Hi Costakis,

No problem that I've seen. We have quite a healthy traffic of correspondence through the site. Let me know the dates you didn't get through on so that I can double-check. Try again to contact me and I'll keep a special eye out for your message. In the meantime, please check our updates and newsletter for updates and news/ETA of USB Kickstarter rewards.
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Stephen

Hi Guan,

Yes, I did reply confirming your change to the standard version rather than the USB version, and I changed your address in our database. I'm guessing you didn't receive that e-mail, but this is all squared away and your kit will ship soon. I'll e-mail you to let you know when its on its way.

Thx,

Stephen

Yes Scarr, thanks for the catch - more like bad reporting on my part. I confused myself with an earlier file I had used in the testing I ran to get this process dialed-in. The line spacing was 0.01". I've posted a correction to the update.

Wow, that is very disconcerting. Can you try again please? That account gets very little e-mail and messages are cleared off the server every 5 days. I can't see why you should get this error. Please give it another shot and let me know the result.
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Thanks!

Colin, e-mail me via the MyDIYCNC website and let me see if our inventory planning can accommodate the change. I'm sure we can, but the question is how soon. Yes, the parallel port version users will be able to upgrade to the USB interface at a large discount.

The Plans & Manual (going to external review) will be in PDF format.

Hi R Duane,
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Thank you. I've written several textbooks over the years, so that helps a great deal. Nothing special about the tools. I use MS Word and Open Office between two computers, and transfer the manuscript in MS Word format between them. I use Sketchup Pro for the CAD drawings and illustrations, Inkscape and Gimp 2 for drawing and image editing, and Picasa a lot for quick tweaking of images (you can tell I like open source apps). So nothing specialized or exotic.
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I have been a technology instructor for many years, but not in a while. There's no classroom role for a Dean I'm afraid, and I miss teaching a great deal. I love the idea of a tech writing course. I agree it's often an overlooked art and an important aspect of any product. When the dust settles on this project and if we ever get to a sustained tickover for the business I may contact my former colleagues at UC Extension and see if they have any interest in such a course. It would be a blast.
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Thanks for the suggestion.
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Stephen

Hi Jerry,
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How was Maker's Faire? I missed that and my annual Vintage Brit car show and swap meet in Woodland, CA this weekend, buried in the manual writing - all for a good cause :) No (major) regrets.
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I mentioned the forum in prior posts/comments. I absolutely agree, and community involvement and innovation are a big part of my plan and goals for the DIY Desktop CNC Machine. I have had the forum ready to roll out for some time, but have been waiting for the day we start shipping and I'm past this hump. Setting up the forum and maintaining it are time commitments that would derail the project right now, and anyway it's best to have discussion about the product in-hand than advanced theorizing, I believe.
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It will pop up here soon as soon as shipment roll out, along with the tech support pages and services, backers recognition page, additional ancillary products, kits and components (beyond those mirroring the Kickstarter rewards) followed by the online tutorials. Lots to do.
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Thanks for the support Jerry. Hope the new digs are working out for your guys.

Hi Jerry,
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Congrats on the new Makerspace :)
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The standard spindle is a 12V 16,000 rpm, 1/8" collet unit. The Plans and Manuals provide instructions for the standard mount, which will fit many spindle/rotary tool options, as well as instructions on how to custom-mount their spindle of choice. The mount consists of two parts, an upper cradle which will work on most any spindle, and a lower mounting bracket that may have to be modified, depending on the choice of spindle.
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I will be providing g-code files for mounts for standard tools, such as Dremels, that the DIY Desktop CNC Mechine user can download and use to create a new mount for their next spindle upgrade.
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In addition, we're evaluating several other spindles with a view to offering upgrade options on the website.

David,

The DIY Desktop CNC Machine is designed and spec'd in imperial units, but the Plans & Manual are written with both imperial and metric dimensions. Many of our backers and customers are from overseas and it became apparent early on that we'd have to provide metric measurements for our builders.

Hi Chris,
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The PC/OS depends on the app you're going to use. Your best bets are KCam, EMC2, TurboCNC or Mach3. Check them out and see which looks best for you and then follow those specs.
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Probably the most straight-forward to use (and the one I've used for all the demos and videos) is KCam which will need an XP PC with a parallel port. They're easy to find as many folks have old XP boxes shelved, gathering dust, that you can often pick up for cheap or free. I got a free one a while back by placing an add on Freecycle.org, and it's nice to have a box dedicated to this task.
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The standard DIY Desktop CNC Machine uses a PC's parallel port to provide the real-time discreet enable/direction/step signals for each axis. We're working on a USB interface, which has its own challenges (USB ports, being serial and because they use polling/odd timing, are difficult to implement for CNC apps). Since all efforts have been directed towards getting rewards delivered and completing the Plans and Manual (a daunting task on its own) the USB dev has taken a back burner (almost, some work continues, but minor). I'll be posting updates about that work once we clear the fulfillment parts of this project. This will resume with vigor then. We have two designs on the drawing board and will evaluate and choose one as our USB solution.
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So, to answer your question, a PC with USB will work later once that development work is done. For now the DIY Desktop CNC Machine works on a parallel port, either an existing one or a purchased add-on card (Newegg.com has them cheap).

Jason, your e-mail is bouncing back. Try me again and check your e-mail address for typos.
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Thanks
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Stephen

Jason, drop me a note directly via the website. Depending on what you're interested in I may be able to extend it on a case-by-case basis, but I can't extend it for all products. I run the risk of over-extending our stock and orders. What is already a pushed-out backlog could turn into an uncomfortably-long wait for new orders.
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While the steady demand for the DIY Desktop CNC Machine is really awesome I have to manage our growth so that we don't burn out before we reach a steady running operation mode.

Hi Toby,

That was one of my fallback positions if I couldn't return the defective pieces. The costings on this project have to be managed very tightly, especially as we have improved and grown the design within the same fixed revenue. There have been many unforeseen expenses along the way. So when they agreed to take back the pieces and not charge, I jumped at it.

Hi Jerry,

I'm not sure if I can make it. As you know from my bio I'm a Dean at a college (the day job) and our academic year wrap up and graduation events and ceremonies fall in and around those dates, so I may be "on duty" at that time.
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If I can slip away I'll let you know. I'd hate to miss it. We discussed having a booth, and likely would have had one if we were passed the Kickstarter rewards fulfillment stage and up and running as a company. We're planning on participating at the next one though - who knows what weird and wonderful applications we'll have to show by then :)
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Are you travelling from Hawaii just for Maker Faire, or are you in town anyway?

Hi Peter,

The only questionnaire was through Kickstarter but there was no question about upgrading. You did ask about metal rails though, is that what you refer to? I'll respond to that e-mail you sent and we can sort it out for you.

Hi Marcus, yes, I've received a few messages like this. Most seem to be working fine, but a few are having difficulties where the survey doesn't allow you to complete. Some folks have started over and it worked. Some have given up and e-mailed me the answers directly (which is fine).
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Unfortunately I have no control over this Kickstarter tool nor are there any settings I can tweak.
At the end of the day the important thing is that I get your info so that I can process your reward.

Hi Scarr, yes I'm bummed. But there's about a half-dozen backers in my general vicinity (two in Placerville) so I have a feeling I may end up delivering a t-shirt to someone in person after all (in exchange for a Starbuck's skiny latte - yes, I'm easily bought :) ).
What college is the demo at?

Yes Eric, if you could even get a second mortgage these days, you'd need it to run that system! That's why I'd have to be an employee and hide out at night to use it on their dime ;)

Scarr, very nice. If I worked there I think I'd be camping out overnight to get some 3D printing time in :)

Hi Robert,,

I'll be includng a collection of apps that will get the user up and running and that will reference back to the manual/instructions. They will include G-Simple, Desk Engrave, EMC2 and trial versions of KCam, CamBam, NCplot and others.
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For PCB routing, either KCam or EMC2 will mill your PCB. The more important question is how will you generate your g-code to be processed by either of those CAM apps (or similar)? You should determine how your current/favorite electronics design app outputs track isolation g-code, and that is what you'll import into KCam and the others to perform the milling process on the DIY Desktop CNC Machine. If you don't already use an electronics design app, I'd recommend Eagle and the pcb-gcode plugin (that's what I use). That will get you clean g-code to process in KCam or EMC2. There are many good guides to getting from on-screen PCB design to milled board using Eagle and pcb-gcode (or the other g-code plugins available). You'll also need a PCB milling bit. I use a 60-degree V bit I bought (set of 5) on eBay.
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Once the dust settles on this project I'll be posting tutorials on the website including a PCB milling tutorial.
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Hope this answers your question.