Category: Production Updates

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about how things are going at Sienci Labs. Well the answer is that things are going well. It’s been hard to get the time to sit down and blog as I usually do, especially with the Christmas rush and getting everything ready for 2018!

Here’s a few things that have been going on lately.

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Looking for people to join our team

Our company has grown to the point that Chris and I need more hands on deck to grow. That’s why over the last two months, we’ve been looking for new people to help us run the business. Well I’m happy to say that we’ve gotten lots of job applications and are currently in the middle of onboarding two new people to our team! Stay tuned for updates and intros on our new team members.

If you’re interested in joining our team, feel free to reach out to work@sienci.com. We’ll probably be looking for folks in electrical or software engineering in the next few months as well.

Enclosure design

A masters student in mechanical engineering and I are working on designing a fully enclosed frame, which we plan on putting together as a new upgrade kit. Why a full enclosure? Well, a full enclosure results in a quieter, cleaner machine. The plan is to have first physical prototypes together in the next two weeks.

New software

We’re currently working on a modified version of Kiri:Moto to streamline the CNC workflow for CAM. This has been a ongoing project for nearly a month, and we’re working on setting up a server to run the program. It’ll be accessible with the public, which will help us gain feedback on improving the software.

Improved resources

We’re also working on creating a more streamlined resources page to help new users walk through each step of using the Mill One. This includes some sample projects that can be done to get users familiar with our machines. We hope to have the new version of our resources live in the next two weeks. Got an idea for a sample project? Email us at hi@sienci.com!

Small changes to 3D printed parts design

First change was adjusting the settings and tolerances on the electronics box to improve the quality of the print and allow the parts to fit together better.

Second change is with the router mount, which now has additional reinforcement around the bolt holes. This addresses the weak area around the nut traps on the mount.

Chuck’s videos

If you haven’t yet, check out Chuck’s first impressions with the Mill One.

We did have a few troubles with the assembly part, but we did figure them out. We’re always happy to have honest feedback and hear about what we can do to improve our machines and manufacturing so that we can continue to improve our product.

Once Chuck got everything running, he was really happy with the machine!

You can also check out his video on making a custom 3D printed holder for tools on the Mill One too.

Aluminum cutting end mills are back in stock

We recently sold out on all our end mills, but we just got a new batch of aluminum cutting end mills. You can check it out here.

UPS shipping option

UPS has recently offered us really competitive prices on shipping, with shipping speeds that are faster than Purolator. Based on the past week of shipping with UPS, it looks like customers can get their orders up to three days faster than before.

 

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Those are all of the updates I can think of. Stay tuned for more as they come and happy holidays!

I (Andy) usually try to blog at least two times a week, but things have been pretty busy since sales for the Mill One have picked up a fair amount over the last two or three weeks, so I haven’t had a chance to blog.

So here’s a bunch of stuff that has happened over the last few weeks (in no particular chronological order).

Wooden iPhone Case Video

I put together another video to showcase a project you can do with the Mill One. I found a 3D model of the iPhone 6 case online, which I modified a bit and cut in half, so I could made the bottom from poplar and the top from oak. The whole milling process took about one and a half hours using a 2mm bit.

The phone case came out really well, and looks pretty stylish. My friend Lily let me borrow her phone to model in this video since I had a thick screen protector on my phone that got in the way, so thank you to her!

Tom’s unboxing update

So we sent Tom Salanderer a Mill One to test out and review. You might have watched the livestream unboxing where he went and put everything together, but had some issues with sending the gcode (he was using incompatible software – not the machine’s fault).

On the next day, the video was set to private. Here’s why:

If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, here’s what happened. The first part of the assembly went fairly smoothly. However near the end, with all the software, Tom got aggravated with all the unhelpful comments on the livestream chat, especially since it was past midnight in Germany. So he decided to end the livestream and put out a video later about the Mill One in more detail.

The livestream is back online and you can check it out here:

New T-shirts

New t shirts. We have 14 of them (someone bought one from us already) in small, medium, and large. What should we do with them? Should we sell them on the store? Should we do a giveaway? Let us know via email or through social media!

Vacation time

I will be heading out to see family in BC this week and returning to Ontario on the 15th. Chris will be out for a few days starting on the 10th. We have someone else taking care of fulfillment and so orders placed between the 3rd and the 15th will be shipped within a week. If you have an urgent order, send us a message and we can arrange something.