Sindrian Arts

I’ve been dissatisfied with how I handled my Kickstarter project for a while.

Several ideas have been kicking around inside my head for a couple weeks, but this morning I got kick in the rear.  Mcphill, one of my larger backers, commented on my project, noting that he had heard nothing for several months.  He had voiced his displeasure with my progress before too, as had another of my backers.  Back then I didn’t know how to handle it, so I did nothing (silly me).  This time, I resolved to fix things.

I immediately posted a comment thanking mcphill for the comment, and promised to write an update right there and then.  Which I did.  In it, I apologized for the lack of contact and progress, outlined what I think I did wrong, and explained how I’d do better from now on.

It felt really good to get it all off my chest.  I’ve felt horrible about this for months, but apparently I needed that kick to get me to finally bite the bullet.  I’m not proud that that’s what got me to finally do something, but I’m glad that I finally have.

One of the things I committed to do is to get all the smaller rewards out the door within the next 30 days.  It’s a pretty scary deadline, but I think I can do it.  I might have to take time off from the day job, but I’ll do it.

Speaking of which, I’m off to work at the Asylum now.  Wish me luck!

My apologies for the long silence; the last month has been a bit of a rollercoaster.

Right after I finished milling out the parts for the next Kikori gantry up at MakeIt Labs, it got shut down.  This meant that instead of getting to work on the kickstarter rewards I had to dismantle my entire operation up there, move everything down to my new space at the Artisan’s Asylum (living up to their name, as always), and build a new gantry first.

If you’ve been following my photostream on Flickr, you’ve watched as I assembled a new Kikori gantry.  While I did find a few minor things that needed tweaking, for the most part it came together beautifully.  This was especially encouraging since the Kikori up at MakeIt was having all sorts of mysterious issues that prevented it from maintaining positional accuracy (given that the new machine has none of these issues, I’m told that it could’ve been caused by a “dirty” power supply in the MakeIt building, which would’ve caused the machine to miss steps).  This showed that even under a worse-case scenario, the Kikori is still capable of self-replication.

In rebuilding the Kikori I also tried out a couple different methods of driving the X axis.  The problem I was having with the original setup of using a single NEMA 23 motor to drive sprockets on both sides of the gantry was that I’d get significant twisting along the drive shafts; enough that the gantry would ‘chatter’ as is moved in that direction.  My first solution was to upgrade to a NEMA 34 motor which uses a 1/2″ drive shaft instead of the 23′s 1/4″.  While this did eliminate the chatter, it also revealed that without the twisting  rod acting like a spring, the motor wasn’t powerful enough.  Finally, I decided to try using two seperate NEMA 23 motors to directly drive the sprockets on either side.  This proved to be by far the best solution: it gave me the best strength, the smoothest motion, and also eliminated the need for drive shafts, bearings, and couplers.

The Kikori is now performing beautifully, maintaining accuracy to within 1/32 of an inch even at feed rates of 100 IPM!  This means that production of the Kickstarter rewards has finally begun.  I’ll be milling out the sets of gantry parts first, then working my way down the list of rewards.  I hope to get them all out within a month, but we’ll see how things work out.

This also means that I’m about to start selling Kikori kits as well!  After all the changes and additions, it looks like I’ll just be able to keep it under the $5,000 goal, but I’m going to try to do a special introductory sale to get things moving.  I’ll send out an announcement soon!

It was pointed out to me that since my plans have solidified somewhat recently, I should share them so people know what I’m up to!

My plans have been in a near-constant state of flux since I got to Boston.  My original plan was to move into the Artisan’s Asylum in early September (the original move-in date), set up, have all the Kickstarter rewards made and shipped by mid-November at the latest, and then start selling kits to the general public.  However, due to many things outside of anyone’s control, the Asylum only opened their doors to renters last Friday.  In the meantime, I set up the Kikori at MakeIt Labs in Nashua, NH thinking that I would simply make stuff there, just at a slower pace (due to the hour-long commute).  Unfortunately, I’ve spent the last couple months chasing down issues, so I haven’t been able to make anything until quite recently.

Now, this also means that I’m going to have to stretch the Kickstarter funds farther than I had intended to, since they’re what’s been supporting me all this time.  Because of this, I’m going to have to start generating some income sooner rather than later, which sadly means that I won’t be able to focus solely on making rewards.  My plan is still to have all of them sent out before the end of the year, but at the same time I’m going to be working on other projects to sell in the meantime.

So, my beloved Kickstarter backers!  Know that when you might see me post about working on other things, I have not forgotten about you!  It is still my intention to have all of your rewards out in time for the holiday season.  In the meantime, stay tuned to see what I’ll be cooking up next!

I arrived in Oakland last Tuesday, and I’ve found myself surprisingly busy.

Not that I’m complaining mind you, but I am surprised.

In the past when I’ve come out here to visit my father and step-mother, we’ve had a pretty open schedule so that we were free to lounge about, talk, see movies, and maybe walk around San Francisco a bit.

This time we’ve had dinner dates with friends of their’s, meetings with people to discuss my business, and day trips to visit other family in the area.  It’s been really great, but it’s also meant I haven’t had time to do some of the things I meant to, like work on the next version of the Kikori.  Today looks like I’ll get some work done.  If I can finish one major revision to the Kikori before I head back to Boston I’ll be very happy.

We’ve reached our goal on Kickstarter!
I just got up after a restless night and checked on the project. I have yet to have coffee, so please forgive my brevity, but I wanted to thank everyone who has helped us get this far, both through direct support and helping spread the word.
Thank you all.
I’ll post more later once my brain is online.

It’s been pointed out to me that I have yet to really explain what CNC technology is and why it’s so awesome.

This post will fix this.

First, the basics:  CNC stands for Computer Numeric Control, which simply means that a CNC machine is controlled by a computer using numbers.  Technically, this makes pretty much any robot a CNC machine, so let’s get a little more specific.

CNC most often refers to machines that move a tool in two or more dimensions or axes.  For example, the Kikori is a three-axis CNC router machine because it can move its tool (so far I’ve only fitted it with a router) in three different dimensions: forward and backward, left and right, and up and down.

Other common CNC machines include laser cutters and 3D printers.  Laser cutters move a laser in two dimensions to cut out flat patterns, while 3D printers like MakerBot’s Thing-O-Matic move a nozzle that extrudes plastic to create 3D objects (there are other types of 3D printers that work quite differently, but that’s another post entirely).  CNC routers like the Kikori move a spinning cutter in three dimensions to carve shapes out of solid material.  These shapes can be as simple as flat profiles or complex as a detailed relief carving; it all depends on the program and cutters used.

But why are CNC machines so awesome?

Put simply, CNC machines are one of the quickest ways to turn your ideas into physical objects.

When I was little I told anyone who asked that I wanted to be an inventor when I grew up.  I would spend hours every day just staring off into space dreaming up everything from pedal-powered airplanes to Nerf-based siege weapons.  I got into 3D computer modeling when I was around ten or so, and was amazed by how quickly I could take the images in my head and turn them into 3D objects on my screen.  Years later when I entered design school and I was introduced to the school’s CNC machines, I realized that these tools could take the 3D objects on my screen and actually make them real.

I was in love.

The only problem was that these machines were fantastically expensive, and I sure as hell didn’t want to wait until I had saved up tens of thousands of dollars to get one of my own.  I scoured the ‘net for other options and found a slew of DIY CNC machines.  Unfortunately, they were all much smaller than I wanted: I wanted a machine that could make full-sized furniture, or boat frames, or anything else I could dream up, not just use a Dremel to etch my own PCBs.

Eventually I decided to build the “book” machine from BuildYourCNC.com since it did not need another CNC machine to make its own parts, and the design was free.  I had my fair share of issues building that first machine, some of which were my fault, some of which had to do with issues in the design.  However, I persevered and after a few months of work I used it to produce a prototype chair for a school project.

At this point I realized that CNC tech was not going just be a hobby for me; it was quickly turning into something more like a calling.

I decided to forgo my last opportunity to get a design internship and instead take a “travel quarter” to spend three months in Boston building a full-sized CNC gantry router.  Again, I ended up going with a design from BuildYourCNC.com, this time because they had the only full-sized gantry router design that I could afford to build: the blackFoot.  Again, I had my share of trials building the thing (which you can read all about here) but three months later, I had my first full-sized CNC machine up and running.

Problem was, I still wasn’t happy with what I had.  I liked that the blackFoot was inexpensive and could be built from readily available parts, but it was nowhere near as rigid as I would’ve liked.  Rigidity is important in a CNC router not only because of accuracy, but also in that the more rigid the machine, the faster and deeper it can cut without losing accuracy.  I wanted a machine that could accurately cut through 1/2″ plywood in a single pass just like the ShopBot machines I saw at the New York Maker Faire, just without the price tag.  I decided that for my capstone project for my industrial design degree, I would design a machine that would fulfill my dreams.

Many people I told about my plans were worried that I was biting off more than I could chew.  After all, they told me, this sounds like more of an engineering problem, not a design one.  When they heard I planned to make it out of plywood, they got even more worried.  After all, plywood is not exactly the strongest material out there.  How was I going to get the rigidity I needed out of anything less than metal?

I had a few ideas.

For four months I worked on my design, trying different approaches and ideas until I felt I had something that would work.  Then I got to building.  In about forty-five days I went from a pile of parts to a moving, milling machine.  It was great.  Then I discovered how accurate it could be, and I was floored.  My machine was proving to be everything I wanted it to be.  Granted, I did run into a few small issues, but thankfully I found nothing that would’ve needed a serious revision to fix, just a few small tweaks here and there.

The Kikori was finally a reality.

My next step is to fix all the little issues I found during building before I release the final design.  I want the Kikori to show everyone that a production-capable CNC machine is well within their grasp, which is why I’ll be making the design files freely available.  I know there are people out there who will take the Kikori and improve and adapt it to do even more amazing things, and I want to make sure that they won’t be hampered by legal red tape.

Of course I’ll be designing improvements and add-ons for the Kikori as well: I’ve got ideas for both a rotary axis and a 3D scanning module, and I’m developing a couple new gantry designs as well for different applications.  After all, one of the reasons I designed the Kikori as a CNC router and not a laser cutter or 3D printer is because I like versatility.  Since the structural requirements of a CNC router are much higher than 3D printers and laser cutters, it is possible to turn a Kikori into a laser cutter or 3D printer by simply replacing the router with a different tool.  Who knows what else someone will think of to slap into it.

One thing is for sure though: it’ll be a lot of fun finding out.

Last Friday we finally launched our project on Kickstarter! We’ve already gotten 12% of our goal and were mentioned on BoingBoing!

Right now we’re working on more rewards, so if there’s something particular you’d like to see, let us know!

It’s still hard to believe that I’ve moved here permanently.

I mostly blame this on the fact that I’ve been staying with my girlfriend while I wait for my apartment to open up on July 2nd, so it still feels like I’m just visiting.  I also have yet to move back into the Artisan’s Asylum since the guy I’m subletting from has been quite busy following a car accident; understandably I’m pretty low on his priority list at the moment.

I have been keeping busy though.  I’ve been spending a lot of time tracking down and reconnecting with all my old friends here, and catching up on what I’ve missed over the past six months.  Once exciting development is that the Asylum has grown so much that it will be moving into a new space!  This new place is more than twice the size of the old one, is on the ground floor (the current location isn’t), is T accessible and has off-street parking, and has both heat and A/C!  I’ll be taking a look at this new space myself tomorrow.  If you’re interested in renting an area yourself, you can fill out a survey here.

Last night I went back to the Artisan’s Asylum for the first time since getting back.

The blackfoot CNC router I built back in the fall is still in regular use and seems to be holding up well.

It’s being run by my friend Jeffrey, who’s been teaching classes in Computer Aided Machining (CAM) software (which you can sign up for here!).  While the idea was to build up a solid base of people who can use the machine, it was hard for me to gauge how often it’s actually getting used.  I also noticed a few things about the current state of the machine; some good, some bad.

The good:

• The stepper motors are running very quietly; I suspect that this is due to the switch to a g540 stepper motor driver setup which is properly tuned.  I have the same setup, but for whatever reason I was unable to properly tune mine (I suspect that I was using the wrong tool).
• Limit switches have been added so that the machine can auto-home.
• Our friend Calvin made a switch for the router so that it can be turned on and off by EMC2.
• A slot cut into the vacuum mount  makes loosening the collet nut possible without removing the router from the gantry.
• A ring of LEDs  on the underside of the vacuum mount helps illuminate the cutting area.

The bad:

• The aluminum rails show significant wear from the v-groove bearings.  While this should not effect the accuracy of the machine in the X and Y axis, it might cause slight variation in Z, especially towards the ends of the axis where the wear is less even.
• Apparently the shaft of the Y axis stepper motor snapped off during a long job not too long ago.

Those two issues are also things that might affect the Kikori; thankfully I already have solutions in mind for both that I’ll implement as soon as I have it back up and running.

Speaking of reviving the Kikori, I saw the space for it; unfortunately it’s full of stuff which will have to be moved.  Since I don’t know whose stuff it is or where it should go, I can’t move forward on setting up my space.  However, I’ll be meeting with the guy who’s currently renting the space to get all that figured out soon.

In the meantime, my Kickstarter project is almost ready!  Just a few more things to set up and it’ll be ready to launch.  Stay tuned!

I’ve left Cincinnati.

Such an odd feeling.  I’ve traveled a lot; I’ve even spent months at a time in other cities, but this is the first time I’ve truly moved away from my home town.

So yes, if you’ve been wondering where the hell I’ve been for the past… wow, it’s been a month since my last post, here’s what I’ve been up to:

After milling out another version of my standing computer desk (and thereby becoming more familiar with where the kikori is likely to loosen over time), I had to move the entire thing down one floor so it could be displayed for the DAAPWorks senior show.  Even though I took the gantry off the table and moved the torsion box by itself, it was still quite the task; thankfully I had lots of friends to help.

After that there was my final crit, which went very well, an interview with Larry Moore from Solidworks for a forthcoming interview series, and lots and LOTS of packing.  I finally got on the road Wednesday afternoon, had a wonderfully uneventful if long drive, and arrived in Boston the next day.

It’s good to be back here.  Lots of friends I missed.  I’m looking forward to reconnecting with all the folks at the Artisan’s Asylum and getting the kikori rebuilt.  With any luck I should be back up and running soon.