a pick-up due to the coronavirus, please contact us for other arrangements.
Control box replacements
There are three or four customers that are waiting on replacement control boards. These will ship out in the next few days.
Assembly for LongMill V2
There are some small variations between LongMill V1 and V2 that have been documented in the assembly manual on our online resources. Most changes are very minor and both processes for assembly on the V1 and V2 are the same. However, if you require clarification or are stuck on assembly, please contact us and we will update the assembly manual.
As covered in the last production update, we have been waiting on the remaining batch of parts to arrive. As of current, we have the full balance of parts with the exception of the control boards. We are expecting the control boards to arrive by the end of the week.
Next steps
As mentioned in the previous update, our goal has to pre-pack and prepare as much as we can so that we can ship everything out as quickly as possible once the control boards arrive.
We have completed packing and preparing for all backorders, and I have provided training to start assembly and testing to build and assemble the rest of the control components to everyone who is part of that process.
GRBL Firmware update for CNCjs
A couple of people have reached out about the connectivity with CNCjs for the gcode sender with our controller. I have since created a new version of the firmware which will be flashed on all new LongMills going forward. Those LongMills will be compatible with CNCjs. I have also been emailed by one of the developers of CNCjs to inform us that they have updated CNCjs to properly connect to the program for older versions of the LongMill as well.
Current users and new users should be able to connect to CNCjs with no issues. There have been no other changes to the firmware so if your machine is working fine, there should be no reason to update your firmware. However, if you are interested in the firmware update process, you can check out the guide here: https://sienci.com/dmx-longmill/grbl-firmware/
LongMill lead times for new orders
We will not be updating the current 8-10 week lead time for new orders until we can confirm that the boards have arrived and we are shipping machines at a consistent rate. However, I expect that by next week I will be able to provide a new updated lead-time estimate. Please note that orders will still be shipped based on the order in which they were made.
We’ve had a lot of folks highly recommend Vectric software for their LongMills, so we’ve decided to become their official reseller to sell their software. We’ve started with selling VCarve Desktop as it provides 2D and 3D carving functionality, includes great tutorials and resources, and design for 2D and 3D projects. VCarve Desktop comes with the limitation in work area of 24″x24″, but can be upgraded to VCarve Pro which has no work area limitation by paying the difference in price. https://sienci.com/product/vectric-vcarve-desktop-v10/
We’ve decided to offer the LongBoard CNC Controller as an item on our store for folks who want to build their own CNC machines and routers.
Current options for higher power (above 2.5A per motor) CNC hobby CNC controllers are hard to find, especially for an all in one, plug and play system. Most hobbyists must resort to building their electronics from many separated pieces, which can be complicated, time-consuming, and difficult to troubleshoot.
We built and designed the LongBoard controller to eliminate the need to do all the wiring and assembly to build the electronics for CNC machines. The LongBoard Controller stands out as a robust, simple, and affordable CNC control option. https://sienci.com/product/longboard/
We now offer rails for sale available on our store if you are trying to upgrade from a smaller to a larger size LongMill, or just need to buy rails and lead screws for your own project.https://sienci.com/product/size-upgrades-for-the-longmill/
We are happy to announce that Sienci Labs is a sponsor for the 2020 Maker Expo in Kitchener! We are putting $2500 towards supporting this event. We’re really excited to come full circle from tiny startup to a less tiny startup and doing our part to support the maker community in our region. It is thanks to our close-knit community and tech ecosystem that we’ve been able to come this far.
Maker Expo and its organizers are dear to our heart as we had our early starts showing off our Mill One and LongMills at these events. We have lots of great memories and gained a ton of customers through these events. In fact, although we have customers in nearly 40 countries, we have the densest population of users in the KW region.
We know that there are lots of folks eagerly waiting for their LongMills. Here’s an update on the production for the LongMills.
As far as components go, all parts for the LongMill are currently in the shop being packed now with the exception of two of the components because we are waiting for them to be delivered.
Control boxes
Control boards
We currently have a partial batch and waiting for the balance to be delivered for
TB6600 drivers
Power supplies
There has been a ton of changes we have made to our production to improve the quality and speed of our packaging and assembly, as well as to reduce the chance of errors. We are also working to ensure that we can ship machines as quickly as possible once our inventory is fully stocked again.
Control boards and boxes
We’ll start by talking about the current bottleneck in our production which is with the control boards and the control boxes.
The control boards are currently delayed by two weeks. We are currently having them assembled in China, and due to the coronavirus, factory workers did not start work again until the 17th. I have been told that the boards are expected to complete production and ship next week. All of the PCBs have been made, but we are waiting on the assembly to finish.
In the meantime, we have tested and checked the first batch of drivers to be installed into the control boards so that they are ready to go as soon as the boards arrive.
Control boxes are also in the process of being made. We have made significant changes to the design to 1) decrease assembly time 2) improve durability 3) add mounting holes for mounting to your table. The first 200 sets of parts for the control boxes were completed yesterday and have been delivered to be powder coated. We currently have the first 150 acrylic top panels completed as well, with the remaining expected to be finished at the start of March.
From batch 1, our biggest bottleneck in production has been in the assembly of the control boxes. With the new design, assembly is significantly faster and easier, reducing the bottleneck.
I am expecting this to increase our overall speed in which we can ship machines and get machines into our users sooner.
Aluminum rails, drag chains, and lead screws
Unloading the first shipment of rails from the vanDylan working on packing rail sets.
Here’s Dylan diligently putting together rails into sets. We are now packing all rails, drag chains, and lead screws into one package to simplify our packaging and process.
This was one of the most time consuming and physically demanding parts of our packing process from the last batch, but we have been able to greatly speed up the packing by using a custom made stand that eliminates the need for two people to wrap the rails together.
Gantries and sheet metal parts
We have received all the gantries and other sheet metal parts ahead of schedule, and have started the packing and assembly for these parts.
Currently, we have all 400+ Y-axis gantries packed and on the shelf ready to go, and many of the Z-axis motor mounts packed as well.
Esteban assembling XZ gantriesCompleted gantries
Here’s Esteban putting together the gantries for the X and Z axis. We do this process in house as it can be tricky to get the proper alignment in the linear guides, as well as due to the chance of losing the ball bearings if the linear guide block comes off the rail. Esteban and Jeemin, two students working at Sienci Labs this term, designed and assembled a new jig design (amongst many others being used in production currently) to help align and assemble these gantries.
With the new jig and the threaded holes in the linear guides that were not on the previous version, we have been able to reduce assembly time significantly as well. We currently have around 96 completed assemblies, so just over 300 more to go!
3D printed parts
With the new filament material, improved part designs, and upgraded components on our 3D printers, we have dramatically increased the efficiency in 3D printing. Currently, we have 34-35 printers online churning out parts.
New aluminum extruders
One major upgrade was to the extruders on the Ender 3s. We had done so much printing on the machines that the tensioning arm for our printers were completely worn through.
Worn through parts
Other changes include using magnetic PEI sheet beds on all Ender 3s that helps us remove parts quickly and easily, as well as continually improving our print slicer settings to increase print strength and quality.
There have also been some small changes to some of the 3D printed parts to improve the fit and finish of the parts as well (seating nuts, sliding rails through, etc.).
3D printed parts pre-packed
To speed up our packing process and improve our organization, we now will pack all of the 3D printed components into one separate box (as shown in the photo).
Power supplies, fasteners, and Z-axis motor mount plates
Power supply, fasteners, and Z-axis motor mount plates prepacked
We’ve packed and put the power supply, fasteners, and z-axis motor mount plates into another box to pre-pack and prepare for shipping.
We also had all of the fasteners pre-packed and labeled with their size at the factory, to speed up packing and make the assembly process easier.
NEMA 23 stepper motors
One of the most time-consuming part of our packing process has been to wrap and pack the NEMA 23 stepper motors. We’ve now pre-packed all of the motors in cartons in foam, along with the wires together to eliminate this step.
All stepper motors nicely packed
They also have our logo laser engraved on them along with whether they are threaded or not threaded as well, also eliminating us needing to label them as well.
Conclusion
Packing and production continues on and we are working towards getting machines out the door as quickly as possible. Based on our current pace and expected delivery time for the remaining components, I expect that we will start shipping machines early to mid-March.
Our current plan is to start shipping machines as soon as the control box and control board parts arrive and start to ramp up our shipping to 50ish units per week. This means that most of the backlog will ship near the tail end of March and folks that placed their orders in the past month may be seeing their machines sooner than the 8-10 week estimate, but please plan for those estimates to stay the same if you have any time-sensitive projects.
We do have a chance of shipping earlier still if the control boards arrive on time. From our experience with our powder coating company, they often can provide the parts sooner than their lead-time estimates, but I will provide estimates assuming that they stick to the lead times I have been told. If there are significant changes to production I will make sure to post them.
The Sienci Labs team enjoying a Friday lunch at our local BBQ joint
It’s been a heck of a ride with building LongMills and ironing out issues in production to get the best quality machine to our customers. With any new product, there are lots of issues to fix and resolve. We’ve kept detailed records for every customer issue we have to review and improve on our machines and customer service, as well as to place new methods to prevent issues from happening again. In total, we shipped approximately 380 units between October 2019 and Jan 2020.
This post will discuss some of our common problems and issues and delve a little deeper into what we did on our side. We hope that this helps provide some transparency on how we help our customers as well as give everyone a little insight into some of the day to day things we sort through for our customers.
Missing parts
Number of reported incidents: 31
We found that with so many different components that make up the LongMill and the variations for all of the kits, we found that it can be easy to miss a part.
A good portion of missing components were bags of fasteners missing. We have updated the packaging for batch 2 to:
Be labeled with the fastener type to make it easier to visually identify different types of fasteners.
Weigh checked at each step. All components must be in the bag to pass the correct weight.
Labeled in different colors so that they are harder to mix up or miss.
One of the areas we found that were error-prone was where there are variations package to package. We’ve isolated more of the components to reduce variations and pre-pack them so that there is less chance for a mix-up.
Broken 3D printed parts
Broken during assembly: 6
One of the common reasons for breaking a part during assembly was from dropping the rail with the 3D printed parts attached to it. We provided new parts free of charge, and we have been using a stronger plastic to reduce the chance of parts breaking during assembly.
Broken during shipping: 14
One of the most common issues we’ve had with parts breaking was with the Z-axis motor mount holder. The rear mount for the drag chain was prone to breaking. To mitigate this issue, this part has been redesigned to be made from steel, eliminating the chance for that to break during transport.
Control box issues
Defective control board: 9
Several boards, especially at the beginning of the production run, did not work properly. Most problems came from individual motor drivers not working properly or switches not working properly. Customers received replacements control boxes and old ones were shipped back for testing and repair.
We found that several of the drivers had missing or damaged components, which we suspect were from shipping.
After finding these issues, every subsequent board was more thoroughly checked for defects and tested before assembly.
Batch 2 boards were improved in design for reliability, uses better quality components to reduce the chance for issues. Every driver will be tested before being soldered on the main control board.
With the new steel enclosure design, the LongMill’s control board is also expected to be better protected during transport.
Control boards also have higher quality motor connectors which means that there is less chance of misdiagnosis for improperly seated cables.
Manufacturing defects
Manufacturing defects: 18
There were some manufacturing defects with some of the parts with the LongMill. This includes:
Luckily we’ve had very few issues with most of the manufactured parts, with most of the issues coming from the power supplies. We’ve found a new supplier that is able to provide us with better quality, more robust power supplies.
Most components are now visually checked to reduce the chance of bad parts, but typically the error rate has been very low. We are usually able to get replacements parts within a few days to customers in North America.
With the exception of the power supplies, we usually only had one or two issues with each part, so the rate of defective parts is quite low (less than half a percent).
Conclusion
At Sienci Labs we are anal about making sure that the quality of our products are as high as possible. We want to make sure that the experience of receiving and assembling our machines are as smooth as possible, and that starts with how we pack and manufacture our products.
Tracking our issues and solving them in our process has been a lot of fun and we expect to continue to improve our machines. I hope that this post provides some insight into our process and how we made some of the decisions for our packaging methods.
What an insane weekend at this year’s Toronto Woodworking Show! Thank you to everyone who came out to chat and visit the booth!
It was exciting to come back to the show this year, as it has been exactly one year since we first publicly debuted the LongMill at the 2019 Toronto Woodworking Show. We came back, upping our production value and with more goodies to show and give away.
Here are some of the highlights and recap of the show.
We have the best customers in the world
I have to say, we have hands down the best, most supportive customers in the world.
Samples at our boothTom Woodhouse, one of our early LongMill customers came by with a giant “S” shaped balloon to help people find us!
A special thank you to Tom who came by to give us his wooden bottlecap that you can use to help you decide if you want to buy a LongMill! Full disclosure, it says “yes” on both sides.
Another special thank you to Jan who came by to hang out with us and stayed at our booth for three hours to talk to folks as well. We never paid him or asked him to do this for us, but I guess it speaks to how much he loves his LongMill.
Randy Rosewell with his LongMill
Another special thank you to Deb from Rosewell Woodworking who dropped off one of their beautiful salt and pepper grinder sets. Deb told us that initially, they had been selling salt and pepper grinders individually, and they were able to boost their sales by combining them into sets. Make sure to check them out ( https://rosewellwoodworking.com/ ) and all the best success to their business!
And finally, a special thank you to Jeff from River Run Custom Wood Design gave us two of his pieces to show off at the show. He gave us his business cards to share with folks that want to buy pieces from him (I guess if you don’t want to get your own machine to make your own).
And of course, a special thank you to all of our other customers who came by the booth to share their experiences with us and fellow woodworkers!
Some cool stuff we made
Dragon and horse reliefs (around 2.5 – 3hr of cutting each)D&D Meats founder with his new sign that we traded for his wares
Plus v-carvings, signs, coasters, and other projects that we forgot to take photos of.
Seminars
We did two seminars at the show. One was on V-carving and the other one was on choosing different end mills, hosted by Greg and me.
I believe Ikenna took some video and photos of the seminars, so we’ll make sure to post them soon!
The 2020 Toronto Woodworking Show was such a blast. Not only was it a great show, but it marks a culmination of one year of hard work since the last show. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come, and it makes us incredibly happy to talk to so many of our satisfied LongMill users. I appreciate that our customers have gone above and beyond to show their support, and we hope to continue to provide the best machines, support, and opportunities for our users.
