Xcarve

[thinfourth]

Ac
If you do build it yourself it's worth trying to source a local suppliers of aluminium extrusion so you can get it cut and drilled as you need it, I live next to KJN and it was invaluable being able to actually drive there to have the parts processed.

Why would i do that?

I have a big metal cutting bandsaw, a colchester student lathe and a bridgeport milling machine.

And if i make a machine it will be made from steel as it is cheap and easy to join together

[Desertboy]

shocking how fragile the gantry is, his little finger!

skip to 3:14

but watch the whole video to get an good idea of both shapeoko and xcarve.

[thinfourth]

I have decided the X-carve is completely useless as you have pointed out it is far too weak and wobbly for the hard work of machining large lumps of aluminium or working 24/7 cutting out commercial products

Unless you have a budget of about £10K or more it is a waste of time

An X-carve is only really useful for light work like cutting out some small signs or the odd small thing

So i have upped my budget to £10K

So

Can anyone recommend a machine for £10K that can be used for light work like cutting out some small signs or the odd small thing

[Desertboy]

A little extreme lol, if you want to get an Xcarve just get one no need to defend it but seriously check out the shapeoko 3 first as they are about the same price and the Xcarve is a shapeoko v2 check out it's history and the differences.

Version 3 is a lot more solid than the Xcarve but has minor wobble in the Z axis, Xcarve has more flex in the gantry but more solid Z axis.

Personally if I had to choose between the 2 I would go with the shapeoko v3 and remake the Z axis plate to be solid which a lot of people do. You really should check out the shapeoko forums and Xcarve forums to really get an idea of what you can do with one.

[Diysurgeon]

Not sure what is wrong with the Xcarve shown in that video but my Xcarve certainly does not flex anything like that!