The Edge

In this season’s final episode of The Edge, Bre and Zach speak with two of Bantam Tools’ remote residents, Dom Riccobene and Vince Ramirez. Our residents are artists, engineers, and educators, some of whom regularly use CNC machines in their daily work while others are new to CNC all together. In this two-part episode we begin with Dom Riccobene, who’s developed a beautiful and cinematic technique of milling high-resolution topographic maps at his studio in Albuquerque, NM. In the second half, we sit down with Vince Ramirez of Austin, TX who shared how he’s using desktop CNC machines as the backbone of his high-performance auto fabrication business. Links and show notes at: bantamtools.com/theedge

~Plus a visit to the SF Drone School and a look at the X-Class Drone Racing League~ In this episode, we learn about the world of industrial metal laser cutters with the 3D Fab Light team. What initially started as a project at Otherlab to make bicycle frame fabrication easier eventually spun out into a very capable (and highly specialized) 4-axis metal laser cutter. The Fab Light is actually so specialized that while it can cut through a ¼” piece of steel, it has a hard time cutting through cardboard! As we discover from 3D Fab Light engineers Joel Rosenberg and Ramya Swamy, it’s all in the wavelength. More info and show notes at bantamtools.com/theedge

Plus Ashley Swartz discusses engineering soft robots at Roam Robotics In this third episode of The Edge podcast, we sit down with engineer, inventor, and founder of Otherlab Saul Griffith to learn more about the research and ethos driving this independent, San Francisco-based R&D lab. Otherlab is home to a number of interesting initiatives and startups like Kestrel Materials, which we learned about in episode one of this season. It’s also where Bantam Tools — formerly Other Machine Co — got its start! More info and show notes at bantamtools.com/theedge

Plus Bantam Tools’ Peter Riley on learning CNC In this second episode of season three, Bre and Zach sit down with master machinist Angelo Juras at the Autodesk Pier 9 facility in San Francisco. Angelo has been a machinist since the 80s, when he got his start on NC punched-tape-style milling machines. In his current position at Autodesk as a CAM product manager, he has a unique vantage point to recount the last three decades in machining and talk about what’s to come in the future. More info and show notes at www.bantamtools.com/theedge

~Plus Gerard Rubio on Kniterate, the desktop CNC knitting machine Welcome to Season 3 of The Edge podcast. In this first episode, Bre and Zach dive into the world of soft goods and textiles manufacturing with expert Carly Mick. Carly is the senior manufacturing manager for Kestrel Materials, a startup born out of Otherlab in San Francisco. Kestrel is focused on making adaptable and delightfully different textiles that change thickness in response to changes in temperature. ABOUT CARLY MICK Carly is a textile professional with more than 18 years of experience in all aspects of product development and innovation. She has in-depth knowledge of materials, construction processes, sourcing, costing, and consumer behavior. Carly is currently the senior manufacturing manager for Kestrel Materials, where she builds systems that build soft goods. Show notes and links at: www.BantamTools.com/TheEdge

Plus Scott Miller from Dragon Innovation shares tips for manufacturing at scale In this last episode of Season two, we talk all about prototyping and “pretotyping.” Our guest, Alberto Savoia, is a mathematician and engineer, who among many things led the initial development of Google’s Ad Words. After many successes, Albero had the sobering experience of seeing one of his startups fail, and he set out to develop a framework for testing ideas in the market before actually launching them. Instead of beginning with prototyping, Alberto shares that teams should first “pretotype.” Links and show notes at: bantamtools.com/theedge

~Plus Ryan Luke Johns on collaborating with robots~ On today’s episode, we sit down with Nadya Peek, a professor in the department of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington, where Nadya runs an interesting lab called Machine Agency. Her work focuses on unconventional digital fabrication tools, small-scale automation, and advanced manufacturing. Before UW, Nadya was a research scientist at MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, where she received her Phd. If you...

This week we speak with Dan Shapiro, the cofounder and CEO of Glowforge. You probably recall the 2015 launch of this desktop laser cutter that took the digital fabrication world by storm. What’s most unique about Glowforge, however, isn’t the sleek industrial design, but the diverse community that’s rallied behind this tool. In this episode, Dan shares how he was initially inspired by the power of laser cutters through prototyping a board game that he launched on Kickstarter, and we all wax...

~Plus Andrew Kleindolph on teaching digital fabrication in high school~ This week we speak with Mohite Bhoite. By day, Mohit is a senior electrical engineer at the IoT startup Particle, but come nights and weekends, Mohite is a full-time sculptor. Though the technique he uses, called freeforming or dead-bug-style circuitry, is one that you may have seen before, he takes it to a new level with his polished look and the way he’s able to embody character and express emotion with each of his...

~Plus Ben Light gives us a tour of NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program In this episode we sit down with industrial designer and engineer, Greg Wolos, to speak about design thinking. Greg is the former design director at IDEO – the international design and consulting firm – and today runs his own design consultancy. Greg is not only focused on the way consumer goods look, feel and get manufactured, but also the way in which we incorporate consumer electronics in our lives on a more...

~Plus Jake Reed on making modular and reconfigurable CNC machines~ In this episode, we speak with Will Langford, an engineer and researcher at the Center for Bits and Atoms. CBA – a part of MIT — is an interdisciplinary initiative exploring the boundary between computer science and physical science. The researchers at CBA study how to turn data into things and things into data. Recursion and abstraction are common themes. And even though all of this is a mouthful, there’s a more...

~Plus luthier Michael King on using 100-year-old wood to build custom guitars In this episode, Bre and Zach visit with Aaron Panone in his studio in Boston, Massachusetts. Aaron is a self-producing designer and engineer who focuses on making acetate eyewear and custom bicycle components. In one of his behind-the-scenes videos, Aaron describes writing down all of the detailed steps to produce a pair of cellulose acetate glasses. Even though he’s the only employee, this manufacturing...

~Plus Nick Manousos on the state of watchmaking~ In this episode, we sit down with mechanical engineer and designer turned self-taught machinist and watchmaker, Ian Schon. Ian is in love with watches and the craft of horology. He also makes and sells a beautiful collection of pens, but really for him, the drive is much more basic: It’s about making. Full stop. He feeds off the challenge of machining complex parts and designing objects that reflect his love of craft, as well as stand the test...

In this last episode of Season One, Bre Pettis, co-host of The Edge, talks about the early days of MakerBot. As co-founder and former CEO of MakerBot, Bre played a huge role in popularizing 3D printing and making it accessible to students, educators, and makers. What many people don’t know, however, is where some of the early ideas for MakerBot originally came from. In this founder story, Bre also shares memories of some influential people from the early 2000s maker days, like Phil Torrone...

~Plus Matt Lenox on tips for milling topographic maps~ In this episode, we speak with Tiffany Tseng, a mechanical engineer turned UX/UI designer who, among many things, worked on the Autodesk update to EAGLE, and its integration with Fusion 360. As fabrication tools make their way from the factory floor to our desktops, designers like Tiffany have spent a lot of time thinking about how to create powerful yet intuitive and modern interfaces for makers like us to use. And, as we’ll hear from...

~Plus Ed Kramer on running a CNC farm at home in Texas~ The desktop machine category has expanded to include industrial machinery that’s sometimes hard to imagine actually putting on a desk. One recent addition is Wazer, a desktop waterjet cutter. Bre and Zach headed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard to see the machine in action, as well learn how it’s made, and ended up confirming their hunch about who the audience for these machines really is, which is not who you might think. Links and show notes...

~Plus James Thompson on working with Fordite, aka Detroit Agate~ It’s not every day that you meet a materials scientist. These people work in a field that’s seemingly so complex as to be inaccessible to most of us, but Liz Corbin is working to challenge this assumption. Liz has a doctorate in design and has spent the last four years inside a university materials science department researching material culture, open design, and redistributed manufacturing. She co-founded the site and...

~ Plus Stefania Druga on MIT's class "How to Make Almost Anything" ~ You’ve probably found yourself walking along an airport causeway or another public space and have seen a wall that once may have been covered in a billboard now playing host to an interactive array of glowing LEDs that change color as you walk past or wave your hand. Surprisingly, such installations usually aren’t the work of large companies, but rather of small studios made up of designers, hackers, and ersatz engineers....

~Plus Jordan Husney on working with GE and running a 3D Hub~ If you owned a 3D printer back in 2013, you probably remember hearing about 3D Hubs for the first time. Desktop 3D printing was still in its early days, and a community of people were coming together on their site to share knowledge and experiences while building out a distributed manufacturing network. And, as we’ll hear in this episode, it worked. Fast forward to today, and 3D Hubs describes themselves as the “world’s largest...

~Plus Devin Cooper on making music with stepper motors~ In this episode, we speak with John Saunders about how he initially got into machining and what the current landscape looks like for educating the next generation. He’s the host of the popular CNC YouTube channel NYCCNC and owner and founder of Saunders Machine Works in Zanesville, Ohio, where he spoke with us this past November. Links and show notes at bantamtools.com/theedge