If you have noticed things being a bit quiet on the CNC milling front lately, there is a very good reason for it. While my journey with the TwoTrees TTC450 Ultra is still very much alive, it has temporarily taken a back seat. Quite frankly, I have been completely consumed by an explosion of new software and development projects.
Alongside my mechanical tinkering, my background in development keeps calling me back. Lately, I have shifted focus towards building tools, tailored software utilities, and standalone projects aimed at fixing everyday digital frustrations.
Fixing What’s Broken: The “My Pocket” Integration
It all started when I was using the free tier of the popular read-it-later app, Pocket. To put it bluntly, I was thoroughly disappointed with how limited the non-subscription version has become. The feature walls felt overly restrictive, leaving free users with a bare-bones experience unless they fork out for the premium Pro subscription.
Instead of just grumbling about it, I decided to build my own workaround. What originally started out as a standalone Windows desktop application to import audio and transcripts from my Pocket device has grown into something much larger. I have integrated this functionality directly into my primary project intelligence platform, KnoliDex, where it is officially labelled as “My Pocket”.
To make the transition seamless and comfortable, I built an environment inside the app that mirrors a clean, intuitive style. However, all the heavy-lifting and advanced power features live directly inside the KnoliDex host application. Best of all, it completely disrupts the traditional software model:
- No Extortionate Subscriptions: You aren’t tied into a heavy monthly SaaS cost. KnoliDex will be available for a straightforward one-time cost which includes a full 12 months of updates.
- Pay-As-You-Go AI: Instead of paying bloated mid-tier markups, users simply plug in their own OpenAI API account. You only pay standard developer rates directly for the exact tokens you actually consume.
The core KnoliDex.com platform itself handles structured project intelligence—bringing together your technical decisions, meeting records, audio files, and documents into a clean, fully traceable layer of truth.
Expanding the Ecosystem via Plugin Nexus
While the “My Pocket” module and core project intelligence layers live exclusively inside KnoliDex, all the other custom software, themes, and utility plugins I build are centralized over at Plugin Nexus.
Plugin Nexus serves as the commercial home for my broader developmental experiments. This includes an incredibly exciting 3D Scan to Solid Model Reverse Engineering application currently sitting on the active bench. This tool is designed to translate raw 3D scans, point clouds, and mesh files (like .stl) directly into true mathematical CAD solid models.
Anyone who has tried to convert a regular mesh file into an editable parametric part knows how messy the software pipeline can be. This upcoming utility aims to bridge that gap cleanly, making it exponentially easier to scan physical objects and prep them for accurate modification and milling.
Everything mentioned here is a fluid work in progress. Balancing host architecture on KnoliDex, core plugin infrastructure on Plugin Nexus, cloud geometry algorithms, and website management means my hours are completely booked out. Once these foundational software milestones are stable, I look forward to firing up the TTC450 Ultra again with a brand-new toolset at my disposal.
Stay tuned for more updates, and feel free to explore the active platforms over at KnoliDex and Plugin Nexus!
