Carvewright Problems

[William OConnell]

The carriage that rides back and for the on the rails had a screw break off about 6 months ago and I put the machine on the shelf out of pure frustration with chronic breakdowns and errors.
I decided to again try it. I just got off the phone with hardware support and they told me "your machine is obsolete we no longer support those"
I remember when I bought this I was told I would have support for life. What happened to that? Its run for 8 hours and I worked on errors and breakdowns for well over 60 man hours with carvewight.

Wow certainly not commerce with morality I can tell you that

Any way, here I am trying to fix this thing. It has a screw that sheered off. Can anyone identify this. Probably metric.
I'm hoping that another owner has had a similar breakdown and as myself with carvewright they have you try and fix it yourself via email or phone conversations,

Any help would be appreciated.
Be well

http://woodworkers.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2098&g2_serialNumber=2

Side view
http://woodworkers.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2101&g2_serialNumber=2

Heres one more of the carriage itself, I got the screw out The top and bottom use two different screws, why? who knows
http://woodworkers.us/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2104&g2_serialNumber=2

[george wilson]

I see an off center phillips head screw,but cannot tell what is broken off. Can you explain more carefully? I may be able to help you.I have a complete machine shop as well as wood.

Send me a PM lest I forget to look this thread up.

[Jon Grider]

Sorry about your problems. Also sorry I can offer no help. Thanks for the info though, I can now cross that machine off my wish list.

[Karl Brogger]

Good to know these aren't the most durable machines. I haven't read anything too positive about these. I was thinking about buying one to make wooden rudders for boats, sounds like something designed for heavier service may be in order. Price is about right though.

[Brent Smith]

Maybe I'm behind the times, but haven't these things been on the market for just a few years? How can a company that sells you a $2000 machine (their only product as far as I know) not "support that machine". Looks to me like another gimmick I'll cross off my wish list.

If my assumptions about time line or other products they produce are wrong I will stand corrected, but not change my mind about buying one.

[Bruce Page]

It looks like an eccentric cam adjustment for the roller wheel. I’m assuming that the damaged screw goes through the roller. It’s hard to tell with out measuring but it looks like a standard ¼-28, 82º Phillips flathead and you just need to remove the bad screw and replace it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the screw has a Loctite type thread locker from the factory.

I was very interested in the Carvewright when it first came out but after reading about all of the different problems with it I’m glad that I never bit the bullet on one. It’s a cool idea though.

[Craig Johnson]

It would probably be a good idea to try again at their customer service and speak to a supervisor or manager.
Sometimes if you are agressive about your issue you might get some results.
I must agree a 2000.00 machine should have a little better answer than that.

[AL Ursich]

Sorry to hear you ran into a stone wall asking for HELP.... This is NOT GOOD.... I am a happy CarveWright user and have 3 machines. Machine 3 is down and needs some parts and I sometimes use it for parts.

The GOOD NEWS is that the bearing you hold in your hand IS available to purchase as a replacement part. I just received $700.63 worth of spare parts for my Summer Sign Season. I know the machine well enough that I bought the common parts that wear out.

I think that your machine might be one of the BETA machines that were part of the first 200 or so sold. I know I saw some postings where they were taking the machines in trade for a refurbished Newer model.

The Flex Shaft being all metal looks different and does the Z Truck that is the piece that the Bearing broke off of.

The Eccentric bearings are located on the right side and the left side has Center Drilled bearings. To remove or install the Z Truck you use a wrench to back off or tighten the Eccentric. I have snapped about 3 screws until I learned the correct method to install them. The eccentric is designed that when in the max closed it will hold the Z to the rails.

You can ORDER the Bearing the part number is MWM A2020 Roller Bearing Adjustable Assembly with screws. The price is $10.00 each plus shipping that is usually $15.00 minimum. I always order more than one part to save on shipping.

To remove the bearing or loosen the top one you need to use a screwdriver to HOLD the screw. If you try to turn the screw it WILL STRIP and you will then need to DRILL IT Out.... I know....

You hold the screw and use a thin flat wrench like a Bicycle Wrench to loosen the bearing. I will give you the installation trick now so you know.

To tighten them, I mark the flat spot of the nut on the bearing with nail polish. This will let you see the CORRECT Flat of the bearing when it is in it's FULL Closed position. Let it dry.

Then install the bearing with the screw into the hole and put a bit of blue locktite on the screw. You then screw the screw to snug up the screw while holding the wrench. You are just making it SNUG so you won't strip it. Check and make sure you have the marked FLAT facing out. Then holding the screw back off the wrench 1/8 of a turn.... This is the Critical part... Now snug the screw again then holding the screw turn the nut back the 1/8 inch turn to tighten it. TOO LOOSE and the bearing will rotate and loosen up... TOO TIGHT and you will cause a partial SNAP of the screw like your bearing. It will fail THEN or later.... It is a FEEL that took me 3 snaps to find.

So you CAN get this machine operational.....

BUT......

It really needs some main parts that were upgraded in later versions.....

The Z Truck might be different now, the Top Hat where the Flex is plugged in is different now.

The Z Truck's now have a washer on the bearing screw on the one that is broken as the TAPER of the Casting have been known to BREAK or CRACK when the tightened as the casting is too thin.

The Z Motor and Flat Cable to the Z. It is a 16 pin cable on your unit and a Z Bundle is available to replace the Z Motor and it supplies a new 14 pin cable and circuit board. This heavier wires in the 14 pin cable gives better Z Acton and LESS Stalling.

I would expect you would want the New Flex Cable as it is better... $75.00 for that but I am not sure how the Cut Motor end is set up on the BETA machine.... YOU need a different Top Hat on the top of the Z Truck I think....

SO the parts to upgrade your machine are out there, "I THINK"......

If it were me, I would ask about a trade in and upgrade to a refurbished unit. Ask for a Supervisor.....

I am here to help. My contact info in in my Profile along with my web page. My web page has my Phone Number too.

Good Luck,

AL

I had a left bearing screw loosen and pulled the bearing rubber shield from the bearing before I got the Z Truck off. Learning.....:eek:


I post at the CarveWright Forum as digitalwoodshop and have over 2000 posts. I am a Mr. Fix it when it comes to this machine.

[AL Ursich]

From what I am hearing all the BETA machine owners were contacted and offered a trade in deal as the BETA machines were the First Production Batch and it must be close to 3 years old. I have had my first unit over 2 years. You may have missed the letter.

As I posted, the part is a available. Since the screw is still sticking out of the bearing a 25 cent fix is in order. Heat the bearing with a hair dryer to loosen the Locktite on the screw stub. Once you get it out, check out the collection of Metric Screws at the BORG Big Box Store.

As I understand the Warranty, 1 year or 200 Cut Motor Hours. Some parts are not covered by warranty. I and many others have had great customer service with the unit.

Good Luck,

AL

[Don Bullock]

...
The GOOD NEWS is that the bearing you hold in your hand IS available to purchase as a replacement part. I just received $700.63 worth of spare parts for my Summer Sign Season. I know the machine well enough that I bought the common parts that wear out.

...

Let me get this right. You have three machines at $2,000 each and now you're spending another $700 on parts that wear out on a regular basis.:eek: Like the others a CarveRight just got eliminated from my wish list. I'll now be much more satisfied with my hand carving with chisels.

[William OConnell]

From what I am hearing all the BETA machine owners were contacted and offered a trade in deal as the BETA machines were the First Production Batch and it must be close to 3 years old. I have had my first unit over 2 years. You may have missed the letter.

As I posted, the part is a available. Since the screw is still sticking out of the bearing a 25 cent fix is in order. Heat the bearing with a hair dryer to loosen the Locktite on the screw stub. Once you get it out, check out the collection of Metric Screws at the BORG Big Box Store.

As I understand the Warranty, 1 year or 200 Cut Motor Hours. Some parts are not covered by warranty. I and many others have had great customer service with the unit.

Good Luck,

AL


Hi Al
Thanks for your response.
Yes I got the letter. "The Trade in Deal" that you reffered to didn't strike me as a "deal" I wanted to make. After paying them $2000 for the machine that didn't work they say just send us another $500 and we'll send you another one. I found it offensive quite honestly.
So lets you and I clear it up. The machine I have ran for a total of 16 hours, thats not to say it completed 16 hours worth of products because mostly it would break down for SOOOO many different reasons in the middle of a project, it astounds me. Rendering my time into that project wasted, let alone the material. For me time is money.

It was returned to Houston and came back with some epoxy on it where one of the wires had broken off.

The very first run I did upon recieving it, you guessed it z axis stall while I was on the phone with tech support.

There were just to many hours of trying to fix it and phone calls to type here. The last breakdown was the snapped carbon screw. I would guess it was the last of about 20 to 30. I just didn't have another several hours to deal with it at the time, so it sat for 6 months or so. It ended up being a pretty quick and simple fix for this machine compared to the others , but I'm still not sure if the truck rails are damaged. . But heres the thing, I'm afraid to run a project because I'm not a gambling man, but if I was odds would be at 100 to 1 it fails for yet another reason. Its actually astounding how many ways one machine can fail to operate. My time is precious to me. I have a family to support. I have allot of woodworking machines Al, more than most on this forum.
My last call this week was typical except for the original tech guy told me my machines obsolete and the parts are not available. Its odd, for a $2000 machine to become obsolete in 2 years but thats what i was told. I asked for a supervisor who talked my ear off and said she would call me back. She did, she said she talked to the Vice president and he knows the machines like the back of his hand. He wanted me to send the screw back so he could look at it and see what size it was so he could send me a replacement screw, you know that 25cent part you mentioned.

Heres the thing the truck has 4 screws. The guy who knows the machine like the back of his hand needs to see the screw to know the size? The VP? the kid at my hardware store helped me its 4mm, maybe you can tell him thats the size for me.
I do appreciate your post, I really do. I'm also glad you are getting use out of your machine and making money with it. You seem very nice.
However Al, I'm really nice too. You mention how many have gotten great support. I can assure you I got support but no real help. There are MANY like me regarding this machine, thats a true statement.
I posted on the Carvewright forum , One of the moderators locked the thread saying "Something doesn't sound right here".
"Lets here the other side of the story and Carvewright will work it out with you"
Hey Al, can you tell him Carvewright didn't work it out with me if you talk to him? I'd appreciate it.
I hope this doesn't sound like a rant of an angry man, because I'm past that.
All I can say is shame on them.
Commerce with morality is alive and well in the US. I practice it everyday
Just not at Carvewright in my opinion.
Best Regards and be well AL.

[AL Ursich]

William, I was impressed with your website and the Quality of your work. I can see where the CarveWright could be an asset. Sadly your right that I wouldn't trust the machine at this point. The first thing that I would replace is the Z Motor with the new Z Bundle. It changes out the thinner 16 pin flat cable with a 14 pin cable with thicker wires. The change was made after they removed the 2 wires for the probe from the Z Truck that is the 1/8 inch jack. The probe data is now plugged into the jack on the left side of the machine with an adapter. The thicker wires help with the current to the Z Motor and has less of a problem with stalling.

The early units also had a problem with the Z Encoder on the back of the Z Motor. The plug on the encoder board has solder pads. Experience has taught me that the solder pads can crack due to vibration where the copper lead exits the pad. (I worked for Sony for 8 years, 4 fixing Play Stations and stuff.) I believe that is what was happening. I bought machine 2 broken, knowing I could fix it. The New Z Bundle helps cut down on the broken Encoder problems. The cutting bit makes high speed vibration.

I spent the afternoon and evening cutting signs and the machine worked fine, I have not used it for 4 weeks.... I heated the shop and used a hair dryer to warm the Z Spindle Bearings since the shop was only 50.

I saw your post today on the CarveWright Forum and that it was closed. Sent you a PM.

Sorry to hear you got the confusing answer about the screw, that was not right....

Don,

I have 3 machines and when the sign rush hit last summer I put allot of hours on the machines making MONEY. My down time was limited because I had a 3rd machine to steal parts from.

The QC or Quick Connector that holds the bits is a mechanical device with 3 ball bearings holding the bit holder inside the chuck. Over time, the flat mating surfaces on the QC and the bit holders wear. At 10K RPM it does not take much time for the wobble to get to the point that it puts BB marks in the holders. We are talking 200 hours of carving, so I keep a few QC's in stock. Once the QC wears, it puts BB marks in the holders. If you replace the QC and don't replace any worn Bit holders, the worn Bit Holders in a NEW QC will Flop around and wear the QC is a short time.

I have found that you need to replace the QC and all bad holders. THEN you will get 200 hours out of a QC. Many are just replacing the QC and NOT the bit holders and find the QC going bad in 30 hours. OR they replace the worn bit holders and NOT the QC and I have seen with my own eyes, a new bit holder getting BB marks from a bad QC in a 15 minute carve. So it is knowing the machine.

I ordered a bunch of Bit Holders, some Board Detectors, Sand Paper Belts, Carbon Brushes for the Cut Motors, Extra Roller Bearings, Some Cables, and 2 Replacement Z Trucks for the High Speed Bearings of the Spindle. A Easy replacement when the QC needs to be replaced. The QC must be heated to loosen the Locktite and takes time. I can do it later not during a rush project.

So the $700.63 in parts are almost ALL Consumable parts, Parts that wear out in my opinion for 3 machines. Plus I have been known to supply parts to my local user friends who are in need.... I have 7 machines in a 50 mile radius.

It's a business for me..... I made 3/4 of my $10K Business income last year with the Carve Machines.

If I could Swing it, I would love to own William's machine but my cash flow is very low now, I expect it to pick up soon.

I will be using my Machine #2 to cut Fire Tags from Sheet Stock soon with a Vacuum Sled. Fire Accountability Tags are a big part of my Business too and 2 sided blanks are not available and I plan to cut my own with the CarveWright.

This really is the little machine that COULD.... I am just sorry that William is not getting the support that meets his needs. LHR is getting tighter with the money, a point that I have also seen. They need to stay in business.

AL

I have posted pictures and my opinion on the following links too.:D

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=75307

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=97967

[Don Bullock]

Al, thanks for the clarification on the parts issue. I could never justify such a purchase that has parts that need to be replaced at that rate, especially one that I paid $2000 for. In your case I can see that you're able to make money with the CarveRights you have. I guess if I ever must have something carved by one I'll find someone like you to do the work.

[AL Ursich]

Al, thanks for the clarification on the parts issue. I could never justify such a purchase that has parts that need to be replaced at that rate, especially one that I paid $2000 for. In your case I can see that you're able to make money with the CarveWright you have. I guess if I ever must have something carved by one I'll find someone like you to do the work.

I have over 800 and 500 carving hours on machine 1 and 2 so like a car, things do wear out.

In the latest versions of the software they slowed down the feed rate to cut down on the heavy vibration and make for a slightly slower but smoother carving. I like the changes.

There is a flex shaft running the cutting head and even though the instructions are clear how to do it and what is the proper lubricant. Some people either fail to lubricate it or over lubricate it. Over lubrication causes oil to work it's way into the top of the spindle and it gets into the high speed bearings and causes heat and failure of the bearings. The oil burn up and gets black and hard at 10K RPM.

So many of the problems with the QC and Flex Shaft are what we call Pilot Error. Many people make a first post on the forum saying that the head is cranked all the way up and now it just clicks and won't go down... The operation manual clearly states that this will happen if the head is cranked too high and to use the hole in the jacking screw and a 1/8 inch allen or drill bit to rotate the shaft and start it on it's way down.

That just shows they never opened the manual. This is a High Tech piece of equipment and you need to read the operation manual.

AL

[george wilson]

There is a flex shaft to run the cutting head? I am a toolmaker,and machinist,and that in itself sounds like poor design. All flex shafts are prone to wear and need replacement.Was the weight of the motor on the Z axis the reason they went to a flex shaft?

I also notice there seem to be no wipers on the Z axis rods. How do you not get chips caught between the grooved bearings and the round shafts they run on? Is that why the screw broke?

Mind you,I haven't seen one of these machines in person,just asking these questions.

[AL Ursich]

George,

Good Questions. The Motor is in the back and the head is driven by a Flex Shaft. My first impression when I thought of it was "Micky Mouse !!!" but.... After I used it I see no disadvantage to the flex shaft. I just cut a few signs today with the 3/8 bit .100 deep and it did it in one pass and you could hear the machine straining, it cut just fine. Same with the V90.

They did it for weight, the 3 drives, Y and Z are Servo controlled using a gear box and rubber cog drive belt. A Motor would be heavier to move. The X Drive uses the same motor but has more gearing to drive the board through the machine and make X movement when Vector Cutting.

The only failure of the flex drive was when I kinked it last summer when it sat in the hot sun and the rubber was warm and I rough handled it in a hurry and kinked the metal spring inside the rubber housing. The Metal to metal caused the rubber to melt and almost catch on fire.


As for the Rail Wipers, the black snap on C Clip thing he is holding in his hand is the rail wiper. I have removed my wipers and have not had any problems.

AL

[george wilson]

Thanks Al,but there is still a gap between the wipers and the bearing.Right down there where one of the messiest power tools in creation is throwing chips everywhere. Why didn't they use enclosed linear bearings? I'm making a carving machine,and my linear bearings have a snug little wiper around the ends of the bearings,like a squeegee.

[Glen Blanchard]

Sheesh. I thought I wanted one of these once (a couple of years ago). For every happy customer, I have read the toils and regrets of 9 or 10 others.....at 2 grand per pop no less!! IMO, these things were not (and maybe still are not??) ready for prime time. Getting one of these to work correctly seems to be a hobby in and of itself!!

[george wilson]

I haven't had one,but I think it seems like more research and development needs to be done. I still think the chips can work mischief,and I don't care for the flex shaft. Must be a better way.

[AL Ursich]

It is a hobby grade machine. As for the wipers on the rails, when the bearing rotates it rotates the wiper and it contacts the rail. When it changes directions it moves to the other side. I removed my wiper clips last year and have not had any problems. I keep an eye on the machine and wipe the rails when needed. I also have a upper and lower dust collection.

Enclosed Linear bearings add cost to the machine. This design works fine. The Flex Shaft does a good job and lets smaller servo motors be used. This is a servo not a stepper system with encoders.

I worked in production as a Electro Mechanic at the Sony Picture Tube in San Diego with Fanuc Robots and PLC controlled automation. If I were designing this machine the only change I would make is more room in the spindle area to install a dust collection boot.

And your right that there are a bunch of unhappy users and all I can do is post helping answerer to help them deal with the issues. You can't please everyone. In my case the glass is half full.

Part of the problem was Sears bought a very large block of machines at a deep discount and as the machines were getting out there the problems started showing up like the vibrating connection on the Z Encoder, and the vibrating L2 coil in the power supply. This caused a lot of problems for people. For the most part the parts were replaced by LHR free.

I live with the limitations of the machine and use the many capabilities to my advantage in my business. Yes, I would like to own a Shop Bot too. You can't have everything. Not everyone had $10K to buy tools. For the money $2K, it does a pretty good job.

With my dust hood, it stays in when I change bits. It is made from Copper Circuit Board material.


AL:rolleyes:

[Steve Ladatto]

Hello all:

My Carvewright just burned up a flex shaft yesterday. I have been on the net, but suprisingly, haven't found a source for a replacement. I'm pretty sure I saw one on the CW site a while back, but can't find it now. I have read many posts about the lubrication techniques that help the shaft run cooler. Are there any other parts that I should replace at this juncture? The machine has 64 hours of carve-time. Everything else has been OK with the machine, up to now...
Thanks in advance
Steve

[Ken Massingale]

Hello all:

My Carvewright just burned up a flex shaft yesterday. I have been on the net, but suprisingly, haven't found a source for a replacement. I'm pretty sure I saw one on the CW site a while back, but can't find it now. I have read many posts about the lubrication techniques that help the shaft run cooler. Are there any other parts that I should replace at this juncture? The machine has 64 hours of carve-time. Everything else has been OK with the machine, up to now...
Thanks in advance
Steve
Call Carvewright for the flexshaft. Have you visited the Carvewright users forum?

[Steve Ladatto]

Ken,

I have read some of the posts on the Carvewright forum. I sent them an email the same time I posted on SMC. I am still awaiting a response. Thanks for the reply.

Steve