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