Hi I missed the Kickstarter campaign. Is there still a possibility to join the campaign or to order a maslow 4 kit?
you’ll just have to wait a few months till all 1486 orders have been shipped and then they will start selling to everyone else. Sign up for their mailing list on the front page of www.maslowcnc.com to be notified
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Thanks, Charlotte,
Yeah, this is exactly what you should do. Can’t say for sure when we will be done with all the Kickstarter pre-orders, but we will try to move things as quickly as possible.
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I certainly signed up. But it would be really great if there would be a way to pre-order. This would also give you better logistical options when you get to the end of the Kickstarter campaign shipments. 
Just saying 
You are totally right. We’re just pretty swamped right now and I’ve seen too many kickstarters in the past prioritize new sales over delivering to their backers and then not deliver so I’d rather error on the side of caution.
We will probably open sales for pre-orders again before all of the kickstarter orders are delivered so that we can smoothly transition into that after we deliver everything, but it won’t be until after we’ve delivered at least the first KS orders and are sure everything is moving smoothly.
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I teach high school, and I’m wanting to buy one for my classroom, but schools need purchase orders, and shipping costs, and other particulars. What is the best way for a high school to purchase a Maslow? Thank you.
The good news is that if you are a school we will donate one for free!
The bad news is that we’re sold out at the moment. We’re putting all our effort into shipping to our Kickstarter backers. We will re-open sales (and be able to donate you one) once that is going smoothly which should be early next year.
If you want to get an email when that is happening, just put an email address in here and we’ll send you an email when they are available again:
That is nothing but good news, because I am patient. I’m something of an open-source hippie, and I like to teach open-source programs to my students so that they will always have access to the programs. When I was in college over a decade ago, I was trained in Solidworks, and I haven’t had access to it since. My students learn LibreCad and FreeCad so that they can always keep a hand in it.
If a free Maslow is available, I would be thrilled to make one available for my classes. I teach Architectural Drafting, but the Carpentry class works very closely with mine, so we have all sorts of projects we could put this to. Thank you for your prompt response. I put my email address on the wait list earlier today, and I can’t wait to hear of when you begin filling new orders. Thank you!
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Excellent! We have a general rule that any community space (school, makerspace…etc) that want’s one we’ll send one for free (you do still need to buy the router though). The theory is that in a public place enough people will see it and think it’s cool that maybe it ends up paying for itself? We actually ended up donating one to a prison at one point.
Love the support for teaching and promoting open source projects! The more that they are used and taught the better the ecosystem is going to become which is a win for all of us.
I’m stoked to see what you will build!
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I’m hoping to see a time (in the not-too-distant future) when open-source projects begin to seriously impact sales/subscriptions to proprietary solutions. (Not because I feel any ill will toward anyone, but just because I think open-source is the correct path, especially if it can be monetized.) I know that open-source projects hold value, even for corporations, and that, as more people see that value, they’ll begin to adopt the approach. What y’all are doing is so important to the movement, and I’m trying to do my small part in turning out students, every year, who have spent two years on open-source software, and understand how powerful it is.
Here is a screenshot of a Stirling engine conceptualization that my first-year class drew up this year:
In a little over one quarter (out of a two-year program) these 16 year-old students have assembled this engine concept in FreeCad. We started from nothing. We had no plans. They are putting the data into spreadsheets to drive the models (even using a master spreadsheet to drive all the individual part spreadsheets; and using formulae), and they have assembled it in the A2+ workbench. They are learning about the design iteration process, as we keep making mistakes and conjuring better ways to do things. The students are making great suggestions to direct the process. I can tell they are enthusiastic about it. Teenagers can do amazing things if they catch the bug.
Our school and district want us to broadcast our projects to the community. It’s good for the district, our school, my program, and even my students. We’ll definitely be trumpeting about our endeavors. Thank you again!
-M
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That is nothing but good news, because I am patient. I’m something of an
open-source hippie, and I like to teach open-source programs to my students so
that they will always have access to the programs. When I was in college over
a decade ago, I was trained in Solidworks, and I haven’t had access to it
since. My students learn LibreCad and FreeCad so that they can always keep a
hand in it.
not opensource, but free to use, take a look at OnShape, it was built by former
Solidworks folks
If a free Maslow is available, I would be thrilled to make one available for
my classes. I teach Architectural Drafting, but the Carpentry class works
very closely with mine, so we have all sorts of projects we could put this to.
Thank you for your prompt response. I put my email address on the wait list
earlier today, and I can’t wait to hear of when you begin filling new orders.
One very nice thing about the Maslow 4 is that it’s far less sensitive to weight
than the original, so you can replace the router with a pen or other took.
something to consider would be a drag knife and have your class use it to cut
cardboard to make 3d models of what they draft.
David Lang
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Thank you for the suggestions, David. I hadn’t thought of using pens and drag knives, but that’s a good idea. I could probably even fasten in my dad’s old surgical laser and cut some stuff up… but I won’t. Pens and drag knives sound safe and harmless enough, though.
I’m a little bit wary of proprietary, but free-to-use, because (alongside Solidworks) I was trained in Draftsight, which used this arrangement. A few years later, Draftsight started charging for its use, as well. So, now it’s just open-source for my personal use. Of course, I also teach some proprietary software to satisfy the state’s educational requirements, and to prepare my students for the workforce, but I just try to make sure that they have tools that can never be taken away from them.
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It is worth pointing out that Bar has released the source for every kickstarter
project he’s done. And the code for the maslow 4 has been out since during the
kickstarter.
David Lang
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I agree with your caution, there have been many cases where companies have
either withdrawn their free offering, or just abandoned the product entirely. If
it’s open, there is a chance of it living on (it doesn’t always, but it has a
chance)
I won’t use Fusion360 because of the lack of trust that I have in Autodesk, they
have repeatedly pulled back on free use.
OnShape blocks some enterprise features, most significantly, all designs must be
public for the free license.
One thing I did for a project, was to use 1/4" foam (cheap to buy) at a 1:48
scale to then make a topo map of my property and then worked to cut a model of
the house I want to build to get a real view of how things would work.
David Lang
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That’s a good idea. It is always better to make mistakes at small scale and with inexpensive materials, than to get halfway through a real-life project and then realize you want or need to make changes. Thank you for your input, David.
There’s also the fact that a lot of things that look good on the screen, don’t
work in reality.
1:48 scale (1/4 to a foot) is something that you can get (or 3d print) other
things (cars, people, etc) and fill the models and for a lot of people, this is
what’s needed for them to visualize the space.
For professional Architects, being able to make models that will let their
clients see what is being proposed is very valuable.
One local architect firm I know of initially got one of the early maslows, and
then they sold it cheap (after they had badly worn it) and replaced it with a
CNC that they spent >$10k on because the ability to make models had proved to be
so valuable that they needed the added speed to keep up with demand.
laser cutters are getting cheap, a $200-300 laser cutter can happily cut 1/4
plywood for models as well.
David Lang
One could buy a whole bunch of Maslows for $10k and have them running in parallel to increase output, depending on the parameters of the project.
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that takes a LOT of space, not cheap in downtown Los Angeles
David Lang
Now you’ve got me thinking…
One of the advantages of the Maslow is that it is vertically arranged, thereby taking up considerably less space than a conventionally horizontal unit. What if a double-decker, front-and-back scaffolding could be arranged so that four units could be set up in a relatively small footprint (if ceiling heights allow)?
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I’ve been thinking exactly the same thing!
I’ve been wondering about doing a stack of Maslows vertically so that they take up the same floor space as one, but could have a lot more capacity. I think that it might end up being competitive with the very very expensive CNCs in terms of capacity at a lower cost. I was wondering if it would be possible to have like six or seven of them stacked on top of each-other in the back of a van as a portable high capacity CNC.
To be determined! There are so many exciting things to try.
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