I think I have decided to purchase vcarve. Question is if I save the money and buy desktop, will I regret not having the pro version? I have only used easel for a couple of weeks and it makes good signs, but I want ot do more 3d carvings. I have looked at the comparisons but am still unclear on what I will lose with the desktop version. Can someone tell me in plain words for a beginner what the differences are? Thanks
Clay
The biggest advantage of the pro version is the unlimited size. You are not limited to 24x24. The real question is what type of projects are you planning to make? If nothing larger than 24x24, stay with the desktop version. If you go larger try tiling your project or upgrade at that time to the pro version
Thanks all. Desktop for me! I do not know if I will go with bigger projects yet.
Clay
No penalty. You can up grade for the price difference.
I went from desktop to pro to Aspire. Never paying more than than the difference. By time I got to Aspire. I paid the same amount as buying it to begin with.
I upgraded from Desktop to Pro not for the size, but for parts nesting, something I use frequently when cramming as many small parts on a sheet as I can… it’s definitely worth the upgrade IMHO
Desktop will also tile your design if it’s larger than 25x25.
You just have to run multiple tool paths.
I have DXF files of different toys and import into VC, the nesting feature lets you compress all the shapes down to fit on as small a board as possible. You’re able to specify bit diameter, dogbones etc… and then compress everything. Works really well and saves me a bunch of time (and material) per design.
Yup, and it does a REALLY nice job too, like a tetris / puzzle fanatic on steroids and Red Bull…
I too have desktop and have had nothing but positive things to say about it. There have been a few times I go bigger than the limits and have to tile but not many.
You can actually cheat the 25 inch limit by a bit if you use tile overlap on the first tile. It can be up to 1.5 inch overlap which technically gives you one tile workspace up to 26.5 inches.
With this “cheat” in mind, if you have a 1000mm length machine, you can really only cut with vcarve pro a piece that is about 5 inches longer than desktop before the machines limitations require you to tile anyways.
It makes much more sense on a machine that is larger the typical sizes found in this community.
