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 listened to episode three of this season, we’ll be returning to some of the themes and discussion around modular tools. Links and show notes at bantamtools.com/theedge

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 philosophical about the larger question of why people make in the first place. Show notes and links at: www.bantamtools.com/theedge

~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 circuit creatures. Each one could be cast as a character in a Pixar film. In this episode, Mohit shares more about how he assembles these freeform circuits and what initially inspired him to get started in electrical engineering. Links and show notes at bantamtools.com/theedge

~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 conceptual level. We visited Greg in his studio in Somerville MA – a big bright space filled with Braun clocks, teenage engineering synthesizers and other objects of inspiration that you’d expect designers to surround themselves with. Links and show notes at bantamtools.com/theedge