Thanks Kev!
Updated the laser page, Main - V1 Engineering Documentation, Pins, software, M3 I, power supply info. Let me know if something should be clarified, or if I missed something.
Got a couple clips for the new home page, worked on the plasma for a minute, did some more vcarve and epoxy tests.
Oh and, Updated the backend software for the docs and doc theme, tried to figure out an out of date error in most of our github pages.
Laser video links to private video, unable to view. That expected?
Which link?
https://docs.v1engineering.com/tools/lasers contains “video” that links to private video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnDjIDhxnMs 
Bummer, thanks I will edit that section now.
As a noob who is now trying to process all of this, I will add a few things. At the risk of beating a dead horse here but it seems like most posters more more familiar already. Please take anything in here as trying to be helpful only. Sorry for the length.
As a guitar/uke builder I am looking to grow capabilities. Precision/repeatability. Hardwood inlays with high precision, bridges (ebony/rosewood), necks (3-4" Z if possible mahogany), templates and rapid prototyping of ideas, etc. So, I want to know what this system is really capable of. Can MPCNC, do extremely precise inlays? What kid of tolerances can I expect? Is it going to be a giant pain of constant trouble? Can I upgrade to a 4" working high height? Future growth paths? Will I need separate machines for precise vs large?
I greatly appreciate those online review videos for lasers here they show actual usage and explain what is important to consider. Cut tests, line fineness, parts of the system and how to compare systems capabilities and features. In one video, you tap on what I think is a limit switch with your hand for homing. Please explain how and why. What is going on? How does a limit switch help? How does it work? How do you now where to put that switch? Is that part of the kit or an add on? Do the controller boards each support? How do they connect to the board? What else will I need to get auto-leveling working? So many questions. I would prefer more here. I love the whole beginner video series idea. I want details. I think DIY and education could be a strong spot and what helps differentiate you. I am scared to tackle with all the unknowns.
A safe path, where you have approved design(s), where you are providing part list known to work for a standard builds provide me a lot of assurance things will fit together and I wont be wasting a lot of money along the way. You kind of have this but I keep reading of things missing in the forums. Unclear to me. For me, I think a 20x30 x4"Z cutting area is about perfect for 99% of tasks for guitars and ukes and fits on a all table better then large square does. I think the recommended with options and upgrades “build the kit you want” fits the DIY model nicely. But I need help knowing what/why to choose. I might want to throw in a PI w/ v1pi and a camera combo if I knew what value it provides. Remember it cost shipping for me to order from 5 different sites and it may be cheaper to get it all in 1 place with markup with your free shipping.
Tubing … IMO the forums strongly discourage EMT to the point it seems bad/horrible. I don’t know what to expect there. Isn’t stainless like really hard to machine? Drill press, metal drilling bits, machining oil, hack saw, tube cutters, what is involved? More cost and things I may never use again. I had to read many forum posts to find wall thickness “sweet spot”. The online sellers of tubing have tolerances of 1/2" or more when cutting! Geez what is the point of ordering from them? If you could work out suppliers who would agree to some standard sizes with holes already drilled, it might solve a need IMO for those of us who would rather not deal with that part of the DIY. Or consider alternative rails easier to source. Openbuilds? IDK. Just grasping for ideas so I don’t have to do metal fab. Is that unrealistic?
QUOTE “But at that point the process stopped since I had to work out how to protect the wires, how to run the wires, find a case for the electronics, deal with jumper wires, etc. I remember agonizing about what size cable chain to purchase, having to wait for an Amazon order, designing and 3D printing brackets for the chain, finding hardware for attachment, etc”.
This is a huge fear for me. What don’t I know and ho much time and money will it cost me? I have been bitten by expensive DIY projects. Helping to educate is where I see you can provide value. The learning zone sites seem to get strong followings and grow from the good will. He YT sharers of knowledge get followings ans trusted and drive sales because of that. Craftes blindly follow and buy DIY’ers feel more comfortable starting.
IMO DIY, is all about what I feel comfortable doing. Some want to smelt, others want to assemble. We all have different backgrounds and capabilities and are only willing to go so far. Kids in STEM Robotics start easy path and learn more deeply in areas over the years. I’d love to be able to choose my own level of involvement. Education is key there too IMO.
Control boards - I’ve read many forum posts and it’s still not clear at all to me the pros and cons. One is going away other cuts rough circles? I’ll pay a bit more for a high quality board with more precision we can rely on. Perceived quality is important.
Can I do an all Linux/free workflow? Can you add more details and compatibility options to the sw workflow sections? Never heard of Marlin. I don’t yet have WiFi in my faraday cage of a garage far from the house so offline options are important. Can I add a kill switch? How?
Consider some “anthropology”. Where you put a brand new user in front of your sofware/manual/website and you are only allowed to watch NOT help or communicate in any way. Where they struggle you could improve.
I try to avoid China shipments myself, long wait times, the unknown quality, recourse, tariffs, too many unknowns. Not sure I would order a China kit from you myself.
I want guard rails and safety ropes to get going quicker without risking too much cash. I like choosing the parts I want but I want to know why I am choosing them as part of the DIY learning process. I would prefer guided education path so I don’t have to piecemeal lots of info. “Help me help myself to choose your products”. Above all else, make me comfortable I know what I am doing and ordering.
Or perhaps, maybe I should shy away from DIY. 
That’s my $0.02. Take it or leave it, just trying to help. Thanks for your hard work and sharing.
Cheers.
Rick, I hear you loud and clear.
I think you have summarized this entire thread, very well. So far. Clearly communicated.
I have written several responses and keep deleting them. So much to cover. For your specific use case how would your ideal experience here be? As in for whatever reason you end up on the home page, what would you want to see? A very specific example is wiring, what would you need to see to feel comfortable and where would you look for it?
I think I am getting a clearer picture on how to set some of this up, but when I go to make changes I feel like there is so much info there it is already intimidating, but I can not bring myself to delete any, just add to it. (ex. the laser page update). It seems like the answer is pointing to basics pages that link to specifics, or a very brief summary at the top of each topic (TLDR section), and build guides need more clear trail to follow at the end of each page (or a list at the top of each page).
Thanks for the follow up. Sorry, yeah I tend to do that. My original was 4 pages and I edited it down.
That a tough question for me to really answer since I don’t really know what is important at this point. Looking for your guidance where to proceed really. But to try to answer, for starters those high level summaries would be good. MP vs Lp3 vs Zen(?) what is each good at. If I am doing (luthiery/metal signs/cutting boards/aluminum/I am sure there are a lot of common ones) is this a good fit? I’d love to see a precision inlay showing a teaser of what it can handle. This also gives ideas for selling it. “Oh I want to do cutting boards/marquetry too!” I think I would also want a high level vie of the skills required. Can I handle this? Not a complete video build but, you will need to be okay with cutting metal, the electronics just plug vs you have to solder in can you handle that type of stuff. Compile firmware. These are well you can sell your value. If you buy my cards I do that for you. I guess I am more focused on the MP here and its more versatile then that. So you’d have to decide on scope or multiple videos or whatever.
Once I am in the right place and on board, how do I get started? 1) watch the full build process we explain in more detail… 2)…
I think if you focus on some kind of a standard/safe/easy build path with education of choices: What they are and what they do, how do they fit/connect, why you chose that in the standard (cost/quality/…), and perhaps upgrade options that is 80% of the battle for me right there. Videos go a looong way (for me at least). Then I can actually see what I am going to have to do. Linking to the docs of course.
Docs, while I would love to say throw it all in and explain, the more you put there the more people get confused and it’s maintenance to deal with. I am the type of guy that reads the AWS docs, most don’t. How many times have I written complete documentation for teams with bullet points steps and they cant even follow that. So, is it worth it? BTW, I tend to like those >ExpandSection widgets or links to more info. Keeps it short but doesn’t leave me to my own devices when I need more.
To me a video series for the above makes the most sense. Self advertises on YT. People come to learn IMO.
Not sure if that helps.
Rick
Ryan,
I think Rick has put an idea in my head: hierarchical instructions.
For example, a new DIY builder has lots of experience in programming but doesn’t know much about wood working. The instructions on the flashing of new firmware would have basic steps but have drill down for more details on topic and processes that don’t apply to someone more experienced in that process.
In some cases that could be links to other sites that provide the details, not additional content you you need to create. An example of that is the frequent reference to Teaching Tech videos.
The same would be true in the CAD/CAM area. There are many forum members that are successful in the whole tool chain with only a bit of direction, while others just can’t their mind around the (many) steps of design and the set up of a CAM process.
I think there are several areas where this approach would save some frustration on the part of new users. Get more details when you need it but not on every topic.
As a long time flight instructor I have learned that “pre-assesment” of the student’s present knowledge is critical to me providing the correct level of detail. Some level of explaining, or listing the prerequisites (in terms of equipment, programs, experience and tools) for a particular task would help the user to evaluate if they need to drill down for more details and person study.
Mike
Going to derail for a second…
Is that an Army Corps of Engineers icon I see there? My family hasn’t really been military since my grandfather spent the end of WWII stationed in NJ (my dad got out of Korea early when his knees cracked loud enough for the Sgt to hear during the group intake, and they gave him his walking papers, and I don’t count my Navy uncle and cousins who basically just paid their way through college via ROTC), but we do have the company flag from a slightly more distant relative (the real one, my dad had it mounted and framed). He was a Colonel(?) in, or around, the Great War. We have his company memoirs, and even a picture of him meeting Gen Pershing. And he was an Engineer, so I’ve seen that logo a lot. Sadly, I can’t recall exactly which company he was in command of, I’m trying to visualize the flag, but I can’t see the details.
Okay I just spotted something.
Lots of comments about how hard it is to order and I have been trying to figure out what to do…I have been looking at the MPCNC, seems 90% good to me, then I just looked at the LR shop page…that is a disaster.
So just to verify anyone that had said it is hard to know what to order where you talking about the lowrider 3? The primo is all options and most do have explanations. Or is the MPCNC still confusing?
Have only built a LR3.
Broke out product title and description into bullets. Enabling time saving selling point of preflashed firmware being clearer. Adding additional hyperlinked tooltips clarifying technical terms, and benefits could help broader audience ramping up on this domain.
Don’t know if my personal preference is a common pattern among the orders you’re processing? I guess reducing friction, time and questions that stumble and slow folks could be achieved by adding and preselecting options they’re most likely to order. Curious to hear from folks experienced in marketing/sales, because I obviously ain’t Hope that helps, cheers!
We will most likely only have one at any given time. from now on.
Wires are coming, but things are real slow these days. This next order they still are not ready. I will add more descriptions to all the products as soon as I switch to the new theme. Changing theme’s mean all the bundle have to be updated so no sense doing them and then redoing them. I am going to go live with the new theme when I have a full night to work on it, this holiday weekend at the latest.
Not all of this is possible in shopify. I actually pay a lot per month to get the options we do have from a third party. When I swap themes I will check out a few other offerings before settling on one again. I am fairly certain we can not have hyperlinks in the option descriptions, though.
The truth behind the it all is because it is third party software to get the themes it is extremely complicated to set up and do inventory for. I have to make hidden items that are the option links and all of it actually gets served from a different site. Then I have to keep track of inventory of mpcnc rambo’s, lr rambo’s, bundled Lr rambo’s, and bundled MPcnc rambo’s. Obviously those are all the same item so I have to check inventory to balance what is actually left., same with screens and memory cards. I hope the new theme and maybe one of the new options, option will work with the inventory I have and not make me have separate items for everything.
You idea is perfect and how I want it to function, just might take an overnighter to figure out what software will do it.
You ask a lot of good questions. Typically, you would have one or more answers to most of your questions by now, but with the questions buried down in this topic on V1 business ideas, responding to your questions does not fit with the topic. I recommend opening one or more additional topics with your questions. Just copy and paste what you have into a new topic, and it is likely you will get answers quickly. I want to address one point though since it is the one place that is likely to determine if the Primo can do your job:
Hardwood inlays with high precision, bridges (ebony/rosewood), necks (3-4" Z if possible mahogany), templates and rapid prototyping of ideas, etc.
The performance of a Primo suffers as the Z height grows. If you want to cut out 4" necks, then the Primo would probably struggle. Due to needing to accommodate the bit, cutting something 4" thick would require more than 8" of working space…and a bit of at least 4". I don’t think you would be happy with the performance of the Primo with 8 inches, or more, of working space (though I’ve seen pictures of such machines). And you will likely have serious deflection issues with a 4" bit that has only a 1/4" shank. On the other hand, if what you want to do is carve inlays in the surface of the neck, a will tuned Primo will do the job, but you will have to figure out a solution for the Z axis like a drop table or adjustable legs, or a neck jig inset into your machine.
Thank you Robert. My intention here was just to help Ryan and wasn’t actually anticipating answers. I am leaning towards a “recommended” build at this point to see what this can do. For inlays, Uke bridges, and perhaps small Uke necks. Not even sure it would save me time over manual and templates. And there are options, maybe a middle ground “rough out” to close specs (1/16?" with pins for exact gluing provides value. Ill have to play with it all anyway. I think the value likes in the possibilities. But I’m guessing…
I am still reading through the site and the forums and trying to answer my own questions before I just go asking for help in a bunch of threads but am sure I will soon. I tend to learn more that way and I know answering the same questions over and over gets old.
I will say I am actually finding a lot of answers already on the site the more I read and dig. Sometimes reading it again helped. Sometimes, I see things in many places different places. I feel like sizing info is kind of spread out a bit IMO. And common stuff from the forums like recommended wall thickness for tubing could be added if that makes sense to add. But again maybe im still missing these things.
I wonder if the giant white buttons “More info” and “Shop” are competing with the Upper Right Menu (grey/white) Tabs for eye attraction. I know I saw the white ones and not the menu with the videos.
I am trying to write down all of my Q&A as I go, but I sometimes forget. Maybe I can share it a bit later if it would help fill things in? Time will tell.
Rick
The view in the past is that it is impossible to describe everything in the docs. That is a bit like trying to have a manual for a PC. There is so much you can do, and so many ways to solve problems, there just isn’t a way to document everything.
The goal is to make a single way (or maybe a few ways) to solve the problems in the docs. Anything above and beyond is something we talk about in the forums.
When I read your questions, I see a bunch of things that don’t really need an answer. I’m happy to tell you about it. But you could be cutting inlays way before answering every one of your questions.
“Can I make high quality inlays in Uke bridges?” Is a very specific question to Rich. If we answered that in the docs, we would also have to answer 1000 others. The forums fill in that gap.
To be clear. I am absolutely not criticizing you for having or asking those questions. My point is that what we are missing is something else. We don’t need to have all these questions answered. We need to make someone who has spent 20 minutes looking into V1 confident that they know enough to get started. We need to make people see that there is a proven methodology that works, and that they can do it too.
The other thing that I see said often is that “the forums say XYZ”. I sometimes don’t agree with the XYZ (Ryan and I both have a lot of confidence in EMT builds, for example). The forums have a lot of people who tinker and stretch the abilities of the machines and it isn’t alway obvious when someone has a “hot rod” MPCNC and when someone has a standard build and just has some trouble. It is probably easy to find advice we have given to one particular person, and not see the better, more general, advice. Maybe we need some more pinned topics/posts. Or we should be linking posts with really good general advice more often.
I totally agree. Don’t feel criticized (and it wouldn’t matter if you were). I realize those questions are very specific to me. Not actually looking for answers there from you but they are questions I am trying to answer. But others will have their own similar ones and there are likely some common threads. If there is a way the site can help people answer those a bit quicker it might help with sales. I suspect there are a lot of people who want to know similar types of things and those might be able to be broken down into small groups. Small mating parts, signs & cutting boards, marquetry, metal cutting… I would guess most people come looking for I wanna do craft X not I wanna build a CNC. Is that worth building a showcase video to both answer the questions and serve as a promo? That’s for the site to decide. The more I am reading the more comfortable I am getting but for me it is taking a few days to piece it together. But I can be slow and dense and like to know all the details. That’s the programmer in me. It would be nice if some of those common things were gathered and included to have saved me a bit of effort. And some of it is already there, I just had not read that part yet. It’s a lot to process when new and I think there is some room for improvement but the shell is pretty good.
Not complaining, I was/am willing to figure it all out on my own but the thread was posted and I thought perhaps a fresh newbie perspective might help. To your point that I could be cutting inlays instead of answering questions…You are probably right but you already have the experience to know that and feel comfortable with this already. That is what I am trying to get actually by reading and understanding. I have been bit by expensive DIY in the past and I like to understand before I impulse purchase these days. So, I am trying to put in the work to do that. I am starting to believe this is going to happen though.
Cheers
I don’t think so. I do think a lot of people choose a kit build because they want to make a CNC. I think there are a lot of videos where someone uses a CNC and I watch and think, “I want to do that too”. IDK if that falls into wanting to do craft X or not. For someone that already has a full woodshop, you can do anything you want to do without a CNC machine. So focusing on what it can do seems like you’re starting an argument with someone who says, “I can do that with a template and a router already”. The bigger thing is, both kinds of people exist. Both people can be given the info they need.
For sure. That is where we are failing. We need to be communicating that clearly, early, and confidently.
The video promo would be a great way to communicate that.
You’re exactly on the right track and your perspective has been very helpful. Thank you.
I think people tell themselves they want to do craft X, and justify building a kit CNC. Sometimes you have to poke a little bit (sometimes with a licensed therapist, sometimes with a cattle prod) to get them to admit it, even to themselves… 
