I too have had my X-Carve for 6 months and in that time, it’s had very little use. This is not because of any particular issues but not having enough time to spend with it and a lack of any real projects planned for it A new mount for the Makita next week might just change that.
As previously said, it’s the putting stuff together and tinkering that’s the real fun. I bought the X-Carve on that basis as I already have a working CNC router (6040) If i was looking to get a production ready machine that can work all day without needing adjustments, beyond normal machine maintenance, I would not have the X-Carve at the top of the list. I’d be buying a turn-key system - at a much greater price.
It’s kind of like my pool table. I had more fun building it than i now do playing it.
Anyone wanna buy a pool table?
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I think this was the best bet to get into a cnc machine out there at the time I bought it. I will keep this machine and keep improving it along the way. I tend to get pissed easy when things go wrong and things have been going wrong more often than I like. I want to build a much better one, but only because of what I have learned with this one! I don’t want to give bad vibes to someone looking to get into cnc, there only a couple of options out there. I bought Vcarve pro $800 because Easel was not so great, but that has changed. I will be back on this forum, and will do some positive post’s. I have carved some nice things.
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Donald: I went through the same frustrations for about the first two months. I often told my wife, why didn’t you stop me this time. The best advice I heard was from some of the other users on the forum. I think of one individual in particular who went through the same frustrations and said, eventually, you will come to love it but you need to go through the growing pains the rest of us have. His words rang loud and true when I finally got the thing to work the way I wanted to.
It took time, practice, and a lot of trial and error. Once I got it, I came to love the thing and have been able to make a nice chunk of change from this hobby that is slowly becoming a business. Bounce stuff off of us, we’re all there to help and encourage but you are the one that has to go through the growing pains a little bit. You will eventually be happy with this machine and you will also find you won’t need to try something different. Keep your head up and plow through it. I am so glad I worked through the frustrations. It’s been very rewarding!
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Park Rapids is a little more than 2 hours but you never know if I end up your way! I would be happy to walk on your boards and eat Mexican food! LOL.
I am only a hobbyist but I do sell some work on the side. I have sold enough work created using my X-Carve to pay for the X-Carve and this year made enough to pay for a new drum sander. It does take some time investment to learn the idiosyncrasies of not only the machine but CNC in general. I am now using more money I earned to upgrade my machine with the J Tech laser.
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