Hey guys quick question! I plan on building my own bluetooth portable speakers! I see this popular cut that is made around the speakers almost like a funnel. I was wondering if the xcarve can do this easily or would I be better off using a router and doing it by hand? Here is a pic for example. I am new to woodworking so this is all new to me! Young and eager to learn as much as I can!
The X-Carve hardware can make contours like that. You just need the right software to design the contour and make the toolpath.
It would be very difficult/impossible to do in Easel, but software like Fusion 360, Vcarve, Aspire or Artcam could do it fairly easily.
Fusion 360 would have the steepest learning curve, but it’s free, Vcarve would let you design the toolpath in a few minutes but it is $350.
Artcam can be rented for a month for under $50 and would require a little studying but once you were familiar with the tool you could lay it out in half an hour. Aspire would eat it for breakfast but it is about $2,000
Easily. That part was probably CNC milled anyway. Extremely simple to model in Fusion 360. It wouldn’t even be hard to make it on a scroll saw, to be honest, except for the bevels.
So in other words it would be easier for me to just do it with a hand router, At-least until I invest in some software and learn it. I hear allot of people use V-Carve do people recommend that over something like fusion 360? Is it something I should look into buying?
Depending on the type of work you want to do V-Carve may be a great choice. I make a lot of signs and 3D models from imported STL files. So having software that is super easy to learn and great at v-carving which also has automated toolpath creation for soughing and detailing 3D shapes was perfect for me. Buying V-Carve was the best $350 I have spent on my CNC hobby.
But now Autocad has purchased Artcam and is making it available for monthly subscription prices. Feature for feature Artcam may be better than V-carve, it really depends on what type of projects you are doing.
And of course Fusion 360 will do almost anything you want. The only thing it is missing is the ability to do V-Carving. But it is much more difficult to learn if you don’t already have some background using a solid modeling design tool.
No, making it with a CNC machine would be easier and more precise, but I was just saying it’s not a very complex part by anyone’s standards.
When you’re building parts like that by hand, you’re constantly having to measure, tweak, check it against cardboard templates, check for fit, re-measure, and re-tweak over and over until it works. But with a CNC machine you build the model in a program like Fusion 360, set up the tool paths, generate the g-code, and run the job. And 30 minutes later you have a part. The only actual woodworking you need to do by hand is sanding, assuming everything goes to plan. A job like that part would take me a two or three hours tops, from modeling to milling to finishing.
That’s not to say that if you buy an X-carve or another CNC machine you’re just going to step right into it without a hitch. There is TONS of stuff that you’ll need to learn. It will take you several months to even start to become comfortable with the machine and the software. You’re going to have to hunt and peck for solutions to many of the various problems you’ll run across. No one should enter this hobby underestimating the steepness of the learning curve.
I’m very much a “dive in head first” kind of guy. If this is a hobby that interests you, then I say go for it. Just make sure you know what you’re diving into. And keep in mind that this community is freaking awesome. If you get stuck, there’s always someone out there on various forums that can help.
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Makes sense to me! That is a great way to put it! Thank you all so much for the information! I am definitely eager to learn and by the sounds of it my machine is shipping tomorrow or Friday! Can’t wait to dive in and learn!
@AllenMassey is V-carve actively updated or is what you buy is what you get.?
What Robert said, chamfer is easily obtained by choosing a chamfered bit (i.e 90deg bit) to obtain a 45deg bevelled edge.
In Easel just set end mill radius to 1/64" or so, cut “on path” and control amount of bevel by adjusting Z-depth. Easy as that 
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When I purchased V-Carve it was version 8.0, they have had many minor updates that most fixed bugs or cleaned up odd features on the UI. But a few months ago they release version 8.5 that was a free upgrade to all V-Carve 8 owners. 8.5 added some very powerful new features and was a pretty big upgrade.
My understanding is that when version 9 is released, that will not be a free upgrade for people that purchased version 8.0.
When version 8 was released, it was free for anyone that purchased version 7.5 and was a $175 upgrade for anyone with an older version.
If you purchased V-Carve now (version 8.5) I would assume that when version 9 is released that would be a free upgrade.
So I assume that version 9 would cost anyone that purchased 8.0 under $200 to upgrade.
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You can use round over or beveling bits in the X-carve and with some clever positioning of the vectors for cutting you can obtain those results.
I have Vcarve Desktop. I plan on upgrading soon. (need the pro version)