From Passion to Pro: Geek Made Designs Maximizes Production with CNC Machining
Geek Made Designs is run by a husband and wife duo who love making as much as they love gaming. The idea to create their sleek game controllers grew out of a desire for a more elegant solution to organize the controllers and accessories for their consoles. Now, they’ve turned their passion into a growing business and they’re manufacturing custom holders for gamers all over the world. Earlier this year, they added our Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine to their shop to accelerate their manufacturing process. Their passion and attention to creating quality parts immediately caught our eye. We caught up with them to see how they’re putting our high-performance Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine to use.
What gave you the idea to start making these custom pieces?
Years ago, we were a typical family looking to hang out in the evening with loved ones and sometimes play video games. We had several gaming consoles around the house with lots of controllers stuffed in every nook and cranny. My wife got tired of them all over the place, so we designed a controller holder that looked cool and helped us keep the gaming room clean(er). Fast forward a few years and several friends had convinced us it was a unique idea. So, we decided to make a small business making gaming controller holders.
In our first month, we sent a few sample units to Microsoft, which ended up on their monthly video podcast. We got a huge jumpstart from this and a few years later we became a certified “Designed for Xbox” partner with a few products. Another large part of our business is corporate orders for social influencers. We’ve made holders for influencers like Snoop Dogg, Ninja, and iJustine, to name a few.
How did you get into CNC machining?
I was at a trade show years ago, where they had a little desktop CNC machine. I was so intrigued by the machine, and the thought that I could have one in my garage blew my mind. I don’t think I even made it home from the show before I purchased the DIY kit. That’s what I made our first holder on and over the first few years I’ve learned a lot about machining — although even today I still feel like a total newb. I upgraded that first little machine a few times before getting a larger table mill and most recently weadded a Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine to our lineup.
You’ve been milling a ton of custom parts using the machine. Is this primarily what you use the machine for or do you use it to make other materials and projects?
I had used the Bantam Tools PCB Milling Machine when it was under the Othermill name and loved the machine. The software was so easy to use, and I could make little parts so easily with it. When I saw that Bantam Tools was going to offer a bigger machine with more power and a larger build envelope, I was totally sold.
The plan was to make shop fixtures, tools, and marketing videos. I figured that once in a while we would make controller holders with it, so I could run two machines at once. We’ve become so busy that most of the time I have our large table milling batches of holders ,while I have our Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine milling single holders at the same time. I want a second one so I can make shop tools and fixtures!
Do you use other digital fabrication tools in your creative process? If so, where does the Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine come in?
We use a number of digital tools in our design and manufacturing process. The majority of our products are designed and prepped for machining in Fusion 360. We do a lot of concept design and often use Fusion 360’s rendering to share mockups with our clients. We also use Illustrator for 2D vector graphic work that can be fed into Fusion 360 or directly into the Bantam Tools software to add some nice finishing touches.
What has the Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine enabled you to do that you previously couldn’t?
We are all about gaining efficiencies in the shop and since there are only a few of us we have to be as efficient as possible. We’ve been able to make aluminum fixtures to make it easier to manage production on some of our products. We’ve also found the Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine to be very capable of milling our single controller holders, letting us run two mills at the same time. We love capturing pictures and videos with our Bantam Tools machine to put on our social channels.
What’s your favorite feature of the Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine so far? What about the Bantam Tools software?
We just got the new Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Low-Profile Vise, and I have to say I’m totally loving it right now. And we’re just getting started. The ability to calibrate my start point off the vise is awesome — and so are the various positions I can put stock in. As for the Bantam Tools software, I don’t think it could get much easier. We’re actually working on setting it up so others in the shop who aren’t familiar with machining can run the machine for some projects — game changer!
Aside from the Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine, what are three tools the team can’t live without? Why? What are three tips you’d offer machinists or designers using the machine for the first time?
Outside of the newfound love for our Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine, I’d have to say Fusion 360, our table mill, and social networks. As I mentioned earlier, we use Fusion 360 to design, visualize, collaborate, and create code for our CNC machines. For a small business, it’s been a huge driver for us and without it we wouldn’t be in business. We have a larger CNC machine that we use for our larger holders and bulk milling projects. We can get a lot done with it pretty quickly while we prototype and make single holders with our Bantam Tools Desktop CNC Milling Machine. And the final must-have is our social networks. Nearly all our awareness comes from social.
About Geek Made Designs
Geek Made Designs makes custom holders for game controllers, consoles, and head sets. They are currently partnered with Xbox and have created custom holders for social influencers like Snoop Dogg, Ninja, and iJustine. Follow their journey on Instagram.
