THE INVENTABLES WORKSHOP

Hi All, This is Edward ! Inventables' newest employee. I started working full time on October 1st. It's been an amazing couple of weeks, and I thought I'd drop in and give everyone an update on Shapeoko batch #4. On Thursday of last week, I made my way (with Phil) over to the factory where Shapeoko is being packaged. It's a 40 minute drive from our office downtown to the factory. I was excited to get out there and see the progress they had made since my last visit a few weeks ago when they were just getting started. The factory is a cool place. Non-descript from the outside as just another building in an industrial park, but once you get inside it's a different story. High ceilings, modern furniture, and lots of wiz-bang stuff going on all around, from guys wiring up enclosures, to engineers modeling with 3D CAD software. You sort of feel like you're walking through NASA. After a short visit, We made our way from the office out onto the shop floor, where

Inventables has added some new colors of acrylic to our selection.  We now have over 100 colors of acrylic sheets in stock ready for same day shipping.  Since we have such a large number of colored acrylic sheets we are seeing folks that design products and sell them on ETSY using them to differentiate their products from others.  We understand it can be hard to chose between 14 different shades of blue  on the internet so we created an acrylic sample kit. Acrylic Sample Kit The sample kit offers 61 of the colors we have.  We added another 40 colors since making the kit and plan on making a second kit that will include the additional colors.  We have a few more colors to add to our inventory before locking down the design for the second kit. To make it easier to shop in our store we created a tool on our website to narrow down the colors and styles. Colored Acrylic Sheet Selector As of October 2012, our colored acrylic sheets  come from 7 families including, op

Instructables is teaming up with  Inventables  to run a Digital Fabrication Contest. Any Photo, Video or Step by Step Instructable that was made by any kind of tool that runs from a computer is eligible. That means anything you make that involves a laser cutter, a 3D printer, CNC mill, CNC lathe, CNC plasma cutter, embroidery machine and more can be entered in this contest. This contest only runs until the end of the month so document your entry as soon as you can. The first prize winner in this contest will receive the "Full Kit" Shapeoko to build a small footprint CNC Mill capable of cutting wood, plastics and metal. The Shapeoko mill has been in the works since 2004 and was just made available a few months ago - we're excited to see what this mill can do. Now listen up because here's where it gets interesting... Inventables is also offering  a $20 gift certificate to anyone who enters  an Instructable in this contest. With a guarantee to win the $20 gift certif

As part of our ongoing interview series with designers that use digital fabrication tools today we talked to Stacy Hotchkiss.  Stacy is a designer that sells her jewelry on ETSY . Inventables: What is the name of your company and what do you do?  Stacy Hotchkiss:  My company is called Running With Scissors and I create edgy, punk rock, and kitsch jewelry using various mediums, the newest being laser cut acrylic . Inventables: Founding a company takes courage, what inspired you get started? Stacy Hotchkiss:  Since I was in second grade I had always planned on being a teacher when I grew up.  So, I went to college and got a teaching degree.  My plans changed when I had my first daughter.  Once she was in my arms I knew I would do whatever I could to be at home with her.  I have always been very crafty and creative and I found a way to turn my hobby into a business that I could work from home.  So I guess it was the flexibility to be with my family that inspir