Bantam Tools Unveils Its First Desktop CNC Machine
Three years after launching its first desktop milling product suited for rapid PCB prototyping, New York-based startup Bantam Tools announced on July 7 it was introducing a brand new desktop CNC milling machine optimized for aluminum creations. Built for experienced users, as well as beginners, the fully enclosed system has features that the company expects will make the metal prototyping and building experience fast, easy, and reliable.Get more news about Desktop Cnc Machine Parts,you can vist our website!
During the product’s virtual launch party, Bantam Tools CEO Bre Pettis described the machine as “small but mighty” and “packing a lot of punch.” He went on to say that, from the moment the user receives the new product, the setup process is easy, mainly because the machine weighs 70 pounds and does not require an engine hoist to install it. Pettis and his team worked for years on the design and product development process, asking mill users what they were looking for in small CNC machines and then incorporating feedback from product designers and educators to create a very accessible and intuitive product.
The result is a machine that the company claims can cut aluminum precisely, and quickly, 40 times faster than other CNC milling machines on the market. It also has a load of new features for both hardware and software that provides a 3D real-time view of the design to give the user the confidence needed prior to milling.
“The Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine will be the gateway to CNC milling,” suggested Pettis. “One of the main reasons we decided to make the CNC Milling Machine is to close the gap between hobby-grade and professional-grade CNC machines […] we’re offering product designers, engineers, and educators who prototype the ability to reliably machine aluminum and other materials at an entry level price point. Because this machine is perfectly suited to explore, teach, learn, and prototype, we know it’ll be a welcomed boon to both educators and product designers.”
A few years ago, low-cost desktop CNC milling machines were booming, from dozens of affordable models on Kickstarter and Alibaba to tutorials for making DIY desktop CNC milling machines at home. The small desktop mills could churn out customized parts very fast without the high costs and space needed for big mills, making it a good choice for many small craft businesses and up-and-coming product designers that needed to make prototypes and parts on a budget. The market opportunity was very auspicious, even leading to a new breed of hybrid 3D printer-CNC systems to raid the market for a while.
Although quite a few cheap desktop CNC milling machines received bad performance reviews and were only considered useful for hobbyists tinkering and forging trinkets, the desktop version of CNC is still considered to be a great tool for customized manufacturing, inventing, small prototype work, education, and training. Programs like engineering, biomedicine, graphic design, industrial design, architecture, and K-12 TechEd or woodshop classes all need to teach students how to operate CNC equipment. The large, industrial machines are intimidating, unsafe, and difficult to use, while the desktop options have become an ideal opportunity for extremely accessible education. In fact, just after Bantam Tools announced its desktop PBC milling system in 2017, the company reported a series of successful high-school and university programs that empowered students to design and build cost-effective and fast prototypes of their projects using the new device.
For Pettis, who is the former co-founder and CEO of the 3D printing company MakerBot, and has long been talking about developing desktop CNC milling machines, Bantam’s new device is revolutionary. Going on to suggest that the milling process, which starts with a block of material and then reveals the part, can be as mesmerizing as watching 3D printing manufacturing.