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Sorry if it has already been answered, but I haven’t been able to find a clear answer to some of my questions… (I understand that everyone has different needs and solutions).
I’m about to order a 1000mm X-Carve (the ‘Fully Loaded’ model in the configuration page), probably without the waste board as I’m living in Canada and shipping is pretty expensive… (And I can easily make one myself). I’m planning to use it mostly for my woodworking projects (So I want to be able to work with hard wood), but I’m not excluding the possibility do use it to carve some soft metals.
I’ll go with the Dewalt 611 router and the Nema 23 stepper motor kit, so it looks like I’ve to buy some extra stuffs to stiffen the axis during the initial build. This approach seems like an easy one: Thoughts on Stiffening mod - #53 by GeoffSteer
So I’m wondering, what else should I include in my order ? 4 end plates and 2x1000mm aluminium extrusion to attach them ? Also it looks like the default X-Carve comes with only 1 Makerslide, but using a second one might really help to stiffen the gantry, should I add one to my order ?
I’m not really trying to save money here, I just want to make sure that I’ll include everything I need in my order to get a stiffened 1000mm X-Carve. I’ve access to a 3D printer and to a CNC already (a MicroMill DSLS 3000), to I could probably make some custom parts to join the 2 Makerslides together.
Thanks for your help ! The main reason why I’m going with the X-Carve is because the community looks awesome !
The community is awesome for sure. The frame of the z axis goes completely around the makerslide. So… adding another to your order won’t help you. There are several threads on here where people have stiffened their gantry. I personally used the 30 min mod and seems to work well
Wow, thanks for the quick responses ! I thought that there was some issues with the weight of the DW611 on the 1000mm models, so I wanted to make sure that I had everything I needed to stiffen the axes, but I guess that I’ll just order the Fully Loaded kit and I’ll see if I need to upgrade it later…
I’ll take a look at this 30 min mod for to stiffen the gantry.
@AngusMcleod: Thanks for the advice for the limit switch, I’ve a bunch of contact switches like this in my electronic lab so I’ll use one of them. I really love your wiring solution and I’ll do something similar.
I’ll order it soon (probably tomorrow), can’t wait to share the pictures of my setup (I’ve some cool idea on how to integrate this with my existing workbench).
If you are contemplating the limit switches, don’t. Get some shielded 22/2 wire, and a pack of ten switches from Amazon or elsewhere. You can do this as an add-on, after the unit is completed.
If you don’t order the “Limit” switch option you don’t get the two post-assembly insertion nuts and screws that serve as the contact point for the switches so you’ll have to either order them separately or come up with your own method for the swtiches to contact.
To solve the switch contact point problem, I made a couple of actuator plates from 25mm aluminium angle. Length is 40mm so they fit into the makerslide. They will work with any style of mechanical switch used. Two holes so it doesn’t matter which way up the makerslide is.
congrats! just received mine. well, most of it. FYI the power supply and dewalt & collet are backordered. I was kinda shocked to have a power supply on backorder for full kits but…
anyway, I’m slowly building what i can now until i get a shipping update for the power supply. earliest is 1/8/16.
I just bought a cheaper power supply from amazon for the moment to get it up and running (since I do not have the dc spindle). I can just move the electronics over when I get the kit in a few weeks…
Yeah, I also got an email saying that the power supply, the collet and most of the end mills that I’ve ordered were backordered, but it’s not a big deal as I still need to build a new workbench for it (I’m designing a miter saw station inspired by this one, I’ll integrate the CNC into it). And I guess that it’ll take me a few days to finish assembling the CNC anyway (I still need to make the wasteboard).
Sorry about that everyone. The Black Friday deal sold a lot more than we were prepared for. The week before I was wondering if anyone would even care. Turns out I was wrong. It cleared us out of a few components that we weren’t able to get back in stock quick enough.
No worries overall. Obvious learnings on your end which is good. From a customer standpoint, maybe look into your online ecomm platform to see if you can more accurately relay which items are on back order at the time of transaction? It would be a nice to know when placing the order as opposed to the email alert two weeks later.
Hey @KenPeluso we are in the middle of interviewing ERP vendors right now. The ERP will handle forecasting and inventory. Our website will connect to it to be able to show info like that.
We currently use quick books and it’s time to upgrade to something a bit better.
Sounds good and congrats on the growth! The delay will probably be better for me in the end because it will force me to take my time with the assembly. Not to mention giving me even more time to re-evaluate how I’m going to best fit this into my one car garage that already houses an 8" jointer, planer, hand tool bench, Festool mft/3, etc.
Best of luck and thanks for taking the time to provide insights to your customers.
I’ve received mine ! (minus the power supply and the router collet). Thanks a lot for the awesome assembly instructions ! It’s really fun to put it together (I feel like I’m building one of these expensive Lego set)
