duckkisser Posted June 11, 2016 Report Share Posted June 11, 2016 thinking that i will buy and build a cnc router for my shop this seems like its manageable in price and it seems to have decent reviews. going to start saving up now and hopefully by Christmas ill have saved up the money needed. went to see a friend of mine and he just bought a cnc and we were playing with it and it seems great especialy for someone who wants to do more inlay in the shop. https://www.inventables.com/technologies/x-carve 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted June 11, 2016 Report Share Posted June 11, 2016 Duck, there have been a lot if X-carve reviews on youtube. What I gather from the results is 1.) The default spindle is a bit whimpy, the router version is a good idea. 2.) The larger bed size seems attractive, but the beam which carries the tool head may sag over the longer span, especially when using a heavier router as the spindle. 3.) Make sure your soldering technique is good, since this is a "some assembly required" project. Poor connections give folks a lot of trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris H Posted June 12, 2016 Report Share Posted June 12, 2016 I made the leap into CNC about 6 months ago. I went with the CNC Shark because of a promo they were running with dust collection. This is a far more expensive unit, but it came plug and play ready. My understanding is that the X-Carve is a bit less robust, which was already pointed out. For me the primary difference and reason I justified the 2x price was a desire for true carving capability as well as 4th axis in the future (aka turning). Don't under estimate the cost of the software and the content as you go into it. I am not proclaiming the Shark to be a deal, but the gap is smaller than the original price tag seems one you add in all the X-Carve software and content. If you only want/need basic inlays like lettering etc, then the Shark is not justified, but if you want more detailed carvings you may want to consider other options. While a slight sag doesn't seem to be a huge deal, any play in the spindle or travel will cause a lot more headache than most people expect. That sag also means the bit is deflecting in unknown ways, which is huge when you are talking about inlays. If the bit isn't perfectly square to the cutting surface the whole time, you will have noticeable gaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted June 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2016 i looked into a bunch of reviews as well i found this kid who saw that there was some sag flex in track and riged it up so that it wont flex. i was going to get the the fully loaded system with a dwalt router built into it. i plan on contacting the company and seeing if they have addressed the issue of the gantry (think that would be right word) has been stiffened up so it wont flex but i can do like this kid did and stiffen the system up. and they have a program for carving reliefs called vcarve that i think ill get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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