Xcarve

[thinfourth]

I am near aberdeen in scotland.

I'd love to go have a look at a machine.

However

The Xcarve is attractive as it will turn up 90% ready to roll as someone will of done the bit of spacing stuff already and it comes with a support line.

It is under £2k and once i have used it i can either sell it on fleabay for not much less than i paid for it if it turns out to be not for me.

If it does turn out to be what i am looking for then i can learn from running it and then build something better.

I am not expecting it to be faultless and it looks about as stiff as lightly cooked spaghetti.

I am not looking for it to do anything too heavy as for metals etc I have a ton of manual Bridgeport which can power through all manners of heavy stuff

[Diysurgeon]

I have seen a couple of second hand Xcarve on EBay for under £1000. Mine has been a great starter machine. It has its limits a lot depends on what you want to use it for. I have had no problems machining hardwoods, MDF etc. I know some owners have made modifications to strengthen theirs and have the capability to machine aluminium. A must is to add or make a dust extraction for it. I made a dust boot for mine (on the xcarve) connected to the extraction system for my bench saw, belt sander etc. Also it can be very noisy as it uses either a dewalt or makita router. I haven't but again some have created elaborate housings to reduce the noise and collect dust. Might be worth looking on the inventibles forum/website.

[thinfourth]

Noise is not an issue

I live in the middle of nowhere and have an air compressor that can wake the dead ( but not the wife)

Dust will be an issue no matter what i buy.

interested in what they go on fleabay but the issue is getting it from englandshire to the wilds of scotland as most folk shy away from getting stuff ready to ship.

[Desertboy]

Dust will be an issue no matter what i buy.

Make a cyclone and dust shoe pair with a cheap vacuum cleaner, you can use the X carve to make a dust shoe or 3d print one.

Dewalt router will have more run off than a Chinese spindle I would definitely look into a spindle I know shapeoko's can be modified easily not so sure about Xcarves. Price is not a lot different between the Dewalt router and Chinese spindle but with a spindle you have speed control via the VFD.

[Desertboy]

An Xcarve would cost you around £1500 specced with a dewalt router I'd consider doubling the budget and going for this instead if you really don't want to build one yourself.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-axis-cnc...m/182705914406

This would be a far far more capable machine and turnkey.

[thinfourth]

Saw that on eBay.

The only way it could look more lashed together was if it featured duct tape and sticky back plastic. I have distinct feelings that is someone's abandoned project

And it is double the cost of an xcarve for 100mm extra room.

I don't see any advantage

[Desertboy]

Saw that on eBay.

The only way it could look more lashed together was if it featured duct tape and sticky back plastic. I have distinct feelings that is someone's abandoned project

And it is double the cost of an xcarve for 100mm extra room.

I don't see any advantage

There's 10 available it's not a project lol, with a proper Mach 3 license and PC, supported rails, 2010 ballscrews and a welded steel frame. This is like 20 times more rigid for a start.

And you don't see the advantage!

Admittedly they didn't picture it properly lol but I think your misunderstanding the differences between both machines they are a world apart.

If I didn't build my own I would have bought one of these but not too hot on supported rail instead of Hiwin's but supported rail is still a hell of a lot better than makerslide style linear rails.

The difference is staggering obvious to me ones made of steel with proper linear slides, ballscrew drives and a real spindle the other is belt driven, has skateboard bearings for a linear slide very weak 20mm aluminium frame and a home router bolted onto it.

[thinfourth]

Make a cyclone and dust shoe pair with a cheap vacuum cleaner, you can use the X carve to make a dust shoe or 3d print one.

Dewalt router will have more run off than a Chinese spindle I would definitely look into a spindle I know shapeoko's can be modified easily not so sure about Xcarves. Price is not a lot different between the Dewalt router and Chinese spindle but with a spindle you have speed control via the VFD.

Is runout a major issue with wood?

If can see it being an issue with metal and tight tolerances.