Hi All, Time for an update on developments and delivery.

Hi All,
Time for an update on developments and delivery.

The first Fabkit is going together great, we have been taking step by step photos and writing down all the top tips to make assembly easy for you guys.

We will also look to make the CAD (Digital 3D model) assembly files available online so you can explode the parts and clearly see how it goes together.

While putting together the first FabKit we took the time to analyse some of the little details and see how some small adjustments could make for a better experience.

We have reintroduced the amber indicator to let you know when the interlocks are active and the laser can fire.

The interlocks are now magnetic instead of mechanical. This makes for a cleaner experience and prevents you from getting caught on them.

We have introduced an access panel so you can reach the mirrors from the side of the machine, currently its a bit of a tight squeeze.

We have added a way to bolt the machine to a table or surface, a useful feature if you want to try and go faster than the rest :wink:

Cable management,

We have several features to help keep your cable management nice a tidy. In addition to this we have been trying to ensure the cables are the perfect length to go where they need to be. They will also be labelled to help with installation and future updates or hacks you may be planning.

The door,
We found the 5mm orange door a bit flimsy so we upped to 8mm now its has a much firmer feel.

Now for your Fabkits,

Most components have arrived, we have all the electronics and most the hardware sitting in the storage.

However sadly we have encountered some delays with a few components,

The milled components have taken longer than we planned to get ready for production. Our supplier has just informed me they will be shipped on the 15th of December.

Sadly the very reason for the delay is the reason our supplier is one of a kind in china.

They are very proactive with our designs and orders, they will often often ask for clarification of the part or drawings, double check tolerances and even suggest slight changes reduce the cost or improve the function.
Over the years we have dealings with them we have always had perfect parts first time round.
This attention to detail and quality assurance is hard to find in china and while this is great it can also lead to prolonged lead times because of the lag between the sales and engineering along with timezone and translation.

However, because of this delay we have been able to hold off on ordering the Laser cut aluminium components as these are made in the Netherlands and have a very fast turn around. This has allowed us to make some of the little changes we previously mentioned.

This weekend on the 3rd of December there is a Model maker fair in the building where we have our new workshop. We are planning to have our doors open on the Saturday and possibly the Sunday too, showing off laser cutting to the model maker community.

We will of course still organise the open day with pick up later in the month but if you would like to visit us sooner and see the first FabKit close up this event makes for a good excuse :slight_smile:

But you promised St Nicholas presents! ;(

(J/K)

Thanks for the (great) update !

Hi ! Any news on the 3d CAD files (or anything else :D) ? I might be interested to look a few things and dimensions.

@Maxime_Favre I am finishing off the CAD as we speak :slight_smile: few things left to check, double check then order the Laser cut aluminium and upload the CAD for you to see :slight_smile:
I will upload the files via the fusion 360 gallery so you will be able to view it online or download it for fusion360 or any other cad package. :slight_smile:

Great, I use both fusion 360 and inventor ! Thanks for the answer :wink:

No prob, with these component counts im starting to wish i had inventor :frowning: Fusion is great but large assemblies do get hard to manage as it lacks a good library system :S

Yup larger assemblies quickly turn to labyrinth if not well managed ;( Fusion lacks a few drawing and modelling features too. I like to design on inventor and export to fusion for CAM and out-of-desktop availability.