{"id":3728,"date":"2016-08-29T07:30:04","date_gmt":"2016-08-29T14:30:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/?p=3728"},"modified":"2016-08-26T08:46:43","modified_gmt":"2016-08-26T15:46:43","slug":"grovemade-takes-woodworking-design-another-level-entirely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/grovemade-takes-woodworking-design-another-level-entirely\/","title":{"rendered":"Grovemade Takes Woodworking Design to Another Level Entirely"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI want it to be hard. I want to be under a little bit of stress, a little bit of risk.<\/em><\/p>\n

I think that\u2019s what makes us, us. We have no interest in being mediocre.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014Ken Tomita, founder of Grovemade<\/p>\n

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In Portland, Oregon, the team at Grovemade has spent the past seven years perfecting designs for phone cases and desk objects like keyboard trays, pencil cups, and monitor stands. The woodwork that has become their trademark is finicky, difficult, and endlessly detailed \u2014 but founder Ken Tomita wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n

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Now they\u2019re leaving their comfort zone all over again with a wooden desktop speaker reminiscent of a chambered nautilus. \u201cThe speaker is a huge leap for us, an exploration,\u201d Tomita says. It\u2019s also a reflection of his design ethic and desire to create products that only Grovemade can produce.<\/p>\n

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\"Grovemade2\"<\/p>\n

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A Company Designed to be \u201cSmall and Special\u201d<\/h2>\n

The very first product created by Tomita and co-founder Joe Mansfield back in 2009 was a bamboo case for the iPhone 3. Tomita describes it as \u201ca total flop,\u201d but they kept going and then had a big hit with their iPhone 4 case.<\/p>\n

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The company\u2019s staff quickly grew to around 20 people, where it has held steady even as Grovemade has gone through several pivots and expanded its product line with other objects made in wood, metal, and leather. The employees who stay are ones who thrive under constant change and improvement.<\/p>\n

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Tomita believes strongly that working on Grovemade\u2019s culture leads to great work. \u201cSome people fit, some people don\u2019t, and that\u2019s okay,\u201d he adds. Of the people who remain, he says, \u201cWe\u2019re excited to walk into work every day because we feel like our potential is only limited by ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Because Tomita owns the business himself, he runs it on his own terms. While it must remain profitable, he has no interest in making it large. \u201cI want to create a healthy company that can do amazing things,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re designed to be small and special.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A Hybrid of 3D Machining and Artisanal Handwork<\/h2>\n

The new desktop speaker, made in collaboration with industrial designer Joey Roth, captures the Grovemade philosophy perfectly. As usual, they\u2019re using 3D designs, then milling the parts on a CNC machine designed to work with metal. Then comes the painstaking handwork.<\/p>\n

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\"Grovemade3\"\u201cUsually we stay away from organic shapes,\u201d Tomita says, \u201cbecause they are difficult and time-consuming to both model and program toolpaths on, and ultimately make.\u201d Working with Roth, though, they decided to machine a very complex shape that doesn\u2019t compromise on either form or function. The result, Tomita explains, is \u201ca speaker that\u2019s made out of the ideal acoustic material \u2014 wood \u2014 and is in the ideal form.\u201d<\/p>\n

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From a production standpoint, there\u2019s a clear downside: Wood is an organic material that has lots of irregularities, so it isn\u2019t easy to work with. Grovemade outsources some of its metal bending and machining, but Tomita says that their processes for wood finishes are \u201cun-outsourceable\u201d because they\u2019re \u201ctoo finicky\u201d to entrust to anyone else.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe speakers are going to be tough,\u201d he adds. 3-axis CNC machining leaves grooves in the wood. The finer the path, the fewer the grooves, but more paths means that each piece takes much longer to produce. \u201cIt\u2019s hard, time-consuming, and expensive for us,\u201d Tomita explains.<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s probably why nobody else makes speakers like this. Tomita is happy to fill that niche because it fits his ideal of focusing on \u201cthings that only we can do.\u201d For now, their challenge is to learn to produce the speaker more efficiently so it can become profitable.<\/p>\n

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Using Fusion 360 to Drive the Iterative Design Process<\/h2>\n

During the design process, the Grovemade team typically goes back and forth between CAD and physical models. That process starts with sketches, cardboard models, and mockups made from blocks of foam or wood, then iterates back into the software as they add details. It always comes back quickly to physical prototypes in wood. Tomita explains that even great renderings or 3D prints simply aren\u2019t the same as being able to hold the wooden object.\"Grovemade5\"<\/p>\n

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The team loves how Fusion 360 combines CAD with CAM. That seamless integration makes it incredibly easy \u2014 and fast \u2014 to make changes in the design and then machine another prototype immediately using their in-house CNC equipment.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe need to be able to make changes quickly and try it again,\u201d Tomita explains. He adds that they routinely go from CAD to CAM to machining to holding it in their hands all in the same day \u2014 \u201cwhich is absolutely incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Grovemade used to work with a combination of different 3D design and CNC packages, Tomita says, \u201cbut the software was so time-consuming that we wouldn\u2019t do [prototyping] a lot of times.\u201d Fusion 360 gave them an all-in-one application that, besides being far less expensive, allowed them to avoid that friction and go straight to machining anytime they want. And because it\u2019s all integrated, they don\u2019t have to worry about migrating design changes across multiple pieces of software. \u201cIf we change one thing, we don\u2019t have to redo it on the other,\u201d Tomita says. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty massive.\u201d<\/p>\n

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All in all, he adds, Fusion 360 \u201cfits right in with the scale of our business\u201d<\/p>\n

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Finding Customers Who Appreciate Great Work<\/h2>\n

Tomita credits Grovemade\u2019s uncompromising stance for attracting passionate and loyal customers. He believes that people who buy their products can feel the hard work that went into making them.<\/p>\n

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He hopes that the same will be true for the new speaker, which he describes as \u201ca home run swing.\u201d But he also makes it clear that he\u2019s not worried about it: \u201cIf you\u2019re not comfortable with striking out, you\u2019re never going to hit a home run.\u201d<\/p>\n

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For Tomita and the rest of the Grovemade crew, satisfaction comes when they give it everything they have. They focus on the things they can control \u2014 that uncompromising commitment to beautiful design and high quality \u2014 and don\u2019t worry about the outcomes. \u201cWe\u2019re always evolving,\u201d Tomita says. \u201cWe don\u2019t really know what the future is.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The challenge to grow and learn every day is exactly what Tomita wants: \u201cI feel like we\u2019re constantly scrapping to make it work, but I wouldn\u2019t want it any other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

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