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We just found out that 100kGarages was voted the “Best Downloadable Design Concept” in the Treehugger Best of Green 2010 Awards. The tagline for Best of Green is “Awarding Excellence in Sustainability“, and we thank the folks at Treehugger for recognizing the Green benefits of 100kGarages and localized manufacturing. There’s a lot of interest in how we’re planning on expanding the types of digital tools in 100kGarages and we’ve posted our thoughts and plans at http://www.100kgarages.com/Whats_next.html , but we just wanted to make sure that everyone had a chance to look it over so we’ve re-posted it below: Since we first started thinking about 100kGarages we have always planned for it to eventually encompass all types of digital tools. For several reasons we started off with only ShopBot CNC tools and detailed our reasoning in our discussion of Digital Fabrication http://www.100kgarages.com/digital_fabrication.html, but here are the two most important ones: *) Start small: The most practical reason was that we knew that we’d be overwhelmed if we opened things up to anyone that had, or claimed to have, some sort of Digital Fabrication tool. We wanted to start with a small subset of Fabbers that we knew something about to ease the startup pains. *) Credibility: More specifically, for 100kGarages to work and be useful for Makers it was important that they trusted Fabbers to be legitimate and to be able to do the job they needed to have done. We could easily verify that a person was actually a ShopBot owner and also knew the capabilities of ShopBots. This meant that we could get the 100kGarages concept up and running without getting distracted before we even began by trying to certify Fabbers. We have a good beginning now with 100kGarages and have gotten many of the pieces in place. We’re ready to work on adding more tools, but the credibility issue remains one that we’re struggling with. We’ve considered all kinds of plans for having people cut samples and send them to us or provide photos, but each approach had it’s problems. In reality the biggest factor for success is the person doing the work. So we’ve come to feel that the most basic criteria to rule out scammers and crooks is what we should apply — basically to verify that a potential Fabber has a Digital Fabrication tool and that they are set up to do business. The plan we’ve come up with is to work with other Digital Fabrication Equipment manufacturers and let them do the same sort of ownership verification steps that ShopBot has done with the original Fabbers. If a person with a Thermwood (or an EZRouter, Universal Laser, etc) wants to join 100kGarages they can have the manufacturer of their tool verify that they are an owner. We’ll work out a simple process for this verification and will work to develop relationships with other manufacturers over time to make the process as painless as possible and to let them get involved if they would like. We hope other manufacturers of Digital Fabrication tools will be excited to work with 100kGarages, though know that there will likely be some that will realize that 100kGarages is a great idea and will want to create their own version. It also leaves a question of the home-made and home-brew Fabbers. We appreciate that some of these tools can be pretty good. There may be other kinds of user organizations for some types of tools that could help with certification, but we’ve got to admit that we don’t know exactly how we’ll deal with it yet. It may be as simple as “send us a picture of yourself, your machine, and a portfolio of work”, or we may have to develop some sort of certification method involving cutting a sample. We’ll let you know when we come up with something, but we’ll try to make it as painless for you (and for us) as possible. The other side of the credibility coin is business licensing. Since 100kGarages transactions are business transactions, we require all fabbers to have whatever business licensing is appropriate in your locality … at the minimum it will be by self-certification as it is now, but we may require that you send us your license information and the locality that you’re licensed in so that we’ll have basic documentation of a business presence. So when will all this happen? At the moment our top priority is rolling out the EasyCut system (beta testing is getting ready to start!), so we’re guessing that we won’t start adding more type of tools ’til after that … sometime in the Spring. In the meanwhile, though, we’ll be talking to tool manufacturers to help get the process started, and will try to keep everyone updated as we make process. We’ll also need to add LOTS more instructions and documentation, to help Makers understand when they need a CNC Router, a Laser Cutter, or some other kind of Digital Fabrication tools, and what to realistically expect from them. I have been wanting to post some thoughts on two recent, heavily discussed, blog articles , Chris Anderson’s (of Wired Magazine) report on new kinds of small manufacturing operations and Joel Johnson’s (of gizmodo) spirited critique. Between the two, there’s been a lot of good discussion of the ways in which new technologies do and do not enable new models of production, particularly in terms of ways in which small shops and small-time producers can be realistically competitive. But before I was able to articulate anything of value, Jeffrey McGrew of Because We Can posted an “analysis from the trenches”, that contains both reality-testing as well as a lot of inspiration. I’d encourage ShopBotters who have any kind of interest in digital fabrication services, Making & Fabbing, distributed manufacturing, or values and lifestyle choices in creative careers, to have a look at Jeffrey’s blog. And, just as a side note, Jeffrey and Jillian will be speaking about their operation at this year’s ShopBot Jamboree (April 23-24 in Durham). The innovative EasyCut, an end-to-end system that will manage the complete transaction for pre-paid fabrication jobs, is getting ready for beta testing and we’re looking for 5 beta-testing Fabbers to help out. Here’s what we’re looking for:
If this sounds like it describes you, you can find more information at http://www.100kgarages.com/easycut_testers.html I’ve recently posted a two-part web column on the ShopBot website that discusses some views on the economy as it relates to small business, digital fabrication, and 100kGarages (see, Part 1; Part 2). Among other things, it describes why we feel 100kGarages will offer new kinds of opportunities for those involved in digital fabrication.
We’ve been contacted by a museum that’s working an exhibit on Digital Fabrication for this spring, and wants to present 100kGarages and the ideas of distributed and local manufacturing in an interesting way. We’ve got some possibilities…having parts cut in lots of separate shops that are shipped and assembled at the museum, or having the same part cut and documented in multiple shops to show the digital nature of how things can be manufactured anywhere. We’re looking for ideas on what might be something to cut/make that would show off these concepts. Any ideas? When we first started thinking about 100kGarages, we figured that the way to sustainably generate business for Fabbers was to start by signing up Fabbers to fill in the map, rather than trying to interest Makers when there wasn’t anyone to actually do the cutting….that Makers looking at an empty map was the quickest way to discourage them from coming back as 100kGarages grew. We also knew that it was equally important to have lots of educational info available for Makers, so that they would understand the process better and make the process smoother for both themselves and the Fabber they’re working with. So the first push was to sign up Fabbers and start creating content, and we’re happy with the start we’ve made. We have close to 150 Fabbers signed up so far and, although we still have a way to go to make sure that Fabbers get files that are “Fabber ready”, we’re making headway with our Maker School section. We knew from the start that the downside of building up the list of Fabbers first was that there probably wouldn’t be a lot of jobs to start out, but now that the Fabbers Map has started to fill in we’re working on drawing Makers and generally growing and making things easier for everyone. The Fabber map and JobBoard will always be free to Fabbers and Makers and we’ll continue to build these free services. There are lots of other things we’ve got in the works to go along with them..here are some: *) Introducing EasyCut. We’ll be bringing EasyCut online over the next couple of months to enable cutting jobs using templates, to make it easier for Makers. This will be a managed program that will completely handle the business transaction, and will be opt-in for Fabbers. The Ponoko guys are hard at work on EasyCut and we hope to start testing in the next couple of weeks…we’re awfully excited about the prospects of simplifying CNC routing the way that Ponoko has done with laser cutting. *) Collaborating with Vectric, the folks behind the great Aspire, VCarvePro, and PartWorks toolpathing software, on something that will give Makers that want to be more involved in the fabrication process the ability to test a design’s “cutability” before sending it to a Fabber. As soon as the Vectric team recuperate from all their recent updates we’ll be posting more info. *) Begin adding other types of digital tools. We’ve always planned on adding all types of digital tools as soon as we thought we had a handle on how the process would work, and we’re starting to figure out how that might work while still keeping the credibility needed for Makers. It will also require creating enough educational materials that Makers will be able to decide when they’d want to use a CNC router, a laser cutter, or maybe a 3d printer, and what the differences are in the process for each. Once EasyCut is online we’ll begin the process of adding more tools, but will post info on how we see the process working before too long so that you can see what we have in mind. *) Adding more projects to make, and connecting Makers with creative Designers. We’ve started with a sampling of projects at http://projects.100kgarages.com , with more available as time goes on. Makers (or Fabbers) will be able to download and cut project files from there, but we’re imagining it more as a showcase of a Designer’s work than a store to buy files….a place where Makers can find people to help them with their own projects. These Designers will be familiar with digital fabrication and may be able to work directly with a Fabber, to make the process easier for everyone. This ties in with a recent posting on the ShopBot forum: “My take on this along with the 100k group is that most normal customers want a complete finished product. I believe it to be a very small minority of folks that would want me to cut parts that they can assemble and finish.” There’s no reason that jobs that come through the Fabbers Map or JobBoard need to be strictly for cutting…the details of the job are between the Maker and the Fabber. The power of 100kGarages is in the “digital” part of having jobs cut wherever the customer is, but if a Maker wants a “turnkey” job and it’s something that the Fabber has the capabilities to do, that’s great. We also imagine Designers, like the ones described above, will have products that they want manufactured in their customer’s location…these possibly will involve the Fabber doing the job from cutting to finished product, ready for the customer to pick up. As long as both the Maker and Fabber are happy and get what they want, we’re happy. More to come as these things develop… Springwise , a popular site that covers entrepreneurship, just posted their “Top 10 business ideas for 2010” list and 100kGarages was #8 on their list: Connecting Creative Consumers with Local Fabricators. We knew it was a great idea all along! Linda Stone just posted about National Lab Day on the OReilly Radar. Check out her posting Working Together to Create a National Learning Community and see if you don’t agree that a “100k Make Day” might be a great way to both show people what digital fabrication shops can do, and to help out teachers and kids with some of these great projects. http://radar.oreilly.com/2010/01/working-together-to-create-a-n.html Well, we actually finished the MakerBot we’re building to learn a little more about additive 3d printing about a month ago and did a couple of successful builds. Unfortunately we forgot the fundamental rule of digital tools and didn’t turn Linux updates off, causing a catastropic plunge of the Z axis and Plastruder when it started checking for updates and a subsequent Plastruder rebuild! It’s all back together and working now but not tidied up, so excuse the loose wires, etc.
The acrylic pieces were cut by Hines Design Labs on their Laser cutter and it looks great in clear and ShopBot blue. They also made what they call a “Barbie Ferris Wheel” to hold the spool of ABS…it’s very sporty!
Oh yeah, I didn’t want to have a bunch of cubes laying around…that would just seem wasteful…so we put dots on them with a sharpie and use them as dice! |
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