Visit to Carvewright (long w/pics)

[Cecil Arnold]

I was interested in this handy little gadget long before the thread first showed up here a week or so ago. I had thought that having your own miniature CNC router for small work would be something to consider for enhancing small boxes and such, so I kept them in the back of the gray matter until the thread started.

Today I contacted Carvewright and asked if it would be okay to stop by for a closer look. When I arrived I was introduced to Chris Lovchik, Pres. & CEO of LHR Technologies. Chris is a carver, among other things, along with a background of working in the NASA robotics group. LHR appears to be a start-up that has some innovative woodworking ideas. They currently manufacturer a quick change router chuck that fits PC routers and is also adapted to the Carvewright machine. I think the question on everyone's mind is: is it as good as a hand carved piece. No, but so close you would have to be a reasonable accomplished woodworker to know the difference. While I was there, Chris took the time to do a demonstration for me. He produced a design, sized it, added an overlay to make the design more intricate, adjusted the depth of cut, saved the design to a memory card, and cut it in a piece of pine.

As I said this is a start-up and they currently have over 100 units in the field. One thing I saw was units being readied for delivery. They all had check lists attached and were being bench tested. Chris told me that they were insuring that any minor problems users discovered in the field were being addressed before the new units were sent out. He appears to want satisfied customers and to insure good customer service. I was told that of the delivered units there have not been any major problems and that everyone seemed happy with their units. Most problems have been handled over the phone.

I also saw one of the new features that is in testing. It is a scan probe that is mounted in the router head and will scan a pattern held on the work table. The piece being scanned was a Christmas angle ornament. For the technically minded, minimum stock is 1/4", although there are work arounds for that. Maximum is 5 1/2" and width is 14 1/2". The length is limited by weight, as the unit is set to move 20 lbs, so boards up to 8' would be possible. It appears that with the scan probe it would be possible to copy moldings that are no longer in production. Someone like Alen Turner might be able to do clamshells and clean them up by hand if needed. My feeling is that the usefulness of the machine is only limited by the physical size of the piece and the woodworker's imagination.

The first two pictures are an Anrondac chair made with the CW. The machines being checked. Two pics of work in the office.

[Cecil Arnold]

More pics of output, these are some backroom experiments. The machine at rest. The LED panel that leads you through start up. The machine working. And finally the output.

I do not work for Carvewright, nor am I being compensated in any way for my favorable opinion.

[Vaughn McMillan]

Thanks for the quick review, Cecil. Definitely an interesting machine, and if I was in the business of selling wood stuff, I'd seriously be looking at invseting in it or something similar.

- Vaughn

[Jim Hager]

Cecil, from what you saw there are you personally sold on the unit?? I have a bunch of questions that I could ask for sure but I will only ask a couple to keep from taking up your time. How many router bit changes are necessary in a typical carving??? Did the machine hold the material in place as it should or was there some unwanted movement of the material being machined??

Thanks in advance for your input and thanks for going to look at the machine.

[Cecil Arnold]

Jim, I think I want one, price is the major hold up as I retired a year or so ago. The carving I observed being done used a single bit. It was, as I recall, a 1/16" "V" shaped, solid carbide bit. We took a 1/8" bit out and I don't know what the machine had been doing to require that. Material is held in place on the left (index) side of the carriage by a sliding "fence" that is lockable. The "fence" is not snugged but should be a sliding fit. One thing I was warned about was using stock that is not square, since it can cause the unit to lock up in feeding. The top rollers hold the material down between the fence and side index, and there is a small toothed brass wheel that feeds the stock through the machine. While the test piece I observed did not require bit changes, the program will stop the machine and prompt you to change bits if required. Another thing that was stressed is that (obviously) you must have the correct bit in when you start and the machine will prompt you to insure this.

Other things I left our: the processor is a Motorola 68000 series, the software uses raster graphics, they are continuing to develop software for designs, the current software can "dome" material, and you can download a demo copy of the software from their site.

Feel free to ask anything else you may want to know. I'm not shy about saying "I don't know" if that's the case, or guessing if I think I have an answer.

[Andy Hoyt]

Cecil - Thanks. That thing is still very cool.

Here's my question - What are the minimum cross sections and lengths that this beast can accommodate?

[Lee DeRaud]

Other things I left our: the processor is a Motorola 68000 series, the software uses raster graphics, they are continuing to develop software for designs, the current software can "dome" material, and you can download a demo copy of the software from their site.

That sounds ominous: if this widget isn't controllable in vector mode by CorelDraw or AutoCAD, it's going to be a complete non-starter for a largish chunk of its potential market.

[Bruce Page]

Cecil, thanks for the post - this thing is cool!
Is the a dust collection port? Is it loud like a typical router?

[nic obie]

It's been a long time since I've 'needed' a new tool, but I've ordered one of these.

I don't think that they have a chip collecter hood yet, but have been assured that it's not a big problem. (check out their answer on the carvewright forum)

Lee, why do think that not using Autocad will be a problem? Is the Motorola chip prone to failure? Is that your concern?

If I have to learn a new software proggie would the CarveWright software be harder to learn than others you mentioned?

[Lee DeRaud]

Lee, why do think that not using Autocad will be a problem? Is the Motorola chip prone to failure? Is that your concern?

If I have to learn a new software proggie would the CarveWright software be harder to learn than others you mentioned?

I'm not so concerned with "not using AutoCAD" as I am with "raster-mode only", with the added concern of proprietary software. Neither of these concerns has anything to do with the chip.

It sounds like their software would be rather easy to learn, but it looks (on the web-site at least) to be rather limited in functionality.

[Cecil Arnold]

Andy, it will do a 14 1/2" wide by up to 5 1/2" high piece and the length is not a limiting factor so much as weight, since it can only transport 20 lbs. I don't think you would have trouble with a 1X12 up to say 8".

Bruce, it has a dust catcher, much like the PC ROS. This acts more like a muffler, but there is a small amount of air flow to it in order to keep the laser (which sees the board to find the edges) clear. If you really wanted dust control you would have to rig up something like a down draft table since most of the dust falls to the open bottom.

Lee, I'm also not overly excited about raster, however it seems to be tight enough to not matter very much. I may be mistaken, but I equate raster to bit mapped. If that is the case, then it is a very tight raster, but then I'm not sure what I'm talking about on that. I suggest you down load their software package and see what you think.

Nic, from what I saw collection is not a big deal. It appears (and I want to stress appears) that most fine dust is routed to the dust bag (like a ROS) and the larger (and they are not very large) pieces fall out the bottom of the machine. My feeling is that even a home made downdraft table would be overkill. Thanks for the PM.

[Allen Grimes]

Thanks Cecil,

I am definately buying one of these as soon as I can afford one and have everything else I need. Hopefully by then they will have all the bugs worked out.

One question Cecil, I looked at the website already, but I am still kind of confused.

Can you make your own designs from scratch or do you have to mix up their pre-made crap?

[nic obie]

I'm not so concerned with "not using AutoCAD" as I am with "raster-mode only", with the added concern of proprietary software. Neither of these concerns has anything to do with the chip.

It sounds like their software would be rather easy to learn, but it looks (on the web-site at least) to be rather limited in functionality.

Hi Lee,

After reading the FAQs on their website it appears that the software does support vector programing (did I say that right?).

I'm concerned about your "limited in functionality" comment, however I guess I'll have to wait until my machine gets here before I can say more on that subject.

nic

[Allen Grimes]

Hi Lee,

After reading the FAQs on their website it appears that the software does support vector programing (did I say that right?).

I'm concerned about your "limited in functionality" comment, however I guess I'll have to wait until my machine gets here before I can say more on that subject.

nic

Nic,

Please do a review when you get yours up and running, Im seriously interested in the capabilities of this machine

[Cecil Arnold]

Allen, I know you can do 2D drawings and cut them but I'm not sure if you can manipulate the drawing beyond that. Guess the best thing to do is send them an e-mail. Sorry I couldn't give you a better answer.