Category: Production Updates

It’s another month, another production update!

Notes on customer service times

First off, I just wanted to mention that the last couple of months have been pretty busy on the customer service and support side of things, especially as we were coming down from our busy winter season, which meant that response times were a bit longer than usual. I’m happy to share that we did bring on another support person to our team with a lot of hands on experience being a former customer, which means we now have five full time staff for customer support, plus, some of our engineers and product management team also involved in the customer service and resource development.

We’ve now caught up on tickets and replying back on our typical timely manner.

With the AltMill 4×8, ATC, and a bunch of other stuff going through our pipeline, we anticipate our demand for support to continue to grow, so if you’re interested in joining our customer service team, feel free to share with us here: www.sienci.com/work

AltMill 4×8

We have been full swing on AltMill 4×8 production, with a bunch of stations now set up for assembly of the new machines. However, we have been delayed a few weeks, and current first machine shipping date is set at April 10th April 17th. Due to some components being off tolerance and needing rework, we are putting extra effort to make sure that the first batch of machines don’t have early stage issues. Some things that are being addressed include:

• Pitch error on the racks
• Tooth profile tolerances on the pinons
• Gearbox backlash

On the bright side, we have ordered enough extra parts so that even with a higher than typical number of QA rejects, we are able to fill a substantial number of the first batch. We are also working on remaking parts to ensure that we can complete the rest of the production batch. We are building and assembling as much as we can as we work through the process in the meantime.

We are also now in production of batch 2, bringing additional considerations and QA processes to reduce potential issues and delays.

In other news, the engineers and marketing team have been working on putting together the full assembly resources and videos over the last few weeks, getting ready to post once the machines start shipping.

LongMill MK3

A lot of work/progress so far with the LongMill MK3, with most of the work done around general testing and reliability.

We have now completed a round of rigidity testing to compare between the LongMill MK3, LongMill MK2, and the AltMill. Check out the results on our blog. (TL;DR) = the LongMill MK3 is between 65-80% more rigid than the LongMill MK2, signifying a big jump in performance.

In other news, we continue to work on the development and production of the LongMill MK3. We have now ordered the majority of the components needed, with the exception of controllers and power supplies which are still in development. Based on current timelines, we expect to open up pre-orders mid-May, and start shipping in and around July.

In other news, we’re clearing out of the last set of LongMill MK2.5s . We have around 50 of the 30×30 and 50 of the 48×30 in stock, so if you are looking to get one of those machines, they’ll probably still be available for the next few weeks before we sell out.

SLB-EXT V2 and SLB-LITE

We have made a few key decisions around the SLB family of controllers. First, naming:

SLB-EXT V2: The new successor to the original SLB-EXT currently used on the AltMill. The SLB-EXT V2 is designed specifically for the AltMill and power handling of 48V.

SLB-LITE: Designed specifically for 24V architecture of the LongMill.

Our first prototype boards have been produced! We will go through initial flashing and testing of the new board over the next few weeks in April, and make revisions as needed before going into production.

Additionally, new molded cable samples have been made with a nominal width of 7mm, over our current nylon sheath design with a width of 10-12mm. Why did we unify all of the cables into one mold? Because:

• Simplifies wire management
• Makes wiring of the machine during the assembly process more intuitive
• Allows more space in the drag chain for additional cables and accessories

Auto Tool Changer

The ATC production is now in full swing as we get prepared to ship out existing orders. We have set up production stations to start with assembly and we are building our first units now.

Unfortunately we are continuing to work on a few straggling details in preparation for shipping, and we expect that we will begin shipping in the third week of April. Some outstanding tasks include:

• Completion of the resources and installation guides
• Completion of the new firmware testing

Otherwise the completion of the hardware production and assembly for the first batch of ATCs are scheduled to complete on April 10th April 17th, in tandem with the 4x8s.

I’m also excited to share that we’ve also implemented a new station with the ATC to machine some aluminum parts in house. We’re expecting to slowly integrate more parts over time that we can machine in house to give us an opportunity to stress test our machines and products, as well as give us more production flexibility or adjust designs more quickly as needed.

Hello there, welcome to our March 2026 Production Updates!

AltMill 2×4 and 4×4

Lead times for 2×4 and 4×4 machines are now fairly short, with most machines shipping out within 2 weeks. Lead times for 1.5KW and 2.2KW spindle kits may vary. 2.2KW spindles for the AltMill are expected to ship in approximately 1-2 weeks as well. 1.5KW spindles are backordered, and are expected to be restocked in mid-to-late April. We will provide a more detailed update on the product page once we have more details.

Orders for AltMill 2×4 and 4×4 will ship out separately, which means that users can assemble their machines ahead of time.

Office Expansion

We just expanded our office again! Mid-last year, our upstairs neighbours moved out so we took over around 6000sqft. There was also a part of the office with a stairway that lead to nowhere. Now, that stairway leads somewhere! We are knocking down that wall to take over a portion of our next door neighbour as well. This move adds another 2000-3000sqft, which will be used for some assembly work, especially for electronics, as it is more isolated to the larger office and we can reduce the amount of dust for those parts.

LongMill MK3 Development

LongMill MK3 development continues to chug along.

We set up our first machine with our beta tester, Dave! Since he’s our first beta tester, we learned a few things, including:

• Starting the Y gantries at the front of the machine makes it easier to put on the X rail, especially if you have limited access to the back of the machine.
• Putting the X rail onto the Y gantry can be a bit finicky. We are potentially going to update the design of the Y gantries to allow the rail to drop in sort of like the AltMill.

Other changes and updates in progress include:

• Redesigned Z-motor mount to allow the inductive sensor to sit higher up, allowing for more travel.

We are still looking to onboard and work with two more beta testers, which should happen in the coming weeks.

We are also slowly starting production on some of the major, long lead time components in the coming weeks.

Additionally, we are coming close to the end of the LongMill MK2.5 batch. Once we have sold out on the remaining machines, we will not have LongMills available for sale until the new batch of MK3 machines start shipping. We are currently checking inventory to confirm how much longer we have, but we estimate approximately 1-2 months of stock remaining currently. LongMill MK2.5 machines are shipping within a week.

SLB-EXT V2

The development of the new controller continues to be underway. For those not up to date, we are working on a new version of the SLB to be better optimized for cost and manufacturing, while still keeping the same functionality of the original SLB.

A ton more work done with the new SLB, including:

• Updated layouts for the traces and components
• Design and development of the advanced breakoutboard
• Design of new plugs and cables to improve wire management

We will start the process of making a batch of prototype boards and conducting testing in the coming weeks.

AltMill 4×8

As of Feb 23rd, we have received all of the parts needed to start building 4×8 machines, with the exception of some screws and small straggler parts such as some allen keys, warning labels, etc. Much of the work is currently with testing and QA for incoming components, as well as working on the setup for the rest of the production area to get ready for assembly of major components in the next week or so.

Automatic Tool Changer

We have now received the majority of the parts needed for ATC production and are currently putting together space for the assembly and testing. We are expecting to start shipping out ATCs at the end of March, which will be a few weeks delayed compared to our original anticipated delivery time. Macros for the ATC, which are programs for controlling the ATC functionality can now be found online here: https://github.com/Sienci-Labs/atci_macros. We are also expecting to have updated versions of gSender plus online resources complete by shipping time, so the small delay is allowing us to get some of those things polished up.

Clear Cut Dust Shoe

We’re excited to announce that the Clear Cut Dust Shoe is now available for sale! However due to higher than expected demand, the ~150 units we had stock were sold out within 24 hours, plus more with units that were sold with spindle kits.

We’ve put a pause on selling Clear Cut Dust Shoes individually for now, and we are currently working on ramping up production on that. We have a separate amount of stock for the spindle kits, so that we will ensure they are included on all of the spindle kits we ship on a 1:1 basis. We’ll have another announcement coming out soon to let everyone know the production schedule for the new dust shoes.

Informal Call for New Staff

I want to put some feelers out in the community for someone looking for jobs/roles in finance and HR. Up till now, we’ve/I’ve been managing this side of things since our company is not quite large enough to have someone fill this role full time, but given how things are going, I feel like we need to look in earnest for people to fill some of our company admin roles.

If you feel like you might be a good fit in a finance or HR type position at a startup or small company like Sienci Labs, feel free to send in an application here: https://sienci.com/work/

Oh also, we are looking for an electronics/embedded design engineer as well, so feel free to apply for that as well.

Hey everyone, welcome back to our February 2026 Production Updates!

AutoSpin T1 Has Launched

We’re excited to finally launch the AutoSpin T1! Learn more about it here: https://sienci.com/2026/01/20/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-autospin-t1-router/

We received our shipment of approximately 2000 units on February 2 (it was supposed to be mid- February) and will get routers shipped out to customers shortly after.

AltMill 4×8 Production

We continue to wait and prep for the arrival of AltMill 4×8 components. Based on our schedules, the last remaining parts for the 4×8 are scheduled to arrive between Feb 20th to March 6th. Other parts are expected to arrive sooner, which means that assembly for the first units will start approximately mid-February, allowing us to make progress in advance before all parts arrive.

In other news, resources for the 4×8 assembly continue to be worked on, with filming for the assembly video scheduled for the second or third week of February in preparation for customers to start receiving their machines in March.

LongMill MK3 Development

Thank you all for the overwhelming response of applications for LongMill MK3 beta testing. We’ve now received the rails and started internal testing. We will be sending out beta testing units to selected individuals in the next few weeks.

As it stands, we’re super excited about the LongMill MK3 as we expect to bring a massive leap in performance over the LongMill MK2 and 2.5, while keeping it at a super competitive price point. Some additional work we’re doing to bring down BOM costs include:

• An easier to manufacture, significantly improved dust shoe with easy to replace bristles. This means not only is the overall cost of the dust shoe less, but users can extend the life of their dust shoe by replacing just the bristles. We will provide users with extra bristle in each kit.
• Integrated cables. With current cables being a combined bundle of motor signals, power, and inductive sensor signals sheathed in one nylon cover, we’re looking at molding a single cable to reduce the overall unit cost of the total cable.
• SLB-Lite. With the SLB-EXT being a major cost in the total BOM cost of the LongMill MK3, development (see in the next section of the article) is expected to keep all of the core functionality of the SLB and SLB-EXT, in a smaller, lighter, and more affordable package.

SLB-Lite

In our discussion about the LongMill electronics, we mentioned, especially with the Closed Loop Stepper Kit, that the overall cost of the electronics currently makes up a significant portion of the LongMill MK3 bill of materials. This is primarily because the electronics were specced and designed for the AltMill. However, for the smaller and less power hungry LongMill, the AltMill electronics are functional but overkill for the application.

Peter and Daniel and have continued to work on the newest generation of electronics to act as the successor to the SLB-EXT used in the AltMill. We expect a number of improvements for the new controller, currently code-named “SLB-Lite”, including:

• Lower cost, with the board expected to be around half the cost of the SLB-EXT
• Improved wire management
• Overall smaller footprint, allowing for lower shipping cost and easier integration into LongMills, AltMills, and other CNC machines.
• Ability to use power supply voltages from 24V-48V and the ability to provide up to 100 watts per motor.
• Ability to connect an additional board for added features and functionality beyond the SLB-Lite, while still being less expensive in combination than the SLB-EXT.

Lastly, by using the same controller on all of our CNC product lines, we expect to see savings through the economies of scale by essentially doubling the number of units produced. Plus we expect to reduce our inventory management costs with fewer unique components, and a more unified experience between the LongMill and AltMill lines.

Additionally, coming to all controllers is new SLB and SLB-EXT firmware, with overall performance and stability improvements, and specific features like faster and better handling of motor alarms and resetting, support for advanced plug-ins used for the Automatic Tool Changer, and unlocking of SD card features allowing for running gcode and files directly from the controller. More details on the new firmware and ability to have access to beta firmware before the wider launch available on our blog.

To coincide with SD card support, the upcoming gSender Edge (our beta version of gSender), will be coming out with the interface to communicate with the SD card. When both systems have been tested to be reliable, full support for the new firmware and all of the new improvements will come to the main version of gSender.

To hear Kevin talk about SD card support in the next gSender Edge release, check out this video here:

gControl Panel Computer Pricing Updates

Due to the recent RAM and memory shortages, pricing for the gControl has been increased. We are keeping an eye on the pricing for components as they change, and are hoping that pricing will come down soon. We will update pricing when RAM and memory prices come back to normal levels.

Certified VFDs are Now Shipping

After a long wait, certified VFDs have finally arrived and have undergone testing. Customers who are waiting on VFDs will receive them shortly.

ATCs Sells Out; New Batch Added

Due to higher than expected demand for the ATC, we have sold out of the first batch. Customers who place orders moving forward will be part of the second batch. The first batch is expected to start shipping in late March, and the second batch is expected to ship in June.

Curious on how this whole ATC thing works? Check out Johann’s breakdown video here:

Hey everyone, happy new year! It’s time for a very exciting 2026!

Potential Resolutions for UPS Issues

We had some interesting visitors from UPS, including Sean Griffin, president of UPS Canada, Dean Tabakos, Director of Business Development at UPS, and Frank Perez, UPS President – Americas Region & International, Healthcare and Supply Chain Solutions (SCS) Engineering, and our UPS rep, Todd McCracken.

As we mentioned in our previous updates, we’ve been having some issues with UPS shipments, primarily with things getting stuck at the border. This meant that we were getting a lot of shipments being sent back without any reason. We were also being charged a lot of taxes and duties when we weren’t supposed to.

With all this going on, some of the high-level execs from UPS decided to stop by our office to take a look at what was going on and let us know some of the work they were doing to get shipping back on track.

Reducing issues with customs declarations

With the change in regulations requiring all shipments entering the US to have customs clearance (before it was just for shipments above $800), UPS and other shipping and logistics companies were slammed with a significant volume of declarations needing to be made. With a big part of this process being human-driven, many shipments were being held at the border or sent back for customs issues and errors. We were told that with the implementation of new systems and AI, they are now able to automate more than 95% of the processes, meaning that the error rate and speed have gone up dramatically.

Reducing border hold-ups

When a multi-part shipment is created, but all parts of the shipment are not in the same truck, every item in that truck is sent back. Initially, this caused a huge number of shipments to be shipped back. With the change in generating separate manifests, shipments are accounted for on a truck-to-truck level, which eliminates issues created when multi-part shipments don’t travel together.

This is expected to reduce the number of shipments being sent back from the border, but also reduce transit times and lost packages because prior to this change, multi-part shipments needed to be held in a facility until all of the parts of the shipment are ready to cross the border. This specifically impacts us because most of the machines that we ship must be shipped in several packages, which means that if all boxes for that shipment are not together, they will wait in a warehouse until they are. This creates more opportunities for damage as they get transported around the warehouse as they wait, or get lost if they are misplaced.

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It’s hard to say how much things are going to change in the short term, but we are obviously optimistic that as we get settled into the new normal of more complicated reporting and customs processes, we will have fewer shipping issues.

Tax Registrations for Nexus

Some customers may have seen us charge sales tax for certain US states. This is because we have reached Nexus in these states (usually $100,000 or $200,000 in annual sales, although rules and calculations vary by state). Taxes will be automatically calculated and charged, and we will remit them directly to the state to comply with US state tax laws.

• Arizona
• Colorado
• Florida
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• North Carolina
• New Jersey
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Virginia
• Washington
• Wisconsin

Some of these states are new, some of them we have reached Nexus for some time ago and we have been collecting taxes already.

AltMill 4×8

Production for the AltMill 4×8 continues to move forward, with business as usual with:

• More short and long term wear testing ongoing
• Packaging planning and design
• Resource development for the 4×8
• Working with and gathering feedback from beta testers

ATC

Auto Tool Changer work continues on as we wait for production to complete for parts. Some work done for December and ongoing include:

• Continued testing for software and hardware
• Packaging design and optimization
• Testing of different compressor sizes and configurations

ATC production and development continue to move forward.

Closed-Loop Stepper Motors

First off, our closed-loop stepper motor kits are now available for sale! This kit allows users to install closed-loop stepper motors onto their LongMill.

In other news, we got a batch of closed-loop motors which had the wrong firmware onboard, which gave us a chance to reprogram and look into the tuning parameters for motors. Going through this gives us an opportunity to look at continual optimization of different aspects of our machine systems.

Certified VFDs

As we mentioned in some of our previous updates, we have certified our VFDs for the Canadian market. We initially certified around 100 VFDs in our first batch and are in the process of getting our next large batch of VFDs to ship to customers still waiting on their units. We were able to get around 40 units done early, so we will ship them to customers currently in the queue. We expect the remaining units to arrive in January to complete the rest of the queue.

LongMill MK3 Development

LongMill MK3 is in official development. Here are some design goals:

Reduce part count and variability

Reducing the number of parts reduces the amount of time needed to assemble the machine. Additionally, reducing the number of unique parts also allows the assembly process simpler by copying the same processes across different areas of the machine, plus reduces the amount of supply chain and inventory management we need to do. We expect the LongMill MK3 to have 30% fewer unique parts over the LongMill MK2.

We have a mix of parts that come from the LongMill MK2 and the AltMill, plus a bunch of new, unique parts that are specific to the LongMill MK3.

Improve reliability

The LongMill MK3 will use the latest family of SLB-EXT and closed-loop motors, self-adjusting anti-backlash nuts, and linear guides to provide significant improvement to machine reliability over the LongMill MK2.

Keep affordability

With improvements to our assembly and QA process, changes to the design, and larger economies of scale, the LongMill MK3 will have a target price with beginners and hobbyists in mind.

Lower the barrier to entry

The LongMill MK3 comes in conjunction with many new features and products, including:

• The AutoSpin T1, which aims to provide spindle-like features and functionality at a lower price point
• Inductive sensors included by default, implementing homing and other positioning checks

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Currently our main focuses are in:

• Producing and testing our first batch of prototype rails (expected to arrive end of Jan)
• Producing and testing our first batch of laser cut steel gantry parts
• Designing and developing a new set of electronics (currently code-named the SLB-lite), to bring down the cost of the electronics used in the LongMill to better fit the needs of beginners

AutoSpin T1

As mention in the last month’s blog post, we have now completed production of the AutoSpin T1 and are currently waiting on the arrival of the tools. We are expecting them to arrive mid-February.

10 Year Anniversary Party

Can you believe it’s been 10 years since we started Sienci Labs? We’re planning something to celebrate. Details are still percolating but this is what we have in mind.

Open House (afternoon): Shop tours, demos, and hang out/meet our team

After Party (night): Big, casual party and rave in our back warehouse

Everyone is invited, stay tuned on our social media for more details coming soon.

Our first Kickstarter video from 2014:

We’re now in the final month of the year! What a crazy year it’s been, especially with the growth of the AltMill platform, the launch of the ATC, new tools, accessories and more. We’ve seen significant growth in 2025, with our company and sales doubling from 2024.

Holiday schedule

Our offices will be closed for the holidays from Dec 25 to Jan 1, and we will reopen Jan 2, 2026.

We will continue to ship orders up to Dec 24th, however, we recommend placing orders in advance if you need them to be shipped out beforehand.

Customer service, shipping, and other company functions may be limited at this time.

ATC

The ATC has now launched!

Production is now underway, with our intial batch of parts ordered for the first 160 units. We are aiming to start shipping units in Jan 2026 based on our current schedule.

We also have a livestream scheduled on YouTube, so make sure to check that out.

AltMill 4×8

AltMill 4×8 was just launched and is currently in production as well. Most parts have been ordered, but a few major parts such as the extrusion and gear racks are going through final sample checks before full batches are ordered.

Now that the 4×8 is launched, we’re mostly in a waiting game for parts. We are slowly starting set up processes to get ready for the assembly.

AltMill 2×4 and 4×4

AltMill 2×4 and 4×4 are continuing to ship. However, we’re currently waiting on more 1.5KW and 2.2KW spindles to arrive, expected in the second week of December. This means that the machine and spindles may ship for some orders at different times. Once the spindles arrive, we are expecting to clear out of the remaining queue fairly quickly.

AutoSpin T1

We’re excited to announce that the AutoSpin T1 is now in production. We received our first production sample at the end of October and started our final set of testing. Although the performance and function of the tool met our standards, we had to get a second unit built to ensure our text and logo matched our standards for packaging and silkscreening, since they were a little bit off. However, we have checked the latest version and were able to accept it for final production.

We now have the first 2,000 units in production. We are expecting production to complete around mid-December, and we should have them arrive at our shop around the end of January.

Closed-Loop Stepper Motor Kit

A few months ago we put out a post to test the waters for interest on a closed-loop stepper motor kit. Since then we’ve received quite a lot of interest for a kit for adding CLS motors to the LongMill, as well additional inquiries to retrofit the motor and control systems on non-Sienci Labs machines.

Otherwise, we are currently wrapping up the remaining ordering of parts and finishing the resources and documentation that will be available to help users do the installation at the time of launch.

We’re excited to share that we are reaching the final stages for supply chain, testing, and resource development for a kit. We are now working on figuring out pricing as well as the potential tie in with the LongMill MK3 in development. Keep an eye out for launch info coming out in the next 3-4 weeks!

gControl Panel Computers

We’re happy to have received another batch of gControl Panel Computers, so we’re shipping out to folks who have been waiting first (roughly a month.) We are expecting to have stock until January or February. We have also ordered another batch of computers expected to arrive early next year as well.

We are experiencing a new potential issue. RAM and memory prices have skyrocketed in the recent months, with news reporting that demand for these parts have increased due to AI. Because of this, the newest batch of computers that are currently in production will ship to us without SSDs and RAM. We are hoping that the price of those components will go down early next year. If not, we will have to reconsider pricing for the computers.

Hey everyone, we have another exciting month ahead for November. I am currently on vacation, so you might not see me for the typical video update, but here’s the blog that covers everything. This post might be a bit shorter as well, but rest assured there is a lot going on. A lot of news is a continuation of prior months, so make sure to check out the previous updates to learn more.

Updated Shop Layout

We have now fully removed the floor from our main production space, opening up area to put in new racks and getting prepared to scale up production of AltMills. While our overall floorspace didn’t change, being able to use the taller racking and getting our forklift to other parts of the office will allow us to build more vertically.

A lot of stations use a system of having the assembly on the ground floor, and then materials above, which allows us to store a lot of materials for quick access. The racking is also fairly modular, allowing us to build different configurations.

Shipping Issues

We are still seeing a large volume of shipments coming back from the border, largely due to issues with customs handling. Unfortunately this means that returned orders need to be repacked and reshipped, especially if we see shipping damage.

We are continuing to work on several different things, like updating our customs documents and forms, submitting forms proactively, and working with UPS to understand where errors are happening. However, we ask that at this time – and thank you in advance – that customers are patient if shipments take a few extra days to arrive.

AltMill 4×8

The AltMill 4×8 is now available for pre-order! You can now order it on the product page. If you want to learn more about the product itself and what it stands for, make sure to read our article, Everything You Need to Know About the AltMill 4×8

In other news, we have now acquired beta testers and have started working with them for testing machines as we go into production based on our first initial sales numbers in the pre-order. Certain parts, especially parts like motors, fasteners and electronic components (which will be shared between other AltMill size variants) have been ordered earlier as part of a larger batch of components.

Most of the work with the 4×8 this past month was mostly making final design tweaks and decisions, plus lots of testing and filming in house to get marketing materials ready. This also happens to be a good time to make some new furniture around the office!

ATC

The launch of the ATC comes this month, with some final considerations and tweaks being done in ATC development over the past 30 days. We’ve decided to move our launch date to mid-November, rather than on Oct 29th (same day as the AltMill 4×8) as we are doing final testing and refinement design work before a full launch. We need to have our bill of materials and kitting configuration decided on, as this will determine the pricing and packages we can offer for customers.

LongMill

Last month we launched a price decrease on LongMill kits across the board. We haven’t seen a big difference in sales volume, although it is present, which seems to suggest that pricing isn’t playing as big of an impact on the demand as it is currently. Perhaps this means the LongMill is due for a revision, or perhaps it means that there is less demand in this market segment in general?

Most of our efforts are in the LongMill redesign, and production isn’t quite ready yet as we wrap up development with our two larger projects, the AltMill 4×8 and ATC, but we’re currently doing some preliminary testing with the close loop steppers designed for LongMill. As we mentioned in a previous post, we are currently in consideration and progressing with offering the electronics (SLB-EXT and close loop stepper motors) in a way to allow for conversions to close loop stepper for the LongMill and other CNC machines.

While this is still a work in progress, we now have the SLB-EXT available for sale on our store. While not officially tested and supported, customers can order them on our store.

AutoSpin T1 Router

We’re excited to announce that the AutoSpin, which had been in rocky territory for the last few months with certification and supplier issues, has seen a lot of progress. I didn’t want to share too much, just in case things didn’t work out. However, we’ve hit one of the main milestones of completing certification, which means we can move towards production now, and we’ve started doing testing with our pre-production units, and if that all goes well, we will move onto production. This could mean that we’ll have AutoSpin T1 routers ready to ship in a little over 2 months.

While we are optimistic we are approaching the end of the process of launching the AutoSpin, due to the complexity of the project, we may still run into issues, and so we will not have pricing or a release date provided until we are confident that we’re able to deliver a product that is up to our quality standards, and on a firm timeline.

We have another action packed month to share.

Removal of the US De Minimis Exemption

If you’ve been following the news, especially if you’re from the US, the exemption that previously allowed for products entering into the US under $800USD to pass without customs or duties has been abolished. This has caused disruptions in the shipping industry, with new rules being enforced for packages entering into the US.

With much of our products being produced in Canada, we have already certified our products under USMCA/CUSMA, which allows for products from Canada going into the US to be shipped duty free. This means that for the most part, our US customers will be unaffected by these changes. However, we have already removed the ability for US customers to purchase certain items, namely t-shirts and routers, to be bought individually since they do not comply with the USCMA trade agreement.

Due to the changes, Canada Post/USPS shipments going to the US have been suspended due to the need for shipments having to be cleared and duties paid before they enter the US. It will take us some time to implement this system. Instead, US customers currently are only able to ship their products through UPS. Due to our longstanding relationship with UPS, we have been working closely with them to reduce errors and issues with shipping, as well as continue to comply with changing regulations.

It should be noted and expected that shipping delays and errors are more susceptible to happen across all shipping carriers, due to ongoing changes with US regulations. We’ve had a more than normal number of shipments get returned or missing than usual.

Floor Removal and Production Space Shuffling

The past year has been pretty crazy in getting things organized for inventory and production. We’ve been using offsite warehousing to help store inventory, and getting things into our production space for assembly and shipping. To add some more space, we’ve taken out the old flooring used for power and HVAC. This means that we can increase the load capacity on the group and use more high racking and lifters to keep inventory.

LongMill MK2.5 Pricing Changes

We have some pricing changes coming down the pipeline!

Check out our new post for more info

AltMill 2×4 and 4×4 Production

Production for 2×4 and 4×4 has moved very quickly and we have pretty much cleared the queue, with some orders shipping in less than one week. We are now waiting on Batch 6 parts to arrive, and we expect the queue to fluctuate, but remain relatively short moving forward.

While most shipments are shipping much quicker than 5-7 weeks, we are keeping this estimate in place as we expect some slowdown in shipping while we shuffle around our production space.

AltMill 4×8 Development

The AltMill 4×8 launches Oct 29th!

In other news, lot of progress continues to happen in AltMill 4×8 development, more focus being put on:

• Long term wear testing on the rack and pinion system
• Improving the assembly process and structural rigidity of the base/table
• Demo projects with our prototype machines.

We’ve now built two full prototype machines, and we are expecting to have some go to beta testers shortly.

New Endmills for the AltMill Now On the Store

Bigger machines and bigger spindles means we need bigger bits! We’ve added more end mills to our store. Check out all the new bits at the link below.

https://sienci.com/product-category/end-mills-bits/new-2025

gControl Panel Computer

gControl Panel Computers have been selling more quickly than we expected and we are currently out of stock. We are waiting on new stock to arrive and expect it to arrive in early November.

I should note that the new version of the gControl will come with a slightly upgraded processor (N150). The older chip, the N100, is expected to be phased out over time, so we’ve gone ahead with having the next batch use the new chip. This new chip is slightly more expensive as well, so expect a small price bump.

For more info, please check out the article: gControl N150 Update.

Automatic Tool Changer

Automatic Tool Changer development continues on at lightning speed. Here’s a cool new update for gSender and ATC integration, which will show different tool path colours based on which tool is being used.

A couple of notable parts of development include:

• Stress testing the cooling system
• Toolsensing system

Certified VFDs

As we discussed in our previous updates, we have been working on building our first batch of certified VFDs. We’re excited. We have now shipped the replacement VFDs to Canadian customers who have been waiting, and we have started taking orders for new customers. The new batch of VFD with certification is expected to ship in Jan 2026. In the meantime, customers outside of Canada will still be able to order our regular line of VFDs and spindles.

While certified VFDs are only being sold to Canadian customers at the moment, we are planning to change over to this design completely once the remaining VFDs for the US market have been sold out.

Clear-Cut Dust Shoe

Dust shoes go through a lot of abuse. While 3D printing has allowed us to scale up our dust shoe production quickly and make changes on the fly, 3D printed material isn’t the most durable. We are updating our 80mm dust shoe with our own, polycarbonate dust shoe.

Not only is polycarbonate stronger, the fact that it’s transparent allows users to see dust going through the dust shoe more easily and see how the bit is cutting.

Additionally, the new latching system makes it much easier to take the new dust shoe on and off the spindle, and the new magnet bristle holding section makes it much easier to remove for tool changes.

New spindle kits will start to ship with the new dust shoe soon, and we will start taking order for the new shoe soon as well. Early November is the estimated sale date of dust shoes as single items, and they will cost approx. $95 CAD.

Here’s your Sept 2025 production updates!

AltMill 2×4 and 4×4

AltMill production has been moving forward at a breakneck speed, with us shipping out nearly 100 AltMills per week. We are now stocking up for Batch 6 units for Oct 2025.

We have been addressing issues that some of our new customers have faced, some of which frankly are a little embarrassing, like sending two left side rails instead of one left and one right.

We appreciate everyone’s patience as we get some of these things ironed out. The team has been working to put in the proper checks to ensure that things like this don’t get missed, both as we understand it can be frustrating for the customer to have to wait a little longer to get their machines together, as well as our time and cost to do the replacements.

A lot of this is housekeeping to get production tidied up and streamlined, and we expect the overall experience for the user to be improving as we go along.

We did take a short pause on shipping to wait on restocking for power supplies, however we are expecting them any day now and expect lead times to stay within 5-7 weeks for customers that ordered in August. Once we get these parts in, we’ll be able to ship out the next few hundred machines and get prepped for the next batch!

AltMill 4×8

We’re excited to have done our first round of test cuts with the first prototype of the AltMill 4×8. Want to follow along on the development process? Check out Ben’s videos! These will be a series of videos coming out every few weeks, so make sure to subcribe to our Youtube channel if you want to keep up to speed!

We are now deep diving into longer term stress testing for the 4×8. One of the key areas we’re digging into is the long term wear impact of the rack and pinion system. Some of the areas of consideration to improve longevity include:

• Lubrication of the rack and pinon
• Hardness of the rack and pinion components, and the impact of wear based on the difference of hardness between the rack and pinion
• Teeth count, profile and shape of the pinon
• Hardening methods including nitriding and carbourizing

We have now ordered parts to build three beta machines that will have production parts and we should have of them to start by the end of the month.

Auto Tool Changer

A lot of progress on the ATC this month. Here’s a quick look at testing the software integration of the ATC.

A lot of new developments for the ATC system. We’ve now 95%-completed the mechanical design for the spindle and we’ve tested it to be powerful and reliable. A couple of features that come along with this include:

• Manual mode button, allowing for tools to be changed by button press rather than with a programmed sequence
• Status lights to indicate proper pressure before use

Some of the core focuses for this month have been with the tool rack, a couple of features developed or in development include:

• Pivoting mechanism to prevent damage during crashes
• De-dusting process to prevent dust and chips from getting caught in the spindle
• Positioning and mounting to preserve work area on the machine
• Tool length sensor

Also check out this video that shows off the early version of the ATC system!

AutoSpin T1

Last month we mentioned that we had put the router production on hold to resolve some issues around the certification. We are glad to say we’ve been able to work out the details and continue the production. We are in the process of recertification and expect it to be ready around the end of September. This is still in progress so we will have a more solid update by the next production update.

We’re tentatively expecting to complete production in early October. Our general plan right now is once we have our production units ready, we can open up units for pre-order after we’ve inspected the first batch of production units. If we stick to this timeline, we should see the new routers ready to ship in late November to early December.

Based on current estimates, here’s the general plan:

• Receive updated certification mid-September
• Receive first few units off production line end of September
• Test first few units. If units work successfully, we will launch pre-orders
• Production for approximately 2000 units completes early October; with shipping to our warehouse, we should expect to have units ready to ship by early December

We will continue to provide more info as we move forward, so stay tuned!

These are of course still tentative plans, and we will provide more news as time goes on.

110V 1.5KW ER20 Spindles and 220V 2.2KW ER20 Spindles

Both 110V and 220V spindles are now shipping! These are uncertified VFDs for the US market. These are shipping with AltMills (if ordered with machines) or have an approximately 3 week lead time currently.

We also have started shipping replacement certified VFDs to customers who have been waiting on them. More info in our blog post here: https://sienci.com/2025/08/12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-certified-vfds/. We are currently working on manufacturing for a new batch of certified VFDs to sell to the Canadian and international markets. We have now certified around 90 units and have started shipping them out to customers who are waiting on them. We are expecting to have these available to sale once we have completed shipping out the first batch.

Between the Racks Fireside Chat

For Waterloo Tech Week, we are hosting a small talk about hardware! Event will be Sept 11, from 6:30pm/

Learn more here: https://lu.ma/rxneke6j

This past July was a busy month. Here are August 2025 Production Updates!

AltMill 2×4 and 4×4

Probably the biggest news of the month: we had our batch of materials we were waiting on to continue shipping on time. It’s sort of funny how we talk about when a shipment is on schedule, because we’re so used to things being late, we say it’s “on time”. This is why were letting people know that there was a good chance that we would have to start shipping in August. However, given that all the materials came in July, we have already started shipping and customers may be seeing their machines a few weeks earlier starting July 11th. Over the last three weeks we’ve hit about a hundred machines shipping out per week.

Additionally, we have reduced our lead times down to around 5-7 weeks, and we’re expecting lead times to continue go down gradually as we clear the queue. If we’re on track with our shipping rates, we should get there at the end of August and for us to complete Batch 5 in the first week of October.

We’ve brought a few extra staff members and have continued to hire more people for production to prep materials to get out the door. Batch 6 production is now underway, with parts completing in October as well, hopefully in time for when we run out of parts in the previous batch.

We also recognize that we do have a couple housekeeping things that we need to tackle, including more resources for the AltMill maintenance and offering replacement parts on the store. Our team is continuing to work on that, especially as we continue to grow our community.

In other news, Mike has set up some automation in the print farm to help print the dust shoe parts with a little less human intervention. We’re currently working on the injection molded version to soon take over 3D printed shoes, but we expect the manufacturing process to take another few months to complete.

AltMill 4×8

Version 1 of the AltMill 4×8 was constructed this past month. This was to get a general idea of scale, assembly, and everything that we can’t from 3D modelling it on the computer. We took parts from the original AltMill 4×4 to build this prototype. We’re expecting to start testing the full machine in the next week or so. We’ll post some testing and project videos showing the new machine soon.

While the X axis of the AltMill 4×8 will be more or less the same as the 4×4, version 2 and the final version of the 4×8 will use different Y axis rails to support the rack and pinion hardware. Another set of dies and extrusions are being produced now and we are expecting these to be arriving sometime at the end of August. We also have some of the production version parts on order so that we can have potentially a small beta testing run before going into full production to iron out any bugs. Based on our current timelines, we should have these around the end of September.

We are also starting to work on how big our batches are going to be, since we’re expecting a lot of interest. However, we’re already quite packed in our current production space, so there’ll have to be a bit of extra planning involved.

AutoSpin T1

Due to some issues with working with our supplier, we are not certain of what direction we will be taking this project. Over the last few months working with this supplier, we had some general small communication issues, however, we ran into an issue with the the way the router was certified. One of the key aspects of the design is the control cable and electronics to allow CNC controllers to control the speed of the router. However, in the official certification documents, this was not included. From our perspective, this is a critical part of the product, and without this part included in the certification, we open ourselves up to additional liability.

There are a couple of ways forward from here:

• Let the current supplier properly certify with the correct specifications
• Find a new supplier to work with
• Put the project on the backburner

We’re still going back and forth with the supplier to determine how we want to move forward, but we expect the project to be delayed until we get this part back on track.

New (Larger) Bits Coming Soon

With the growing community of AltMill users, we’re also expecting to launch larger tooling soon. We are currently working on documentation and testing for a new batch of end mills that are more specifically designed for the AltMill. This includes larger diameter bits, surfacing tools, and more.

We are quite close to releasing a 2.2KW version of the spindle using ER20 collets, which will also play nicely with the new bits, more details for that to come as well.

New Spindles and VFDs

We have a couple new VFD and spindle kits coming down the pipeline. We’ll have a separate post and pricing for this in the next few weeks, but this includes:

• 220V – 2.2KW ER20 Spindles (AltMill only)
• 110V – 1.5KW ER20 Spindles (AltMill and LongMill)*

*We had initially stated that we didn’t recommend the ER20 spindles for the LongMill. The engineering team has let me know that we want to retract this statement, and also to provide some more context.

The spindle is NOT plug-and-play compatible for machines with the original LongBoard (MK1 and MK2). Support and resources are limited for implementing this set up. Please read this article for more details. Customers who have the LongMill MK2.5 can use the spindle.  

These kits are currently only available for customers outside of Canada. Kits certified for Canada are coming soon. More updates to come.

The 1.5KW ER20 spindle kit for the LongMill can be found here.

Close Loop Stepper Motor Kit

As we talked about in the last blog post, we had gotten a lot of feedback for interest in a “close-loop stepper motor kit”. We got nearly 400 respondents with a strong interest in this type of kit. Given the interest, we believe that this would be a viable kit for us to make available.

There are a couple of practical considerations before we move forward with this sort of kit:

• There is a lot of documentation that needs to go into helping users set up their systems
• We need to buy more inventory, which eats into the capital that we are already allocating to our AltMill production currently
• We’re already working on several projects, including the ATC and the AltMill 4×8, which means that we need to consider how thin we’re spreading ourselves with the development

It’s likely that when we get to purchasing Batch 7 in around October, we’ll look again at ordering parts for the kit, or figure out some ways to work on this kit without overburdening our engineering resources in the meantime to get this kit available sooner rather than later.

Automatic Tool Changer

A lot of work continues to go into the ATC project, with a lot of focus in the software and user interface side of things.

We’ve also been ordering some more parts and doing some design work in July as well. We’ve ordered some more parts for this which should arrive in the coming weeks. We’ve now finalized the manifold design and electronics, leaving us with finalizing the design for the toolholder.

gControl Panel Computer

A small piece of exciting news, in July, we shipped our 1000th gControl Panel computer. Which was something that we were expecting to be a minor accessory has been a surprising success in our books. With the popularity, our team is working to offer more resources to help support users. If you haven’t checked out the latest video, here it is:

Hey everyone, here’s our July production updates.

If you haven’t checked out our warehouse tour, make sure to check it out here:

Cost, quality, speed?

While the lead times for newly released products, especially the AltMill, tend to be a sticking point for many customers, our process is intentional to provide products at the lowest cost and the highest quality possible. Long lead times is temporary, as once we’ve establish and mature our production process, the average lead time drops significantly. To learn more, check out our article here.

AltMill 2×4 and 4×4

AltMills continue to ship to clear out the remaining materials from Batch 4. We are now waiting on some of our Batch 5 parts to arrive which are needed to continue shipping in July. Based on current shipment tracking data, we are expecting parts to arrive July 9th, but still have a chance to be delayed. Due to this uncertainty, plus time to destuff and sort parts, after Batch 4 is complete, there is a chance that machines will start shipping in August.

While we continue to wait for our next batch of parts, our team is continuing to pre-pack and assemble parts on hand so that we can ship remaining orders in the queue rapidly as soon as we have everything ready to ship. This means that the first few weeks of July won’t have much shipping out but as soon as the new parts arrive, we’ll be aiming to ship around a hundred AltMills per week.

We are expecting to have a strong shot at significantly reducing our lead times, because when the final parts for Batch 5 arrive, we will have more materials on hand than machines currently sold. However, we do expect demand to pick up further as from August we’ll be entering into our busy season.

grblHAL merge

For current and upcoming CNC users with the SLB or SLB-EXT, our team is currently working on a grblHAL merge. As of current, the AltMill is using a modified version of grblHAL that branched off into it’s own version a little more than a year ago, with machine specific features and modifications. This code merge is intended to merge all of the features we’ve developed, plus all of the new features and support in the latest main version of grblHAL together. Our goal in the future is to allow new versions of grblHAL compatible directly with the boards and users will be able to update using the web builder for different use and configurations of SLB or SLB-EXT.

Once this merge is complete, we should see some smaller improvements, such as the handling of various alarms and motion planning, as well as integrating better support for toolchanger workflow.

gSender 1.5.0

A new, overhauled version of gSender is now out, with improvements to the user interface and new features.

AltMill 4×8

Development continues to move forward with the AltMill. As we alluded to in the previous update, our main development challenges currently revolve around improving the accuracy of the Y-axis system. After additional testing with several different gearboxes, we’re happy to announce that we’ve had acceptable results for the latest batch of gearboxes. We are currently working on improving the placement of the additional components to optimize for space efficiency.

For this month, we are expecting to complete a first stage full size prototype with incoming set of rails and additional parts. A couple of things in progress include:

• An “eloquent” way for joining rails together accurately.
• Continued design on improving the positioning of the gearbox.
• Long term wear testing.

Automatic Tool Changer

Toolchanger development is moving along well. Some of the main development done in the past month focuses on improvements to the design of the pneumatic systems:

• Testing with using different air compressors commonly available to the general public
• Changes to the manifold to improve compactness
• Testing of overall reliability (over +700 tool changes completed so far)

Certified VFDs

As we talked about in some of our previous updates, we’ve been working on building a certified version of the H100 VFD, since they are not certified for sale within Ontario. Since we have completed the certification, we are now waiting on parts to arrive to start shipping replacements to customers in Ontario new VFDs if they have opted in. We are expecting these to arrive mid to end of July.

Close Loop Stepper Motor and SLB-EXT Kit?

It’s been a pretty popular request, but perhaps an even more popular request recently for us to release the SLB-EXT and close loop stepper motors to the public. We primarily haven’t up to this point simply because we’re trying to hold onto them so that we don’t run out of them for the AltMill production.

I believe there are a couple of other factors playing into seeing some additional demand for this solution to be launched, which include:

• Closure of OpenBuilds, which provided the popular “BlackBox” series of controllers
• Production uncertainties around third party controller supply availability for some OEM manufacturers
• Increasing popularity in grblHAL platform, DIY builds, and growth in new hobby CNC manufacturers

What are some things folks may expect to see with a kit like this?

• Ability to retrofit close loop stepper motors to the LongMill family of machines*
• Ability to retrofit close loop stepper motors to many, if not most hobby CNC machines on the market
• A simplified option for DIY builders
• The ability for other CNC manufacturers like us to use the same electronics platform across many different types of machines

And why would a kit like this be the ideal solution for these people?

• The kit is already tested and proven on the AltMill CNC as they share the same components.
• At an expected price point of around $500USD, one of the least, if not the least expensive complete kit of it’s type.
• Compatibility with other accessories in our ecosystem, including gSender, gControl, AutoZero touch plate, and more
• Open source, which means that companies and individuals can reproduce and modify source code and designs to fit their needs, regardless of whether Sienci Labs continues to exist or not.

So what’s next?

• As of current, we are knee deep in sourcing for Batch 6 AltMill. A survey to determine demand would help us understand how many additional components we should order to support upcoming demand.
• We need to determine what sort of resources and documentation to provide to allow users to retrofit the kit to their own machines.
• We need to see what type of machines people are looking to retrofit, so that we can have proper wire and cable lengths on hand.

If you want to help, please feel free to answer the survey below!