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Hey everyone,
Getting ready to order my X-Carve for a projects that involves cutting a bunch of 4mm coroplast (corrugated plastic), Once that’s it done I’ll use it for my own woodworking and hobbying (guess what everyone’s getting for Christmas.
So here’s what I’m thinking…I welcome any and all feedback!!
1000m Xcarve.
Waste board (for now…would probably like to make my own in the future)
Side board- for convenience
Z-probe kit
Homing switch kit
Suckit for dust collection
Is the inventables clamp kit worth the $, are there better options out there? I’m planning to get a drag knife for the coroplast, but got any suggestions on a good bit set to get started with? I saw there’s an option to add one on, wasn’t sure if they are with it or if something else would last longer/cut better?
Will probably start out with just easel (still need to loook at if I can use a drag knife or not…), and look st other option later on down the road.
The side board s not worth it in my opinion. I have it but only because I received it free a couple years ago. Get Charley thomas’s Triquetra 3 axis touch plate instead of the z probe. You will be able to accurately set your 0 on all three axis. The suckit dust boot is a great product and Jenn from their is great. I have had no problems with the clamp set and have had it for quite awhile. You will find what works best for you. As far as the bit, Whiteside’s and Amana tool are my go to manafactures. It all depends on what you are making. The bits from Inventables are decent ( Good to start out with) but there are better options. Amazon has tons as well.
Waste board - A good starter board until you can think of what you would want to swap out to.
Side board- is not necessary but i purchased one also and worked out great for me and is convenient if you have the space
Z-probe kit - I purchased also but I agree with PatrickA Scohy a probe that can zero all 3 is my next purchase.
Homing switch kit - I find very useful. anything that can help prevent a crash a help
Suckit for dust collection - I have also and is excellent at keeping your work area clean, My X-Carve setup is in my office in house and keeps everything clean. only thing you need to keep in mind is to place your clamps away from where the boot can possible hit them, and is kind of annoying to have to keep raising Y-Axis just to insert dust boot then lowering before starting a cut because dust booth hits the collet when trying to insert.
Clamp set - These work great for everything I’ve been doing i would purchase.
No problem, As far as noise for me my office is far away from bedrooms but next to living room, door closed is good enough for me & wife. I have a dust collection system in porch behind wall and ended up running vacuum hose through wall into it. I do plan to make an enclosure for it that will help. The nosiest part is whatever material your cutting, then vacuum, then router.
I just upgraded a shapeoko2 to current xcarve specs. I built my own plywood table and side board. I did order the limit switches, the zeroing tool, and just order the dust collector today. Having them ready to go in my opinion worked for me. The zero tool fits into a hole in the X carriage and is easy enough to operate. I home to the far left as it is designed, so I see no need for anything else other than the height off my material. Today I just used the machine to make some plywood clamps for holding the parts to the table with 1/4-20 bolts that fit into strategically placed threaded inserts.
Might be helpful to note that the triquetra doesn’t seem to come with the back wiring to the controller that the z-probe kit does, so if you go that direction you’ll either need to connect it directly to the controller, or provide your own wiring and mount to bring it out to the z-plate. Cheap to do, annoying not to realize up front though.
