I’ve been in the design field for over a decade and NOT ONCE have I touched a CNC machine. I’ve 3D printed a lot through the years, but the CNC has always eluded me as an incredibly complex product that requires true expertise to use. You need to know how to calibrate it, how to maintain it, how to run a job, how each milling/drilling bit works with each different material (like wood, metal, plastic, etc.), and how to ensure that the machined dust and metal burrs get carefully diverted outside so they don’t cause problems in the future. If using the 3D printer is like riding a bicycle, using a CNC machine feels like trying to pilot a plane. It’s incredibly complicated, detailed, and intimidating… but it doesn’t need to be.
Designers: Ahmet Yasir Karakus & Ahmet Ergun
Click Here to Buy Now: $3799 $6550 ($2,750 off). Hurry, only 16/65 left! Raised over $350,000.
The folks at ROWND have unveiled what they proudly claim to be the most user-friendly CNC lathe machine ever made. Designed to be small enough to sit on your tabletop (most industrial CNC machines are the size of a phone booth), the ROWND is a meticulously crafted device that lifts the veil on CNC lathes and makes them much more approachable to new users, designers, small teams, hobbyists, and prototypers. Roughly the size of two fax machines (remember those?) kept beside each other, the ROWND offers cutting-edge precision with the ability to work on materials like aluminum, brass, plastic, and wood… with a gorgeous touchscreen UI that you can even operate through your phone.
Precise results.
The ROWND, named after its rotary lathe capabilities, lets you lathe-machine or even laser-etch on a variety of surfaces. With the ability to transform materials like metals, woods, and plastics, the ROWND lets you build complex rotational designs with relative ease, and incredible accuracy. At its heart is the machined monoblock chassis with heat-treated rails that give it its incredible industrial-grade 20-micron precision, ensuring that there’s absolutely zero room for tolerance, wobbling, and error during machining. Its expert build is only preceded by its user-friendly design, which allows you to easily work on projects without really requiring prior experience.
All your work happens under a clear plastic hood, letting you view your jobs as they’re in process. A standard lathe chuck powered by an 800W spindle motor lets you mount your raw material, while a universally compatible interface for the tool head gives you the freedom to choose from multiple add-ons including drilling/milling bits, routing bits, texture tools like knurlers, or even a laser engraver head. An optional automatic tool changer gives your ROWND the ability to intuitively shift from larger drill bits to smaller precision ones as it processes a job, giving you stellar-quality results without requiring you to constantly monitor the job, change bits, etc. Finally, a simple detachable tray at the bottom collects all the waste, allowing you to easily clean out your ROWND like you would a coffee machine.
Enhanced User Experience
Where the ROWND really makes great strides is in its UI. Most CNC machines are designed to intimidate, with their control panels that look like you’d need a PhD to understand what’s written on them. The ROWND simplifies it with multiple options, from a 7-inch dedicated touchscreen surface that offers a clearer, more intuitive UI for anyone to understand, as well as a mobile phone app that lets you manually control the lathe or even import 3D models from a local library as well as ROWND’s online 3D library. Moreover, the ROWND can even be manually controlled using a game controller. Sure, a submarine may not be the right place for such a controller, but the ROWND lets you control your lathe rather precisely using the joystick on your existing wireless game controller. It’s fun, without the side-effects of being in a poorly constructed submersible vehicle. Too soon?
The ROWND also accepts input via your desktop or laptop, connecting through WiFi, Bluetooth, or USB-C. Moreover, an SD card reader also lets you share 3D models with your ROWND, which is compatible with all standard formats and file types like step, dxf, and g-code.
For the folks behind ROWND, this is just the beginning. They’re seasoned experts in the CNC industry, not just as users but as builders and manufacturers too. The ROWND has undoubtedly been years in the making, and the company is looking to expand the machine’s capabilities by designing newer tools and heads to extract the most out of your ROWND. The device currently stands at 17.7 inches tall, 17.7 inches deep, and 29.5 inches wide (450x450x750mm), and weighs a paltry 110 lbs (50kgs) as opposed to most CNC machines that weigh upwards of 400 lbs. The ROWND starts at a discounted $3,799 for super early bird backers on Kickstarter, opening up a new world to designers, engineers, artists, hobbyists, etc.
Click Here to Buy Now: $3799 $6550 ($2,750 off). Hurry, only 16/65 left! Raised over $350,000.