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I am in a pinch here. I have had my X-carve for about 2 months and only have been using it full time for the last 30 days. I went to turn it on today and the router light come one but the motor doesn’t spin. I read that it could be brushes, so i removed the cap and blew the dust out. The router turned back on and I started cutting but it sputtered for a few minutes and just died.
I have ordered new brushes but they won’t be here until Wednesday. I have to get 30 orders out by Monday. I have checked everywhere local, even to buy a new router but no parts and stock is empty. Is there anything I can do in the meantime? Just when my business gets running, this happens and I am totally screwed.
I sent an email to support but I assume they are closed on the weekends? Haven’t received a response. This was my biggest fear and it will really wreck my business if I have to deal with replacing brushes every month.
Get a makita and shim.
See if someone local has the same router.
Pay someone else to help you carve.
Tell your clients you’ll be late. Were you going to carve, finish and pack 30 projects tomorrow? Can I ask what you’re making?
In the future, aside from preparing with a spare router and extra brushes, try putting a sock over the intake of the router. Do you use dust collection?
Hello and thanks for the response. I have called everyone I know and no one has the same router as the Dewalt. I have even tried taking apart my Craftsman and Harbor Freight routers to see if I could use that. No go.
In the future I will have spare parts on hand. I didn’t think I would be dealing with broken parts after a full month of use. TBH I am already outgrowing this machine. I do use the included vacuum system run through a 2 stage filtration and use a Wen ceiling vent unit. I have little dust that gets into the router.
I am carving video game flight sim controllers that I designed in Easel. I am currently having a hard time keeping up with orders due to machine run times. I had planned on getting 15 sets done today and 15 tomorrow. I sell out quickly so hopefully people will wait the extra few days until parts arrive and not cancel their orders. I have sold close to 200 in the last 30 days.
After I get this fixed I plan on contacting Inventables to see how i can speed things up without compromising quality.
Not sure who has shit timing, me or you. I’m in Mass and I just got home from Winnisquam. I bought brushes a long time ago, but decided I would prefer to replace the whole router when mine fails. I’m on my fourth router. I always keep a new one on hand. So… I have brushes and a new in box router. If you’re up for a drive, you are welcome to either. Shoot me a direct message if so and we can arrange something.
I appreciate the offer but will probably hold off due to Covid. I have made it this far without catching it and I don’t have health insurance due to being out of work so long. I lost my IT engineering job due to a company acquisition over a year ago.
My only real problem is trusting that this x-carve isn’t going to wear out on me too soon and leave me hanging again. If I knew it would need parts in the first month I would have had them on hand. Kind of bothers me there is no support from Inventables over the weekend also. For people to be starting businesses with these machines, there needs to be some sort of emergency support. These aren’t inexpensive machines and there should be replacements parts on their website.
From buying my machine to now this, inventables is NOT giving me a warm fuzzy customer experience.
After reading this article, I have decided to try the Makita option. I can’t let my orders get cancelled. Hopefully it will work until my new brushes arrive but this seems to be a consistent issue. Unless Inventables contacts me, i will be looking at a different solution when it times to upgrade to a new CNC, which will be sooner than later.
They’re about as inexpensive as it gets for what it is.
The router, if under warranty, is a Dewalt problem. They will not move quickly to help you out.
You wouldn’t expect that with the purchase of a different tool.
I’m not trying to be difficult, but you won’t find a <$2k CNC kit company that will overnight you a router on the weekend. My guess is that you won’t find that at <$20K either.
I’m glad you’re going with my suggestion of the Makita. It’s a nice router. Makita probably had better QC than DeWalt as they are one of the few tool manufacturers that is not part of a conglomerate.
Nick, I have developed over 200+ ecommerce web sites from small to large businesses and 24/7 support or at least contacting someone shouldn’t be an issue if there is a problem. A company that doesn’t stock what they sell is a problem to me. I didn’t expect for them to send it to me for free but at least be able to ship parts for products they sell. If they say this CNC is to start a business then the understanding that providing spare parts should be mission critical. Even a response that they are closed would have been good but I have received nothing.
Anyways, I have talked with other CNC companies yesterday that want to help me out but I told them I would wait for Inventables. I found a new router, which will most likely void my warranty with x-carve but it will get me past this issue for now.
Not bitching at you just really frustrated with this whole process from buying until now.
Everyone that sells Dewalt DW611s is in the same boat. What’d they say at Home Depot support?
That said, I hope they’re looking at providing a stock solution for other routers. Since you’re doing production runs, you should probably look at getting a brushless spindle.
I get it. You sound like you know what you’re doing. Sometimes it’s good to realize that you are the one that will solve your problem. Did you pick up a Makita? There might be a Porter Cable that would be a drop in replacement for the Dewalt.
On another note, I’d love to see what you’re making…sounds interesting.
Thanks for the response and you’re right. Everyone is sold out on routers right now. Even the Dewalt web site is sold out or backordered until mid March. I am stocking up on more brushes as we speak. I have always run at the recommended setting of “1”, per the setup instructions. After tearing the router apart, I was surprised that there is almost nothing left to the brushes at all.
But in all honesty, I was out of work for over a year until the week after Christmas. I designed my idea, put it on Etsy and the sales haven’t stopped since. I was on the verge of loosing my house as unemployment came to an end. The thought of my daughter and I being homeless was enough to get my butt moving and do something. So, to say the least the X-carve is saving my family, I am just very passionate of the fact my money train has stopped. This isn’t about me getting rich, more about surviving during a pandemic.
I went with a Makita. Hopefully it will work. It’s on route to me now and I should have it hooked up within the next hour or so.
In regards to what I am making… Now, I may be a little paranoid of posting because in essence, we are all designers and engineers with Easel and X-carve. I am worried until my patent goes through that someone will steal my idea. As far as i know, I am the only person on the internet making this item so, it worries me a bit. The product I make is mounting plates to attach HOTAS (Hands on Stick and Throttle) to and mount them to your armrest of your gaming chair. It basically turns the chair into a flight sim cockpit. There are versions that mount to desks and more complex systems. I have tried them all and it took me about 20 attempts to get what I sell, now. The idea is so simple but people love it. Immersion in video games is an industry to keep your eye on. Video game sales have exceeded total profits of the NFL. I have 2500+ hours into a flight sim and this makes is so much easier to fly for hours vs. leaning forward and getting cramped up. I see people spending on average around $3k for their setups, so just trying to tap into that. I did a lot of research on the idea.
lol, super long post. Sorry! Just waiting on my router to show up.
You aren’t being realistic about the use of a router for what it is intended to be used for. The Dewalt is a home duty trim router meant for short bursts of operation like flush trimming formica on a countertop. Trim routers aren’t an industrial piece of machinery. You might want to look at something more robust for a CNC if you are going to be doing production work.
At the least you might want something like a porter cable 690 or a water cooled spindle. The structural framework of these home duty cnc machines can’t really handle the weight or power of anything bigger than what they are using without some serious modifications.
I get what you’re saying but I am I the one being unrealistic or the people selling it? I was sold a product to help start a business. I am using it as described. I get that my workload may exceed the boundaries on the X-carve but there should be a solution without having to buy another new, more expensive machine, within the first few months.
Anyways, the Makita is working and I am back up and running. I guess I will have to start looking for a better sustainable solution for my business.
FYI, I bought a Makita RT0700C and it takes 5-6 coke cans to shim it where the router is solid. Router speed is slower than the Dewalt and should be set at 3 for the recommended speed of the Dewalt “1” setting. $99 at Home Depot and I already ordered more brushes for this one.
Try on line fine wood working ,there ads look for other cnc machine ,it really stinks that you can only use one brand of of router, look for black and decker the are the same company.
The other alternative is find a router with the same speed and get a frequency speed reducers , and rebuild you gantry later , that way if the problem ever happens again your set.
