Neat machine

[Lee DeRaud]

Those of you who don't browse the "general woodworking" forum may want to check out this thread:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=31010
(or just go directly to www.carvewright.com (http://www.carvewright.com))

[tod evans]

that`s cool! now i want to hear the shortcomings from you computer/lazer guys????? how long do you think it would take this machine to run say a 4` piece of walnut cutting 1/2" deap? this is a doable thing for the small shop if it`ll hold up and be productive?...02 tod

[Joe Pelonio]

It looks good and very affordable. Some of you people in Texas should go to one of the demos they have scheduled and report back to us. It would definitely go much deeper and more "3D" than out lasers, plus you have the extra length. I wouldn't say that it would replace a laser because I use mine more for plastics than wood, plus it won't do the detailed graphics/photos that we can do, but for a woodworker this could be a much less expensive alternative.

[Zahid Naqvi]

Tod, I am not a carver (as you very well know) or have any experience with lazer machines but I am a computer guy. I am an electrical engineer by training and have worked with robotics in a production environment. My 2c is that if the router/drill inside the machine holds up to the beating there is nothing else that can fail. Considering the size the router/drill can't be more than 1/3 HP. The bits will take a beating, but they can be replaced. The motor should not be stressed too much considering it will only be making shallow surface cuts with lots of breaks in between.
Sounds like a sturdy little bot, and a good investment in a production shop which does a lot of carving. Imagine the time it will save. On the other hand I am not sure how it compares, price vise, with a CNC machine. And it does have physical limitation on the size of stock it can handle. I would also be interested to see how it handles non flat objects, such as a table leg or a corner. If the only thing it can do is flat sheets its scope is already limited.

[Lee DeRaud]

how long do you think it would take this machine to run say a 4` piece of walnut cutting 1/2" deap?No way to tell without trying. Even for lasers, the run-time for jobs can vary wildly with material and/or design, in very unintuitive ways.

Chuck up a 1/8" bit in a laminate trimmer and just rout out a 1/2" deep cavity in the size/shape/wood of your choice: that will probably give you an upper limit on how long it takes. But the key to a machine like this isn't how long it takes to cut a pattern, it's that it can do as many identical copies as you want at that same speed.

The real gotcha for this widget will be the software. Does it interface with (or at least import from) CorelDraw or common CAD packages? Can you tell it to take multiple passes for deep cuts?

I'd also like to see some accuracy/resolution/repeatability specs.

[tod evans]

thanks zahid! i`m not one to jump on the untried so i`ll be watching for some real world input from folks who purchase one but it sure does look handy and the price isn`t bad if it`ll hold up. if you want to drool on your key board look at this:
http://www.scmgroup-usa.com/machines/routers/r200_robot.html
maybe if i win the lottery! .....02 tod

[tod evans]

sorry lee, we where crossing messages, you bring up valid points. i`ve only watched their video and one thing that caught my eye was the "memory" unit, it doesn`t look like an off the shelf item so probably big bucks when you need more? the motor didn`t look like anything i`ve seen so it`s most likely not an off the shelf part either? the concept is one i`ve been rolling around for several years but haven`t been able to figure out how to build one affordably and my computer skills just aren`t up to the task of figuring out the programming... let`s see what folks who use them have to say?.....02 tod

[Lee DeRaud]

if you want to drool on your key board look at this:
http://www.scmgroup-usa.com/machines/routers/r200_robot.html
maybe if i win the lottery! .....02 todJust a bit too big for my garage unfortunately (not to mention my checkbook :eek: ).
For something a bit less industrial, but still drool-worthy:
http://www.rolanddga.com/products/3D/modelers/MDX%2D650/

[Lee DeRaud]

sorry lee, we where crossing messages, you bring up valid points. i`ve only watched their video and one thing that caught my eye was the "memory" unit, it doesn`t look like an off the shelf item so probably big bucks when you need more? the motor didn`t look like anything i`ve seen so it`s most likely not an off the shelf part either?The "memory unit" looks like a PCMCIA card, so it may be possible to substitute a PCMCIA (or CardBus or whatever they're calling it now) flash memory adapter that takes CompactFlash or SD or MemorySticks or whatever. I know they made a big deal of not needing to have a computer in the shop, but I'm hoping they didn't go so far as to not allow a computer to hook directly to it via USB or something.

As far as "off the shelf" is concerned, I know you're used to dealing with things like motors as standardized commodity items, but with something like this, there are going to be some one-off parts involved...just the nature of the beast. That isn't to say the thing is full-custom at the component level, but the parts come from a bit more specialized "shelf" in an industry that doesn't normally want to sell just one of anything.

[Steve Stube]

Joe,

"plus it won't do the detailed graphics/photos that we can do"

Do you mean like this example from the site?

http://www.carvewright.com/images/plastic_carving.jpg

[Cecil Arnold]

I got to see this unit, although it wasn't being operated, at a craft show at the Gilruth Center (NASA Houston). I was impressed with the capability that the Carveright people represented the unit to have. They have done photographs on thin opaque material and it looked fairly detailed in that you could readily tell who the individual was. They had several demo boxes on hand that the unit had done, unfortunately it appeared to have been done in pine which is not a good medium IMHO for crispness. The memory "card" is loaded from your PC and the claim was that it was not expensive. Storage of designs would be on the computer and downloaded to the card as needed. Graphics are bit mapped as I recall, and when I asked about vector was told that it was unnecessary considering the resolution required for the router bit. The carving I saw looked smooth enough to readily sell as carved boxes. Another thing the unit did, and did well, was sign making. These examples were impressive. I was told that at that time (just before Christmas) I could get a unit for about $1500, but the regular price would be about $2000. That is in line with what they are asking. The router motor looks like the small Freud or one of the lam. trimmers, so there is not a lot of power. The only limiting factor I could see was the 15" width. It appears the unit can cut an undetermined length.

[Pete Simmons]

Take a look at

http://scaled.com/services/cms_mill.html

I built an Aircraft some years ago ( Long-EZ ) designed by Burt Rutan.

Today he has the Global Flyer up there trying to get to England tomorrow.
He also built SpaceShip 1 which flew a few months ago into space.

He started small but now has some pretty nice tools, like the 50 foot long CNC machine linked to above.

Yes that is 50 FEET!!!!

[Dean Flannery]

Hi guys,

That machine is basically a fixed gantry router.

They have taken a regular wood planer and removed all the guts, hooked a stepper or servo to the infeed and outfeed rollers and put a computer controlled X and Z axis where the cutterhead used to be.

It performance would be the same as any small gantry router, the depth of cut would be limited by the power of the cutter motor versus the ipm feed rate (ie deeper cuts need a slower feed rate to prevent stalling the motor)

I have 2 5x10 foot gantry routers and they will do everthing this router does although 1 advantage this one has is the rollers holding down the work piece during cuts all the way through the board.

The other advantage is the price, a good quality 24x24 gantry router usually goes for 3-6000+ dollars.

[Matty McQuilkin]

:D I Orded one of these Machines today Ill let you know How Good I think it is in a week or 2

[Shari Loveless]

Matty,
I noticed you ordered one of these machines. I am very interested in getting one but not sure if it is what I can use. I don't necessarily want to use "boxed" designs. Have you tried this thing out yet? How is the software? I downloaded the trial version, but have been too busy to test it out yet. Just thought I'd get input from a fellow laser owner. It seems as though it might take quite a while to do one little sign.
Thanks,
Shari