It's here........

[Mark Marzluf]

Ordered a CompuCarve and I picked it up a couple hours ago.

Should be pretty cool once I get familiar with it.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/9102838/223371582.jpg

[Tom Henry]

Can't wait to hear some feedback... Congrats...

[Ted Miller]

Looks way to nice to get all dusty and chippy. Yes please let us know how it works for you...

[Rick LoDico]

You've had it all this time and no pictures of your work yet?:)

[Mark Singer]

Mark, Congradulations....when you start cooking post some of the recipes and show some of the dishes:rolleyes:

[Chris Rosenberger]

It looks nice Mark. How big of a piece can be run through it?

[Mark Marzluf]

14-3/4" wide (or 14-1/2" I forget) X 5" thick X 144" long. Course, they say that weight can be a limit as well... Not sure what the weight limit is, but the traction drive has to be able to move the piece in and out..

[Dan Gill]

Mark, Congradulations....when you start cooking post some of the recipes and show some of the dishes:rolleyes:

It does look like the offspring of a planer and an Easy-Bake oven . . .

[Chris Rosenberger]

14-3/4" wide (or 14-1/2" I forget) X 5" thick X 144" long. Course, they say that weight can be a limit as well... Not sure what the weight limit is, but the traction drive has to be able to move the piece in and out..

Mark it will not work for the project I was thinking of. I was wondering about hollowing out chair seats. I guess they could be done in halves.

[Mark Marzluf]

Oh....... probably not due to the size of the seat..

For those, you need one of these... ;)

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/9102838/186856310.jpg

[Chris Rosenberger]

How does that work?

[Jim Becker]

You've had it all this time and no pictures of your work yet?:)

Geepers, Rick...at least let him have a cupa joe while he quickly glances at the cover of the manual or something...!! :D :D :D

[Mark Marzluf]

Ok...... here's a sample. Cherry piece 9" Wide 4" tall and 3/4" thick. Carving time was 54 min according to the software.

The fuzziness is just that, some left over fuzz on the edges that will come right off with 220. I just wanted to show it as it came off the machine.

I'll play with it some more tomorrow and give a review with additional pics.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/9102838/223456555.jpg

[Pete Brown]

Very cool

Does it do a raster translation of the image, or does it do pocketing and contouring? Raster is a constant left-to-right routing of the image while varying the Z depth.

I have a CNC setup with a Sherline mill (http://www.irritatedvowel.com/Railroad/Workshop/CNCAndCasting.aspx). The work envelope is significantly smaller than your CarveRight, though.

Pete

[Al Navas]

THAT is pretty cool, Mark! I look forward to the comprehensive review.

It will be interesting to see if it will do a small medallion that can be inserted into a workpiece, as your signature. Maybe something around 2-inch diameter, with a logo, the date, and your signature on the edges?


.

[Corey Hallagan]

Sweet! Congrats Mark!

Corey

[David Mueller]

The fuzziness is just that, some left over fuzz on the edges that will come right off with 220. I just wanted to show it as it came off the machine.

Mark,

I scrolling, sometime they burn off the fuzzies with a light pass with a torch.
I've done this a few time and it's worked well. Don't know if your fuzz is the same. Enjoy the cool tool.

[Mark Marzluf]

Ok........ here's a piece from the carver today. Could be used as a box lid very easily.

I brushed off the fuzzies with a brass brush, then applied a coat of gel stain just for depth and highlighting.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/791874/9102838/223617116.jpg

[Alex Berkovsky]

Mark,
That's amazing! Out of curiousity, how is the pattern programmed into the CNC router?
BTW, anything happening with your router jig?

[Mark Marzluf]

Thanks Alex.

The machine comes with a design software. Very easy to use. After designing, you save the project to the memory card, take the card out to the machine and and carve away..

As for the router jig. I may have some VERY big news on that later in the year. I'm in talks with a company in California. ;)

[Pete Brown]

The machine comes with a design software. Very easy to use. After designing, you save the project to the memory card, take the card out to the machine and and carve away..


Mark, if you get a chance, can you post a closeup and/or very large image of that carving? I'm very curious about resolution and if there are any "step" marks in the routing.

Pete

[Al Navas]

NOW you have gone and done it, Mark!!! LOML wants one of those too. I wonder if the account can handle it? :D

How long did it take to make this little project?
Did you use a template that came with the software to make this?
At this point, do you know if you were to start from scratch, could you reproduce something like this quite easily? In other words, while the software might be easy, is it intuitive enough that one could do this fairly easily?
Would something like SketchUp be able to produce output that then becomes input to a design to be produced by this machine?As you see, I am totally ignorant about this machine... But I hope to change that soon. Thanks for sharing!


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[Jim Becker]

Mark, impressive results! Using the gel-stain is an interesting idea to show what a glazed piece might look like, too.

[Mark Marzluf]

Thanks guys...

Rather than trying to answer all the questions, check out the posting I did over on WoodNet. The thread goes on pretty long but there's a ton of information there that might help..

xxxx

[Pete Brown]

Thanks guys...
Rather than trying to answer all the questions, check out the posting I did over on WoodNet. The thread goes on pretty long but there's a ton of information there that might help..

Thanks, I found the thread there.

I see it does leave minor rasterizing lines as it does a straight scanline-type (parallel) machining. Some sanding would likely clean most of those up, but it will show up the most on very curved surfaces. Again, it's wood, though, so it should be easy enough to clean off.

If they upgrade it later to include waterline strategies or similar that will eliminate most of that. I have RhinoCAM Pro (http://www.rhinocam.com/Products/Products.shtml) creating toolpaths for my Sherline (http://www.irritatedvowel.com/Railroad/Workshop/RotaryTable.aspx). Since I can't really sand what comes out of it, I use ball-nose end mills with tips as small as 0.005" and even some profiling bits (http://www.bitsbits.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_17&products_id=19) that taper to 0.001". Here's a 0.010" end mill in my mill (the larger one is 1/16 or 1/32, I forget which):

55545
(forgive the watermark, it is from my site)

They're brittle and cost around $20 a piece, so breaking them is painful :p If the Carveright lets you set up new bit profiles, you may be able to use something like that to get even finer detail to do things like coin-writing-sized text. They all have 1/8" shanks.

CNC is very exciting stuff. I look forward to seeing what else you can produce with that

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Very cool Mark! You oughta go into the sign business now...:D

[Tim Malyszko]

Ever since I started seeing the commercials on TV for the Sears CNC, I've wanted one. For some reason, my wife thinks a $1800 toy is a bit excessive:mad: .

Guess I need to figure out how we need one for the office. I know... We can make 3d wood models of our control system's and present them to the customer.

Mark,

Nice work on the Lid. You definately aren't persuading me in the direction away from purchasing one. Maybe one will "just appear" in my garage in the future.

[Mark Singer]

Mark,
Very nice work! I expected cookies:rolleyes: But your name in that Yiddish Font looks just as good:rolleyes:
Actually it is quite an interesting machine with great potential!

[Don Bullock]

Wow!!!! Mark, I'm impressed ---as well as green with envy. I guess, to buy one of these I'll have to save more than just pennies in my budget to afford one. Now I have tio add another "must have" to my list of tools. Thank you for all the information.

[Andy Haney]

I have a friend who bought one, and he says he can't find the serial number anywhere on the machine or literature. That SN is apparently required for the computer program to "fire up" the system. I haven't seen the machine yet. Can any of you who've been through this offer guidance?

Thanks,
Andy