KGLMDPS is moving, and part of that move includes moving the 3D printers into an enclosed space (an office separate from the rest of the open area). This has me thinking about how I want to arrange things, and while I'll probably start by simply "lifting-and-shifting" the current setup, maybe it's time to think about how I can improve things based on the few months of practical experience we've had at the original location. Notably, the closed-off space allows for the potential of slightly more disruptive machines like my tiny CNC mill, so I want to consider expanding the robot army as a possibility.
Right now I have two 3D printers at the shop, both Elegoos, one OrangeStorm Giga and one Centauri Carbon. Minimally, I'm planning to add a second Carbon (maybe the Carbon 2?). I bought the first one as an experiment and it has earned it's keep over the last few months. The only issue I've had with the Carbon is that it's almost always busy, so a second machine seems like a rational choice.
I considered moving our small laser to this space, but it takes up a fair amount of horizontal room and it also requires ventilation. While I think this room has an outside wall, I don't think there's any windows and I'm not ready to start punching-holes in the brick exterior (at least not yet).
But the mill is a possibility, and bringing it into the mix creates some very cool possibilities. I've written before about my attempts to manufacture circuit boards at home using this mill, and while I still don't have a completely functional workflow for this, I think I'm pretty close. If I could throw another day or two at it, I could probably be able to reliably fabricate 2-layer boards which would be plenty for most of the things I design (especially if I take the leap into more surface-mount work).
I'm also interested in using the mill for more "traditional" things like milling parts that are hard to print (or out of materials I can't print with) and of course creating real wood type.
If I manage to pull that off, I could outfit one of the workbenches with some soldering/assembly equipment and I think I'd have everything I need to realize a lot of the devices I've designed over the years.
Of course this all requires a software "stack" to go along with all this hardware, and I've got a few tools that have worked so far with these printers and this mill, but if I really want to make the most out of the limited time I have to play at the shop I'll need to streamline all that a bit. Honestly I think the solution is a full-blown CAD/CAM system. Of course I use tools that could be classified as CAD but I've never really thought about the whole thing as a "system", and never really looked closely at CAM; but maybe it's time to do that?
I don't know yet if there's existing open-source CAM software or if it's all commercial or all bespoke, but I'll see what I can find. Maybe if it exists it's completely overkill for this application, but even so it wouldn't be the first time I've used industrial products at home. In addition to surveying what's available, I need to document what I really want and need to get out of such a system in order to evaluate the options. It might simply be the case that what I need is a custom implementation, which of course is something else I'm no stranger to.
But I do want to be careful not to loose track of the real objective: making things. To this end I should probably timebox the research and experimentation and maybe establish a few "checkpoints" where I can stop and use the system if and when I run out of time to play.
I also need to think about some "infrastructure" concerns, like the power supply (I assume this room only has access to a single circuit) and waste management (if the mill joins the mix, it makes a mess, especially if wood is involved). None of these seem overwhelming but still need to be considered.
Jason J. Gullickson, 2026