Jacques's X-Carve Build and Projects

Thought I will create a topic to post some photos of my X-Carve build and projects as I get to learn the full capabilities of the machine. It’s a 750x750 X-Carve with the X-Controller. Machine ordered December 2016, fully assembled and 1st couple of carves March 2017.

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First parts arrived…

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Mechanical build complete…

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Suckit arrived and fitted…

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X-controller assembled…

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And finally, progress thus far. First couple of carves done for the girls without any major final tuning or calibration. I’m super impressed with this machine. The team at Inventables have done a great job putting these kit sets together. I was leaning towards the Openbuild OX but happy that I decided to go with the X-Carve. The machine, support and community forum is excellent.

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These are done in New Zealand Rimu and finished with some bees wax only.

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Next steps to perform the calibration steps from @RobertA_Rieke.

I calibrated the x and y steps per millimetre and the initial calibration cuts looks great. Still need to calibrate the Z.

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Looking good! :grinning::+1:

Either you didn’t waste your time while you’re waiting for your machine to be delivered and read all posts on this forum, OR you have exceptional mechanical aptitude. Or both.
Congratulations, outstanding result. Haven’t seen anything like this. Welcome to community pal.

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Thanks Guys. I had some help from @sketch42 but other than that I’ve probably read just about every post on this forum. Stats shows I’m up to 3days of reading time :blush:. Nothing much more you can do when waiting 3 months for the X-Controller. Thanks for the community’s expert support and advice. You guys are the ones that makes this machine just that extra bit special.

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Project for today, used a 19mm thick piece of MDF to carve a new zero clearance insert for my Harvey tablesaw. Worked fine but final version took about 90 mins to carve with a 1/8 bit. Need to do some research on the workflow of using bigger bits for clearing and feeds and speeds. Feed rate for the cut was 1016mm/min, depth per pass 1.6mm. Pretty sure I saw some of the advanced users going faster/deeper. Overall I’m happy with the results, now to make a few more for the dado stack :blush:.

Thanks @sketch42 for getting me started with the vectors.

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Glad it turned out good.

Especially well I find the idea with the border, so that the dust does not fly everywhere.

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Project and learning for this week. Started this design with the aim to enter the Fidget Spinner contest but ran out of time. Nonetheless I learned heaps from doing this. Used Fusion 360 for the design, added some 3D elements to it and then created all the tool paths, cut in Easel. I must admit Fusion360 is not the easiest of software but it seems very powerful. I’m not there yet but every step is a new learning so overall I’m happy with progress.




Any advice on how to get rid off the bullnose lines (other than sanding off course :blush:) will be appreciated. They seem to be more evident on the right side of the carve.

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Thanks Phil, will give it a go once I figure out how to do it in Fusion.

Since I don’t know what I’m doing I’m just trying a few things to see what it does :blush:. I first did a “Contour” pass to clear away some excess stock, then I did a “Morphed Spiral” pass which actually turned out quite nice. Then I did a “Parallel” pass, causing the lines and finished it with a “2D Contour” pass with some tabs to cut it out.

Here is my current step over

. Seems to be in mm though an not %. Using an 1/8" (3.18mm) 8% would be a step over of 0.2544mm. Do I understand it correctly Phil?

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Sweet - thanks for the advice Phil :+1:

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Thanks for the advice @PhilJohnson. Reduced the step over and second carve is smooth as, no sanding needed. The model broke along the grain but the 3d carve came out beautifully.

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