wow, PLA spools are crazy expensive in the US…
In China one kilogram costs around 4-5 bucks.
Can’t you find anything cheaper?
I use the cheapest PLA possible, still works very well. I never really understood why people are purchasing the expensive stuff. Tried both and saw no difference whatsoever.
Pretty sure almost all filament comes from China anyway. That or the pellets are imported. I buy my filament from ebay for about $19 per kg but lately I have found some for less, about $15. And I am using the really no brand stuff, not the supposed carbon nanotube infusion PLA witchcraft stuff they sell now a days. You lucky Chinese get all the good stuff without the middleman. Dui you should become my new filament supplier 
That little cnc router looks like a solid design, but very limited in use. I view the MPCNC for what it is, a CNC platform. We see it milling aluminum, wood and plastics. Lasers mounted to it doing cuts and art. Extruders mounted doing massive prints. High speed needles cutting foamboard. Drag knives & pens mounted cutting vinyl & plotting drawings. Plasma cutters mounted cutting steel and aluminum with ease. I think its versatility is what should be promoted more, but unfortunately have no experience in advertising.
I started my mpcnc because I always wanted a CNC. I didn’t even care how well it worked. I started printing without really thinking about it, and once I had it mostly printed, I had to buy the vitamins from Ryan. Glad I did. But I didn’t really compare against the competition.
Also agree on free shipping. At least with the kits. You don’t charge for the credit card charge separately, or your design time. I buy a loaf of bread, I don’t care what the flour costs.
Don’t think all those abandoned carts will go away though. I put stuff in baskets just to have lists. Or I will compile a list for someone else or I will just be lazy about adding up what everything costs. Some of them will turn though.
I also think that people have no idea what something is worth until they see a price. The first time they see the price is when they build an impression of value. $399 doesn’t just look more like $300 than $400, it looks like a good value because people see something that’s close to $400 but feels more like $300. I used to sell stereos as circuit city and Bose was the worst. Terrible speakers. Excellent marketing and I swear the reason they sold at any time is because they were 3x as expensive. $1999 for the whole system eh? Must be good! Plus Dr. Bose is a freakin’ doctor!
W.r.t. the video. Cool that he knows what it is. Too bad he didn’t actually try it. I bet his machine would sing. He is really smart.
I keep expecting to see your MPCNC in Make magazine…
I took a quick glance at that video, saw all the MDF in the build & immediately clicked the dislike button.
When I first saw the MPCNC I have to admit I shook my head and thought “what a joke” then didn’t even look at it seriously enough to give it a fair evaluation. Just the idea of conduit and PLA parts seemed way to likely to be janky and not easily reproduced.
Then a few weeks later I saw djk4linux’s post on flighttest about needle cutting. And again I let my pessimism get the best of me and assumed “Yeah, that’s going to really ragged cuts and not very reliable.”
But…his thread got a lot of interested and I read through it to see why. And his cuts actually looked pretty darn impressive. And I had been wanting a CNC for a LONG time (Actually started planning builds a few times but the price always grew quick and scared me off.) I also had just got my 3D printer really dialed in and working great and wanted a big project to tackle with it.
Did some more research and saw that the MPCNC was actually very viable and not just a toy…then Ryan posted that crazy 4 head video which while not very practical was impressive enough it got me thinking this thing looked like serious fun to build.
And when I added up the prices…it was actually something I could afford. Ryan’s part kits are a great deal, but I already had a spare RAMPS on hand…and buying piecemeal I could spread the cost out over two months while I took my time printing the parts. Having a good wholesale hardware dealer in town who deals with the public helped a lot too - just gave them a list of what I needed and walked out half an hour later with 98% of the hardware I needed for about $25.
I kind of wish Ryan had more kit options. I’d have gladly bought a set of steppers/gears/belts even if it was a bit more expensive. I just didn’t want a full kit because I already had the electronics, hardware was easy to source cheap but high quality locally and let me start building without needing all the parts, and I already had about half the bearings on hand since they’re a common size I’ve used in other projects. But…I accept that I’m an exception rather than the rule and it would be a lot more work for Ryan to sell more partial kits instead of focusing on the full kits.
Anyway…my point before I wandered off was I can easily see how someone would misjudge the MPCNC at first glance as I did so myself twice. But having built mine and used it…this is a hell of a machine at a killer price and I preach it to anyone who’ll listen 
I just wish I could convince my wife that I should build a second smaller one for milling so I can devote my bigger one to laser/foam cutting/plotting and have a smaller stiffer one to go with it! Wish she’d stop pointing out I don’t really have room for another and we really need to replace our car and truck before I sink more money into another “big” project 
Thanks everyone for the vote of confidence!
I have no doubt the Sienci is a great product. I am not trying to give any doubt in anyway. I have seen and touched it at MRRF version 1 was great.
As it has been pointed out a small CNC mill is not what I designed.
https://www.v1engineering.com/specifications/
I made a CNC platform. I made a swiss army knife of micromanufacturing. At the time of designing this thing people were freaking amazed at putting a diode laser on a 3D printer. I belittled all these things and pitched my idea top a 3D printer company, they didn’t have time for it, other priorities in mind. I guess I saw the ramps/marlin/slicers as the key I had always needed to build anything I wanted. Once I learned the basics I couldn’t believe these machines were not everywhere. The ones that did come out had stupid price tags. Broke and in college, working for free as an intern these things pissed me off.
I wanted a laser “cutter” etcher, I had a single function vinyl cutter…sold it immediately For more than 2 MPCNC’s cost, I wanted a CNC mill to try some things out, I wanted tools that I couldn’t afford. So I built this.
My machine might not be perfect at everything, Neither am I, but it can literally do just about every precision job you need it to well enough to evaluate if you should really spend 100x’s as much on the prosumer equivalent. For those of you in doubt that might read this, If you plan on making a part that needs more precision than this machine can do, you have 100% designed it wrong and could never afford to mass manufacture it.
I want people to be able to make things by themselves, at home. I want to enable people to make locally, wherever local is. Prototype, make a quick demo. Do some small manufacturing before you launch a kickstarter and try to sell hundreds of thousands. Do custom stuff, do customizing, change your mind pivot and try something else. Stop buying crap online and make something yourself, or if you do buy online have an understanding of what things are worth.
In reality the more machines out there the better. More support, more knowledge, cheaper parts.
Working on the shipping thing now.
Is this too long for a slogan, Maybe it’s time for a mission statement page?
Tons of misprints, prototypes and other projects…
Now I need a way to recycle them.
This is Canada, things are even more crazy expensive than in the US…
I bought my filaments from the shop I bought my Wanhao from. And that other electronics place actually sell 500g filaments for more than this guy per unit weight. The $29 is for “better” PLA. I also have a $25 kilogram spool of standard PLA and I don’t like it as much. And this is already quite good a price.
It is a bit long for a slogan, perfect for mission statement
The Sienci does look like a good simple design, but wait I have the MPCNC, I can just cut the frame for Sienci myself
Then again I don’t really need one since I have the MPCNC… but if would be fun … no no, no more machines, but…
I think I would rather build another MPCNC or a lowrider, if I didn’t already have at least 3 unfinished projects
I like Tom, and have subscribed to his videos for awhile. He usually doesn’t throw shade during his videos. He must have been having a bad night because that video ends with him getting frustrated and yanking the plug on the live stream. Not his usual style.
Free shipping is a weird psychological thing, it’s why Prime works. Stick shipping in the pricing, and look at your margins again. I have three MiniRambos now and temped to make it four at your prices.
Have you shown at a MakerFair?
Not yet I go to any MakerFair I can but I’m not sure about actually setting up. MRRF is way more my style, I am going to do everything to sponsor it again and try to grab a table this next year. I guess I should go it just seems like people showing off for the upcoming kickstarter launch at the MakerFair, were MRRF is like a awesome version of show and tell.
Seems tom had a bit of a break down during that stream.
I’m thinking about bringing my lowrider to MRRF. I’m pretty sure it will clamp straight to the tables. I think 4 c-clamps will work as temp belt holders.
Well That would save me some trouble! Hopefully by them I’ll have a few things to bring.
Been working on the dam free shipping all day, some of the dumbest crap takes the longest time.
Well if we could get a small lowRider, an MPCNC, a MP3DP, hopefully a sand table, maybe a CORExy something…Just take over an entire section…
What else can we make?
Oh…I still have something in the works. Not sure if you remember my stretch project I was trying to talk to Steve about, I have the basic electronics, program, and servos working, I just need the machine part of it.
People love cookies.
Oatmeal raisin please.
Dammit is my “quote” function not working now or you guys just messing with me?
Awwwwww man, crap