I would love to be corrected on this!
I purchased my X-Carve in Dec 2017, so it has the current ‘latest’ upgrades. I’m a little curious why I don’t see any upgrades to the X-Carve lineup since the 2016 upgrades. I suppose it is quite possible that I can’t see any differences or they are not selling any since-then upgraded parts for post-2016 models. I have seen quite a bit of improvement in the Easel software, but a little concerned about the lack of continuous improvement on the X-Carve unit itself.
Thoughts?
I believe they want to keep this as a beginners kit and I agree. The kit as sold currently is very capable and reliable. In 3 years I have not had any belt failure, no broken V wheels and required very little re-adjustment.
Many upgrades are available from other suppliers.
I think that upgrades to the machine would drive the price point too much.
Already the price has increased significantly. Example; I purchased mine 3 years ago with same Black Fri. deal $100.00 off.
I was able to purchase with out spindle or wasteboard and added V Carve Desktop. That price was $1279.00
Now it looks as though you are required to include the Dewalt spindle. Can still omit the wasteboard and Easel Pro, but did not see option to purchase Vectric software. Current cost of aforementioned is $1344.00
If you can add VC Desktop the 2016 price of $329.00 and remove the spindle ($110.00) you would be at $1563.00. That is roughly a 22% increase which exceeds rate of inflation by almost 3 fold.
Just my 2 cents
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My input is from participating/reading this forum only, I do not own an Xcarve myself.
The first iteration was in the hobby-CNC era infancy and the community quickly adopted different modifications to improve the capabilities of the stock model. Since then, most of the major pitfalls have been incorporated into the core product.
Better profiles, stronger controller etc.
Any upgrade from that will increase base price and it may fit some, but not all. In its current form it fit “most” and those who want more spend extra to get to where they want.
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I can see Inventables stocking and selling some of what is now the standard aftermarket upgrades themselves. This could include 9 mm belts and pulleys, risers, and stiffeners. It probably wouldn’t take much to contract out those parts to be made out of steel like they are making or having made now.
The aftermarker z axis would be a more costlier investment, but still quite doable if they wanted to get into it.
Since there seems to be a market for a longer machine,so going back to the longer extrusion would seem to be something simple to do too.
There probably is a point though where the return on the investment doesn’t really pay off and that is the bottom line.
Many beginners may not want to invest $2k into a machine without some experience under their belt, so keeping the sizes and costs down makes sense in that regard.
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I definitely agree, I’m not suggesting that Inventables create an updated product that costs twice as much. I know the stock product post-2016 is a very solid unit and very dependable. I’ve only had to do normal maintenance (tighten screws, replace 611’s brushes, grease) on mine since I bought it, and it has seen hundreds of hours of service.
I think what I was (unsuccessfully) trying to point out is that I’m surprised to see no updates, or at least none that are either visible or offered as ‘newer’ updates: even minor things such as updated screws, thicker/taller height plates, better bushings/bearings, belts, etc.
