Complete lack of updates! Unsatisfied group of people

MR-1
21

I don’t really need to explain my needs or usage case to expect a company to fulfill it’s promises, do I? Just because you think something is more important doesn’t mean that they should stop development on a feature they already promised, and move on to something else entirely. Lots of people want the same feature…people ALSO want cutter comp.

You want cutter comp, ok then…but that was never in their roadmap, multi-tool posts however, was from the beginning. The fact they’re working on what you want, seems to make you feel like dismissing my needs as trivial is acceptable. What you think I’m going to be happy with is moot…I simply want what was promised for the thousands I paid. That in no way indicates my needs are beyond what was promised.

I knew exactly who this machined was designed for when I ordered it over 2 years ago…we ALL know. But does that mean we can’t expect the features they promised to be completed in a fair amount of time? It’s not just beginner software, it’s less than that. Anybody can quickly progress to need numerous tools, or even cutter comp. It should have been there before the machine was released, rather than pushing it out incomplete and still taking people’s money - but even worse, they’ve been sitting on it for 2 years. Even my homemade conversion mill with a chinese knockoff controller can stop and tell me it’s time to change a tool, for crying out loud.

22

Youre way too wound up over this and they didnt “promise” half of what youre saying they did. Vague message board posts arent promises. There isnt anything youve been shorted on, there is nothing anyone owes you that youve paid for.

I agree with Dre that there are improvements that need to be made on the software side, but I fail to see how anything they do will make YOU happy. Your last post said as much, and half of that was bitching about the fact that they used Cut Control to begin with.

You just need to sell the thing and move on. At the very least, go get some fresh air.

2 Likes
23

Wound up? What are you talking about? Just because you’re feeling emotional doesn’t mean I am.

They made promises that led to my purchase, you can pretend they didn’t, but that doesn’t change anything. They owe all of us. Half of what I’m saying? What are you reading? Because I only specifically mentioned ONE THING. You’re reading things into my comment, and getting yourself emotional.

You have absolutely no idea what will make ME happy. You act like I’m asking for hundreds of features to be implemented, and want them now. Just stop. You’re being ridiculous.

Sounds like you need the fresh air, and to know when to remove yourself from a conversation that you’re entirely too emotionally attached to.

24

I stopped using your software because it couldn’t do reasonable manual tool changes. The process of changing programs manually and having to touch off tools manually just made it too error prone.

Even without an ATC your software should do the following on a tool change:

  • Stop spindle
  • Raise spindle for maximum clearance
  • Move spindle to front and center
  • Prompt user for new tool, showing a note on what tool is expected
  • (wait for user to change tool and hit a button)
  • Move tool to tool length probe and measure
  • Move back to coordinate system and start operation

Lack of canned cycles was also a problem for me, and prevented me from using drawings that I’d previously made in CamBam. I know that isn’t a mainstream CAD/CAM solution, but it was one of the early hobbyist priced solutions.

I never got too annoyed because I expected CutControl to be pretty limiting and expected to switch control systems when I ordered the machine. However I also realize that not everyone has the skills or energy to do such a conversion.

4 Likes
25

Since the question was asked…

More likely to happen, and probably easier to implement:

●More probe functions. Y Web, X Web(center of a feature on the outside in X or Y axis), Y Pocket, X Pocket (center of a feature on the inside in X or Y axis). Probably more could be added by the community, but those for sure would be nice.

●Customizable hotkeys for things like cycle start, feed hold, stop, reset etc that can allow better use of the pendant.

●Toggles for some of the warning pop-ups. Mostly the soft limit window that insists on repeating itself when you get anywhere near the Z axis limit. The others as well can get a bit annoying when jogging the spindle around dialing in a part for setup.

●Some ability to do a tool change, have the machine touch off the new tool and proceed with either the next program loaded or the same program when multi-tool programs become a reality.

The less easy, but much appreciated additions:

○Cutter compensation will be “fun” to implement in the framework of CC, but if/when that becomes a reality it would be really nice for working threadmills out to size.

○Canned cycles would be a nice addition but, most of us I think, have managed to work around this.

○Built in macros for engraving would awesome too, but that’s just me being a lazy programmer :wink:

Starting from the base of GRBL doesn’t make some of these “easy” but hopefully achievable by your software team.

2 Likes
26

you do see wound up lol.
this machine does everything it said it would do. have been using it since it started. its not a haas, its a garage size machine and works well for what it is.
you have no idea whats on their roadmap, hell i know my company’s roadmap goes out 4 years and that can change month by month depending on customers, recourses, coopetition bla bla. If you have a small dev team shit takes time.
just use the machine as it works fine. doesnt do what a hass does but we all knew that.

1 Like
27

No I don’t, lol. Your emotions are not my problem.

You can make excuses for them all you want, but that doesn’t change the validity of my (and many others) complaints.

Not once did I claim this was more than a “garage machine” (despite people making money with them doing production runs). My Chinese knock off controller on my home converted mini mill has more options…plus they didn’t make empty promises.

Their roadmap was clear and explicit…the only thing that changed was they decided their new development was more important than their current paying customers.

Does your employer establish a 4 year road map, make promises, come back in 6 months to make the same promises, then 6 months later, then again 6 months later? Bet not.

2 Likes
28

I worked for a place like that for a little while.
Their shop has been going under for the last year. They built that reputation and burned a lot of bridges. What little customer work they have still coming in is just enough to keep the lights on for the guys still stuck there. It definitely doesn’t do much for the longevity of a company to go down that road.

2 Likes
29

Langmuir should make an open source option for cutcontrol at this point if they’re having such a hard time with software development so that someone else with the knowledge and motivation (certainly not me) can improve on it.

7 Likes
30

That’s a fantastic idea. I’d love to be able to help develop features.

2 Likes
31

This is a great idea. The same could be done for hard parts as well. Maybe like a github group for software stuff and a grabcad group (if such a thing exists) for CAD designs. There are obviously a ton of people with ambition to improve CC. Then, Langmuir can source revs from the Github, tweak them a bit, test them, and then officially release them.

32

Langmuirs whole business model is really already centered around building machines for the “home gamer” “diy-er” so I don’t see why the software can’t be too.

Should make a poll on social media and this forum so everyone can vote on it, maybe langmuir can be persuaded if there is enough outcry for it.

Just my two cents.

33

Well since you are taking a poll I have a question.

You guys own a business do you all really want every tom dick and harry meddling in your software messing it up.

I guess if one want to help Langmuir would let you fill out a job application.

Not meaning to sound rude but they acknowledged you all and are working on it.

2 Likes
34

No one is saying Langmuir wouldn’t still have the final say in what gets endorsed and released. In all honesty, CC isn’t exactly difficult software. If im not mistaken, its just Java. They’ve already selected an open source hardware package in their control board so its not a far stretch to think an open sourced software suite would be out of the question.

If they would like to focus on other projects, I think its a fantastic idea. Nothing better than FREE labor! Look at LinuxCNC.

35

I’ve requested via email and was told they would not do this :frowning:

36

I’ve held off on posting too much negativity, but I did want to toss my two cents in here since it’s a bit relevant to some of the conversation going on here. I bought a crossfire and have largely been very very happy with it. The ability to quickly prototype sheet metal parts has been a game changer for me. For the MR1, I was in some of the first machines shipped and there were a couple initial “wtf” moments, like with the drains. I have no idea how that got through R&D or was thought to be acceptable, but it’s not the end of the world and I did go into it knowing there would probably be some hiccups as there always are with early runs. Overall, I’d say I’ve been 7/10 happy with the machine and don’t regret my purchase.

But since 6 months in, it has felt like the MR1 was immediately forgotten about and moved on from. The amount of times I’ve seen “new thing coming soon” and then radio silence for 6 months until people start getting restless is a pretty big red flag for me.

Which brings me to the point I’m trying to make in this rambling in that, I’ve been complaining about the press brake market for years. I’ve been complaining that there isn’t a good mid range brake that fits what I want. The new Titan fills the exact spot that I’ve wanted for a long time, and yet, after my experience with the lack of updates on the MR1, I’ve been wary and held off so far. So while I get that a business needs to continue to move forward with new products to continue expanding, care needs to be taken to not alienate existing customers as well.

5 Likes
37

They’ve also said that for like the last year.

Not surprising really

38

I use mine almost every day. Except for the drains, which I totally agree it works excellent. As was said above, it’s not a Haas VF4. It’s a garage milling machine. Put them up for sale and go that route.
By the way, the Haas units break too, and the g code entry will make most novices start drinking. Just my two cents. Not one time have I needed compensation to mill anything. I don’t use many tiny end mills very often, though. Now mine is a early mill, probably the first or second released.
This thread is certainly not going to get them to move any faster on updates that are not out of its intended design. Let the hate mail begin…

8 Likes
39

You completely missed my point, but I’m glad you like yours :+1:

1 Like
40

I wasn’t answering you. And Im glad you like yours too.