Introducing the Bantam Tools ArtFrame™

The plotter adventure continues at Bantam Tools!

Bantam Tools ArtFrame™ Art Machines in two sizes

Bantam Tools proudly announces the launch of the new Bantam Tools ArtFrame™ Art Machine System—designed for professional artists to create physical art from digital designs with traditional materials.

Key Features:

  • Professional Results: Trusted by artists, galleries, and museums to create professional grade artwork. 
  • Quiet, High-Performance Operation: Custom-designed electronics and a magnetic, sound-dampening work surface let you focus on your next standout creation.
  • Two Size Options: Choose between the Bantam Tools ArtFrame 1824 (18×24” travel area) and the larger Bantam Tools ArtFrame 2436 (24×36” travel area).

The Bantam Tools ArtFrame prototypes created thousands of drawings at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Engineered and manufactured under leadership of the Evil Mad Scientist team in Peekskill, NY.

Learn more at bantamtools.com

Introducing the Bantam Tools NextDraw™

Bantam Tools NextDraw 1117

Bantam Tools proudly unveils its latest advancement in proven plotter technology with the launch of the new Bantam Tools NextDraw™ series of drawing and handwriting machines. Engineered for artists, innovators, and educators seeking exceptional versatility and performance, Bantam Tools now offers a trio of new models designed for drawing and handwriting.

“The Evil Mad Scientist team have brought their engineering prowess to Bantam Tools and the new Bantam Tools NextDraw series are proven creative tools that set a new standard in plotters. The Bantam Tools NextDraw series of plotters are exceptional computer controlled machines for innovators.” says Bre Pettis, CEO of Bantam Tools.

Each model in the Bantam Tools NextDraw™ series comes standard with the incredibly fast, nearly indestructible, brushless pen-lift mechanism that was only available as an upgrade to legacy models. This system provides a remarkable increase in speed. As an added bonus, the brushless pen-lift mechanism empowers users to use writing implements that need pressure on the paper, welcome news to lovers of ball-point pens. For those that plot multiple artworks or letters, the auto-homing feature streamlines the user experience while enhancing precision, allowing artists and writers to execute repetitive work with ease and confidence.

Each of the three different sizes of Bantam Tools NextDraw™ plotters has a drawing area which ranges from 8.5×11”/A4 to 22×34”/A1, ensuring a solution for every scale of artistic endeavor. Even the largest Bantam Tools NextDraw™ can draw on a postage stamp and the smallest Bantam Tools NextDraw™ can be placed on the center of a mural sized piece of paper.

The Bantam Tools NextDraw™ is a hardware and software ecosystem designed for a range of innovative applications not limited to drawing and handwriting. The ecosystem features a variety of accessories available to expand your capabilities and help you explore your creative frontier.

The robust construction of the Bantam Tools NextDraw™ plotters is evident in their sturdy electronics enclosures, which feature easily accessible power, pause, and reset buttons, alongside built-in cable strain relief, enhancing both functionality and durability. Notably, the two larger models are machined in-house from billet 6061 aluminum, adhering to tight tolerances that not only improve precision but also provide increased stability.

“In the past few months we have been able to implement new firmware features and motion control software that improve the quality of the output while at the same time making everything dramatically faster. The whole series of Bantam Tools NextDraw machines look great and the new generation of firmware gives a whole new sound to the machine too.” says Windell Oskay, Bantam Tools CTO.
The Bantam Tools NextDraw™ plotter’s enhanced acceleration and efficiency are in a class of their own; it manages intricate artistic details and curves with speed and finesse.

“I can’t wait for our past Evil Mad Scientist customers to get their hands on the new Bantam Tools NextDraw. The improved performance from the brushless motor, the ease of the new homing routines, and the overall improvement in acceleration and speed will allow artists to make more art in less time. For customers who use our machines for handwriting applications like sending out wedding invitations or thank you notes, they can create notes and address envelopes so much faster.” says Lenore Edman, Bantam Tools COO.

Versatility, compatibility and user experience are key highlights of the Bantam Tools NextDraw™ series. The familiar software, originally developed by Evil Mad Scientist and tailored for Inkscape, has been improved to offer enhancements that streamline the plotting process. There are also advanced API features for custom applications.

Proudly FCC certified and manufactured in Peekskill, New York, Bantam Tools continues its commitment to delivering high-quality, reliable products that push the boundaries of design and innovation in the creative industry. The Bantam Tools NextDraw™ plotters are not just tools, but partners in the creative process, designed to meet the rigorous demands of modern artistic expression.
The Bantam Tools NextDraw™ is the proven and reliable compatible computer-controlled plotter that provides versatile solutions to artists, innovators and educators.

See the Bantam Tools NextDraw™ in action at bantamtools.com.

Bantam Tools Acquires Evil Mad Scientist

Bantam Tools Logo

Lenore Edman, Windell Oskay, and Bre Pettis standing in front of Bantam Tools headquarters
Bantam Tools Acquires Evil Mad Scientist to Accelerate Development of Next Generation Art and Handwriting Machines

Windell Oskay and Lenore Edman of Evil Mad Scientist named CTO and COO of Bantam Tools 

PEEKSKILL, N.Y, January 16, 2024 — Bantam Tools, the desktop CNC manufacturer that builds exceptional computer controlled machines for innovators, is excited to announce the acquisition of Evil Mad Scientist, the designer and manufacturer of popular computer-controlled drawing and handwriting machines that provide versatile solutions to artists and educators. Dr. Windell Oskay and Lenore Edman, co-founders of Sunnyvale, California based Evil Mad Scientist, will move to Peekskill, New York, headquarters of Bantam Tools, as CTO and COO overseeing technical development and operations. 

“We are excited to announce the acquisition of Evil Mad Scientist and its amazing art machines,” said Bre Pettis, CEO of Bantam Tools. “I’ve been a fan of the art plotters and have been using them for years. We have an amazing year planned where we intend to release several new and different creative machines. This acquisition will help accelerate these new products and we are very excited about bringing on these innovative and creative machines and Evil Mad Scientist’s co-founders. I’ve been friends with Windell and Lenore for almost two decades since my days at Make: Magazine. We share a love of creative tools that empower our users.” 

As developers of popular drawing and handwriting machines, the acquisition of Evil Mad Scientist will expand offerings at Bantam Tools to include art machines, in addition to the high-precision Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machines. This added product category of drawing and handwriting machines will give artists, designers, and educators the ability to create new art forms, convert digital art to physical artwork using traditional materials, and teach the next generation to use computer controlled art machines to express themselves. 

The next generation of Bantam Tools art machines that Dr. Windell Oskay and Lenore Edman are helping to develop will be marketed under the Bantam Tools NextDraw™ brand. The Bantam Tools NextDraw will be manufactured in Peekskill, New York, and will launch in the spring of 2024 as a reliable and well-supported computer-controlled drawing machine that provides versatile solutions to artists, innovators and educators.

“We are thrilled to be joining forces with Bantam Tools,” said Dr. Windell Oskay, CTO of Bantam Tools. “With my background in atomic physics, I bring nearly 30 years of machining and designing computer controlled instrumentation. I am especially looking forward to leading technical development and harnessing the combined experience of our hardware and software engineering teams to build the next generation of creative machines.” 

I’m also excited to be joining Bantam Tools and bringing to the company a focus on customer service and product documentation that has been so important to us at Evil Mad Scientist,” noted Lenore Edman, COO of Bantam Tools. “I’ll be continuing to support our existing customers with love and a supply of spare parts. I hope they’ll be as excited as I am about what my fantastic team at Bantam Tools will be building next.” 

To learn more about Bantam Tools and the Evil Mad Scientist products, visit bantamtools.com.

Bantam Tools builds exceptional computer-controlled machines for innovators, engineers, artists and educators, including desktop CNC machines with professional reliability and precision and computer-controlled art machines that are fast, automatic, mimic handwriting and create physical art from digital designs using traditional materials. Bantam Tools machines are easy to set up, ready to use right out of the box, and like its namesake the bantam rooster, punch above their weight class, empowering mechanical engineers, product designers, entrepreneurs, electrical engineers, machinists, designers, students, educators, artists and digital fabricators to stay ahead of schedule and under budget. All of Bantam Tools Desktop Milling Machines are clean, safe, and easy to use, making them a great choice for any lab, shop, classroom or studio. To learn more about the Peekskill, New York, company, at bantamtools.com, on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at @bantamtools, or on  Medium. Bantam Tools is hiring

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Linkdump: December 2023

Polynorm pantographic lettering tool with overlapping letters on a brass plate

Linkdump: August 2023

Random Dances (1964 - 1968), Jeanne Beaman at Cybernetic Serendipity. A screen shows instructions for the dancers.

Hidden line removal for AxiDraw

AxiDraw Control v3.9 screenshot, showing hidden-line removal feature

We’re pleased to note the release of AxiDraw software version 3.9 this week, with a couple of neat new features. One of them is that the “preview mode” button — which lets you simulate plotting to see how the results will come out — is now accessible no matter which function is selected. The other, the big one, is that AxiDraw now supports hidden-line removal as a standard feature.

There’s a full changelog up on GitHub, which also notes a few new features for users of the AxiDraw CLI (command-line interface) and AxiDraw Python library, including the ability to resume a plot a little before where it was paused.

But, let’s talk more about hidden-line removal.
Continue reading Hidden line removal for AxiDraw

Linkdump: April 2023

Close up of typewriter image next to box with clip name and source and play feature showing in screenshot