Happy Friday! Thanks for sharing your amazing sign projects made on the LongMill.
Last Week’s Winners
We are happy to announce that Benjamin Jaquith, David Stokely, Thomas Falk, Derek Jenkinson, Austin Carvings and Customs, and Rob Stecyk are the sign projects contest winners. Watch out for a prize!
This week, showcase your kitchen projects made with the LongMill! Share creations like utensils, bowls, noodle boards, trays, cutting boards, charcuterie boards, tables, cabinets, and more. We’ll choose our favorites and reward the makers!
Hello everyone! Thank you to all who shared their beautiful spring-themed LongMill projects.
Last Week’s Winners
We are happy to announce that Kevin Philpott, Greg Hunt, Woolyboo’s CNC, and Sam Klein are the spring-themed projects contest winners. A prize is on its way!
P.S. We will be closed on Monday, May 20th for Victoria Day and back in the office on Tuesday, May 21st.
This Week’s Theme: Sign Projects
This week’s theme is “projects that are signs.” Share your most creative LongMill sign projects for a chance to win prizes in our contest!
For those of you that have followed us as we develop and improve our products, or read Andy’s Production Updates, you probably know the drill by now – it’s time for our LongMill CNC to see some new improvements!
History
The LongMill used to be called just that when we launched it back in October of 2019, but the naming quickly got expanded:
LongMill V2 which began shipping March 2020
LongMill V3 (Aug 2020), then V4 (Jan 2021), then V4b (Aug 2021)
LongMill MK2, which marked a complete redesign of the LongMill CNC to continue our focus on ease of assembly, rigidity for price, and designed with add-ons in mind. This began shipping in March 2022 and retroactively grouped all prior LongMills into the “MK1” naming.
LongMill MK2.5 which we will now be ramping up to begin shipping for June 2024
Why do we make these updates? Since we launched the LongMill, we’ve continued to maintain a solid idea of where we felt it should sit as a CNC and more generally as a tool. If you’re looking for a CNC that can create any reasonably-sized project an individual would be looking to make at home with great support and reliability, it’s the machine for you. It’s akin to a home printer, you could save money and spend less on stamps or small label-makers, and you could also spend a lot more on a large laminate printer or printing press, but the home printer can really hit the sweet spot for most individuals. We’ve never wanted it to trend upwards in price and features until it starts to resemble an industrial piece of machinery (that’s what our new AltMill is meant to do), but we also recognize that we can take action when opportunities arise from:
User feedback
Production at scale as our company grows
New understandings of our users priorities as we see how everyone uses our CNCs
Making steps while ensuring that the changes are worth our time and everyone’s money makes us feel that we’re continuing to update our products with the best that we have to offer to the CNC community. This is exemplified by the transition from quite a few 3D printed parts in the original LongMill to now being all metal and one injection mold in the MK2.5. Another example is the MK2 redesign which made the LongMill 2-3 times stronger than the MK1 design for the exact same cost and nearly halved the assembly time. All of this with very few price adjustments along the way to keep up with changes during COVID, inflation, and continuous improvements we continue to pour time and energy into to build and support such a user-friendly machine and ecosystem. Would you believe our 30×30 model started at $950 and by the MK2 it was still only $1350 USD?
What’s changing?
We’ve got two new heavy-hitters that we’re very excited to announce as a part of the MK2.5 update, alongside some other smaller improvements.
SuperLongBoard
Many of you might already be familiar with this new development that’s been over 1.5 years in the making, but if not we have many priorblog posts that can bring you up to speed. The bottom line is that with the successful launch of the first 500 pre-ordered units and the positive reception, we’ve decided to fast-track the SLB to be standard with the LongMill moving forward (it’s also what we’ll be building off of to power our new AltMill CNC).
Since my last SLB update, we released a great summary video on what you can look forward to that also explains why we think it makes sense to move forward on this new electronics architecture. The main benefits to all users will be:
Faster movement, homing, and probing from new motor drivers that are more robust and anti-resonant
Smarter drivers also reduce motor noise, allow changes on-the-go over firmware, and are expected to be more reliable
Improved cutting reliability against ruined jobs and material due to high-grade EMI measures implemented in the board redesign which also includes Ethernet connectivity
Smarter and more responsive system resulting in faster probing, safer E-stop, and room for even more future expansion
Even more extras for the true enthusiasts like RS485 VFD support, 4th axis cutting, TLS, and more
It’s been very exciting seeing the SLB get into peoples hands over the last two months, especially so after some have already contributed their own guides and videos showing installation, reduced motor noise, and increased speeds. I was getting concerned that the shipping status table posted in the last SLB update would encounter more delays but I’m happy to say that we were able to keep things relatively on track in that first batch. I really appreciate everyone’s understanding and patience as we’ve been preparing to get more SLBs in for MK2.5 and also the lineup of already another hundred or so orders from people looking to upgrade their existing CNC systems. The strong reception we received in the initial pre-orders, combined with the feedback we’ve gotten so far from them in action, is what makes us confident in rolling out the SLB to everyone else for MK2.5. We’ve already had many more updates to our docs from the wider feedback such as:
Troubleshooting when the SLB is too fast for your machine
Post processor selection
Options for new options for motor holding
Clarified RGB LED strip hookup
Clarified 4th axis driver hookup diagram plus extra firmware setup steps
To all those who back-ordered their SLBs, don’t worry you still have your place in line since MK2.5 was always meant to be a part of this same batch of boards. Currently we’re still doing our best to have the boards ready to ship out by end-of-May but it seems that there’s been another delay from one of our manufacturers which might mean that we won’t have boards show up until the start of June.
Spring Loaded Anti-Backlash Nuts
There’s also been a lot of coverage documenting our long process in trying to figure things out with these, but now we’ve gained confidence we can produce them in bulk and are excited to introduce them as a part of MK2.5!
Since we premiered this new part, demand has remained super high and every time we’ve restocked it’s sold out in just a couple days. The reason people have jumped to buy the over 4000 we’ve made so far is that it offers self-adjustment to maintain no backlash on all the LongMills axes. This is normally a very expensive technology to access, and is normally solved on other CNCs by using ball screws (more expensive and require more cleaning maintenance) or belts. To-date we’ve used an OpenBuilds-based design that allows for no backlash on lead screws but requires manual adjustment, but with this new upgrade it means one less step for y’all to have to worry about when it comes to CNC assembly and maintenance; giving you a reliably precise CNC system while still having the benefits of the low maintenance of lead screws.
Other Updates
Some other updates that were already introduced during MK2 shipping were new coupler and clamping nut designs that now use M5 hardware instead of M3. This change has meant that we have mostly eliminated people having issues with stripping hardware (some of our users have gorilla grip) or not being able to tighten them down hard enough on the lead screws.
We’ll also be rolling out injection molded feet which will be replacing our currently 3D printed middle feet. These support the Y-axis rails to create a more rigid system, but these parts have never really caused any issues or showed signs of needing an upgrade, we just haven’t changed the design for a while now so we decided to save the time for our 3D printer farm and opt for higher-quantity manufacturing.
Summary
We’re excited to announce everything that’s on the MK2.5 docket! Due to the changes, MK2.5 will also be coming with an approximately $150CAD/$110USD price increase compared with MK2 to reflect the addition of primarily the SuperLongBoard and the other additions.
We are continuing to work our way through the materials from Batch 8 (MK2) and are waiting on Batch 9 (MK2.5) parts to arrive which we expect to start shipping out later in June. We’re also already underway on putting together new revisions of our assembly manual and other LongMill resources and are looking forward to continue further expanding those resources in the coming year in other areas as well.
Of course, as MK2.5 starts to arrive in users hands we’ll continue to bring any other improvements we can like we’ve done for all prior LongMills, and anyone who’s looking to manually upgrade we already list all the new parts on our store for individual purchase. Also if you ordered a MK2 that hasn’t shipped yet and you’d be interested in upgrading to a MK2.5 instead, please just call or email us to arrange paying the difference and we can happily update your order.
Happy Friday! Thank you to everyone who shared their amazing multiple bits projects with us.
Last Week’s Winners
We are happy to announce that Ian Gillespie, Valentina Barahona, David Pinchot, Trey Campo, David Gai, and Quinn Riding are the multiple bits projects contest winners. Watch out for a prize!
Celebrate Spring with us! Share your Spring-themed projects like signs, flowers, raindrops, Mother’s Day gifts, backyard creations, animals, and more made on your LongMill. We’ll pick the best and send the creators free goodies!
Hey all! Thank you for sharing your cool LaserBeam projects with us.
Last Week’s Winners
We are happy to announce that Don Rideout, Dave Parkerson, Créations Namily, Paul Mathers, Bruce MacDonald, and Jeff Richardson are the LaserBeam projects contest winners. A prize is on its way!
Share your LongMill projects utilizing multiple bits (at least 2 or more) for this week’s theme. We’ll select our favorite projects and send prizes to the creators!
Hey guys, things continue to chug along at Sienci Labs.
Testing the fit of the aluminum guitar made on the AltMill
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.
SLB EXTPrototype dust shoeFasteners with pre-applied thread lockerAltMill power supply
We needed to have something to test the AltMill with, so Mike made this guitar out of aluminum.
Aluminum guitar made on the AltMill
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.
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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.
We’re thrilled to share an update on the progress of our CO2 laser project – introducing the UltraBeam! After nearly a year of development in CO2 laser technology, we’re eager to share what we have accomplished and what we’re currently working on.
Understanding CO2 Laser Technology
The UltraBeam combines CO2 laser technology with a CNC platform, offering precision and versatility. Like a CNC router, it uses computer control, but instead of traditional tools, it employs a CO2 laser beam for cutting and engraving materials with exceptional accuracy. This integration enhances its capabilities, making it a powerful tool for various applications.
UltraBeam Specifications: Redefining Speed, Precision, and Power
At the core of the UltraBeam lies its potent CO2 laser, boasting an impressive optical power of 75W. Surpassing typical diode lasers, this power ensures swift operations, with a maximum speed of 600mm per second. Coupled with its spacious work area of 24 inches by 36 inches, the UltraBeam accelerates project completion and broadens the scope of potential applications.
Imagine the UltraBeam moving at ten times the speed of your average CNC router. This feat is achieved through meticulous optimization of its mechanics, resulting in remarkable agility and accuracy. Experience consistently smooth and precise outcomes with every use, setting new standards in speed and precision.
V1 Prototype
Achieving Consistency Through Rigorous Testing
Before the UltraBeam arrives at your workshop, we’ve undertaken a series of meticulous testing procedures to ensure unparalleled performance and reliability:
Focus Consistency: Meticulous checks to ensure the laser maintains uniform focus across the entire working bed, guaranteeing consistent results regardless of project size or complexity.
Mirror Alignment: Precise alignment of mirrors is crucial for accurate laser targeting. We rigorously test and fine-tune this process to ensure optimal performance.
System Reliability: Stress tests under various operating conditions are conducted to ensure the UltraBeam operates reliably and consistently over time, meeting the demands of your projects.
Regulatory Compliance: Adherence to regulatory standards set by bodies like FCC, FDA, and the European Union is paramount. Rest assured, the UltraBeam will meet all safety and quality standards.
Pre-Production Design Changes
In the pre-production phase, we’re considering several key design changes. One significant decision revolves around the choice between a moving glass tube and a fixed glass tube for our laser system. We’re leaning towards the moving glass tube option due to its potential to facilitate easier laser focusing for end-users.
Y-Axis Speed Considerations
In the context of CO2 lasers, high speed in the Y-axis is optional, as raster engraving heavily utilizes only one axis. The X-axis, being lightweight, is already well-suited for this purpose.
Shipping Priorities
When evaluating the shipping implications of both glass tube options, our primary concern is to prevent any damage to the glass tubes during transit. This consideration takes precedence above all others.
Beam System Enclosure
We’re exploring the possibility of enclosing the beam system. This not only enhances safety but also has the potential to improve cutting performance by minimizing airborne particulates that could interfere with the beam path.
Selection of Linear Bearings
Selecting appropriate linear bearings is another crucial aspect of our design process. These bearings are vital in ensuring smooth and precise movement within the system.
Design for Pre-Assembly and Packaging
One of our main focuses is on designing for pre-assembly and packaging efficiency. However, fitting all components into a single box poses a significant challenge. We may need to ship certain components in separate boxes to accommodate the system’s complexity.
Maintaining Alignment During Transit
A key concern is ensuring that the alignment of mechanics and the mirror/beam system remains intact during transit and handling. This will require careful consideration and possibly additional protective measures to safeguard against any potential misalignment issues.
What’s on the Horizon?
Our goal is to make high-quality laser technology accessible to all users at an affordable price point. We’re diligently addressing design refinements based on received feedback and conducting more testing. We aim to commence pre-orders by the end of summer, with pricing anticipated to range from USD 2,000 to USD 2,500.
Join Us on the UltraBeam Journey
Stay tuned for our next update on the ongoing evolution of the UltraBeam prototype and any progress made toward a more pre-production-ready unit! We’d love for you to join us on this exciting R&D journey, and we’re eager to hear your thoughts. Please take a moment to share your insights through our quick survey. If you’re interested in staying up to date with the UltraBeam development process, feel free to sign up for our email newsletter. For more information on the UltraBeam, click the button below.
Happy Friday! Thanks for sharing the amazing LongMill projects you’ve gifted.
Last Week’s Winners
We are happy to announce that Danio Morgan, John Heitzman, Thomas Lowe, Micheal Ergang, Ryan Konkin, and Terry Tarchala are the gifted projects contest winners. Watch out for a prize!
Hi everyone! Thank you for posting your amazing furniture projects made on the LongMill.
Last Week’s Winners
We are happy to announce that Chas Eveson, Bill Iverson, Marcus Pedroza, Brewsquito Craft Workshop, Mike Rickard, and Walter Heck are the furniture projects contest winners. Watch out for a prize!
Share a project you’ve gifted! Whether it’s a custom sign, a unique gift, or anything crafted with the LongMill, post it here. We’ll pick our favorites and reward our makers with cool stuff.
Happy Friday! Thanks for sharing your awesome around the world projects made on the LongMill.
Last Week’s Winners
We are happy to announce that Dale Hache, Mark Lesinski, Craig Hashey, Christopher Armstrong, Sheldon Isaiah, and HBD are the around the world projects contest winners. A prize is on its way!
This week’s theme: “Furniture Projects.” Show us your tables, chairs, cabinets, desks, beds, and more created with the LongMill for a chance to win prizes!
