Does the 1000mm X-Carve still experience sagging and other issues on the X and Y axis? What are the best stiffening mods? How long do most “average” sized jobs take? Are there any other issues I should be aware of?
The x axis seems to be the most trouble i bolted in steel plate but this was only after upgrading the spindle.
Project time depends on alot of factors like size, depth, 3d, 2.5d, or v carve. More detail more time also bit size, material, and feed rate. I have had projects take as little as 60 seconds to around 30 hours broken up into 10 hour days with pausing the machine at the end of each day. I have ran feed rates from 5ipm to 200 ipm. So like i said there are alot of things to consider with the time a project will take. I have had no sagging issues only flex and twist on the x axis.
I used an aluminum T extrusion on the X axis and bolted that between the maker slides. I have no sag and not enough flex or twist to measure. I’m running a Dewalt 611 for my spindle. I supported the Y axis with L brackets like Earwigger did Thoughts on Stiffening mod - #11 by Earwigger>
There is really no such thing as an “average” job. I can cut up a 24 X 24 inch piece of Mdf into parts for 3 by 3 by 5 inch boxes in 20 minutes. Carving a 4 by 5 inch picture into a piece of maple can take an hour. Like Shane said it all depends on what your doing.
One thing you need to be aware of is that this really is a build it yourself project and it will take some adjustment to get it to work properly. If you are careful and choose your mods before you start ( I did the stiffening and changed the way some of the wiring was done during assembly ) you will greatly cut down on the “take it apart and start over” headaches. When you get stuck Inventables customer service is great and the forum has advice on everything you can think of about the machine and plenty of people willing to help.
I have had almost no trouble with the machine and use it just about every day. I couldn’t be happier.
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There’s no good way to answer your question. I’ve stiffened X and Y axes, and it works great. One simple job carving a number into a sign took 105 minutes on the old 24V spindle, and 14 minutes on the 611. 3 days ago I spent 2 hours making a set of concentration tiles, the next day I spent 15 minutes making a stamp. Times vary with the detail of the project.
What kind of projects are you looking to do? Maybe we can help you get an idea about what you are getting into.
A variety of projects, from 2.5d puzzles, engraved coasters, gamepieces, and so on.
Sounds a lot like my list of things. Some super extravagant things are going to take many hours to do, but with a good router (like the 611) you’ll be able to get most things done in a few hours or less.
I didn’t address the stiffening mods earlier. Here’s 2 forum threads that show how I did the stiffening mods on my machine, and they seem to work well: