It seems that Bantam Tools, owned by Bre Pettis of MakerBot fame, no longer makes or sells desktop CNC milling machines.
Formerly called the Other Machine Co, Bantam Tools launched a revised version of the Othermill in 2020.
See: New Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine is Aimed at Prototypers
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But now, their metal-machining and PCB-prototyping CNC machine business seems to have disappeared.
Bantam’s website now exclusively features art machines, stemming from their acquisition of Evil Mad Scientist nearly 2 years ago.
The company, on their website, says “we offer the widest array of art machines.” Prices start at $949 and – from what I can see – go up to $9,999.
They also have a special edition “EggBot” that can be used to decorate Christmas ornaments. That machine is priced at $699.
Bantam’s CNC plotters look impressive at the high end, and at least polished at the entry price level
I can’t help but wonder what happened here.
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Hopefully this pivot will help Bantam eventually return to CNC router, milling, and cutting technologies.
Bre Pettis sold MakerBot to Stratasys in 2013 and acquired the Other Machine Co in 2017. Hopefully he still has a couple of tricks up his sleeve.
Robert
“Evil Mad Scientist,” “Art Frames?” A whole different world. Went to the Bantamtool.com website and the overriding impression is those customers are paying disproportionately more than CNCs. For example, the Bantam Tools ArtFrame™ 2436 is a flat bed drawing surface 2 feet by 3 feet, with a pencil or pen drawing spindle & gantry. Costing just shy of $4000. That spindle and gantry looks a lot less robust and demanding than a CNC’s corresponding devices holding a rapidly spinning cutting bit.
https://bantamtools.com/products/bantam-tools-artframe-2436
You could get a Shark HD510 for that, and there are lots of CNCs in that price range or a bit less.
Maybe there’s good reason for the art frames’ pricing, like perhaps made wholly in the USA.
Stuart
I met them once – the duo behind Evil Mad Scientist – years ago at an Arduino event. Very nice people. I’ve also seen their work over the years – they’ve very talented engineers and creators. Extremely inspirational people.
I’m not familiar with the NextDraw or ArtFrame, but I do believe the individuals behind it are not going to put out something they’re not proud of.
Independent of that, I’m bummed out that Bantam seems to have given up on the CNC metal and PCV milling front.
blocky
I think they are going to have their hands full in the art-market for a time. For a few years, artists have been rigging their own experimental plotter mechanisms, but by partnering with the Whitney, Bantam are entering a market niche right at the top, and with credentials, where they already have a serious developmental leg up on competition, where there are some deep pockets, and where there is a dearth of STEM skillset (that will justify the $7k premium between models just for making the plotter bed 54″ longer).