Negatives of X-Carve

what are the cons about the 1000mm X Carve.

What can I upgrade ?

Do any parts wear out?

How heavy is it?

  1. no cons unless you just want to complain.

  2. everything can be, that is up to you.

  3. of course they do it is a machine that has moving parts. but it is open sourced and you can make replacements as needed.

  4. never weighed it.

https://inventables.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/2055105-what-is-the-size-and-weight-of-the-x-carve-package-?b_id=9563

1000mm Xcarve is about 100 pounds (give or take)…

belts will wear… bits will wear… brushes in the Dewalt will wear… wasteboard will wear @BobJewell 's patience will wear if you don’t search… but otherwise everything else will be intact… :slight_smile:

The only con I have about the Xcarve… I don’t have enough time to make everything I want to make.

The pros far out weigh the cons with the Xcarve. This forum alone is worthy of the purchase… but assuredly, if you don’t take the time to learn as much as you can, it will seem like a daunting task … but the sky is truly the limit with this tool.

Good luck… and keep Carvin’…

Ron

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what pieces can be upgraded. sorry haven’t done to much research. i just want to make sure i have a solid top of the line machine.

Thanks

Do your research. The amount of upgrades that can be done is almost unlimited. It depends on what you are trying to accomplish with your setup. The question is so broad it’s very difficult to answer. My XCarve is heavily modded. Base,wasteboard, x rail for y rails double y plates it’s really an endless adventure.

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Agreed,
do some research. search the forum ALOT and then do more research. There are a great number of answers to all your questions and this forum will offer you literally thousands of upgrade options and opinions on what is best. As @CurtisCummings suggests, figure out what you want to do with the machine first, this will determine what direction you want to go and what upgrades will be best.
If you do not have a CNC yet, telling you which upgrades are best is often very difficult because once you get a machine and see EVERYTHING it can do, determining the limitations hindering where you want to be are really up to you.

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As @RobertCapraun said. Search the forum a lot. Read everything you can. A lot of stuff comes up in the middle of a thread that is really off topic for that thread.

My advice is to build the stock machine. This will serve a duel purpose.
1 You will learn this machine inside and out. That will make the upgrade process far easier to accomplish.
2 Use the stock unit for several months and learn what upgrades you really need/want.
Upgrading can become very expensive. Even more so when you upgrade something you already upgraded.
This will also give you plenty of time to read through the forum. There are so many different ways to upgrade the same part of the machine you’ll be able to decide which would be best for you.
If you have any questions. This is the most helpful and informative forum I have ever been a part of. Don’t be afraid to ask. Just search first.

It’s not free and not chrome plated.

Everything.

Any moving part can wear out.

Shipping weight around 26 lbs plus wasteboard and stepper motor weight.

Bottom line, it will be the best (non-chrome plated) thing you ever bought :wink:

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Also understand that IF you order, there is a substantial back-order and you WILL have to wait a few weeks for delivery. you may get delivery in multiple shipments…
You WILL have to assemble the entire machine, including the X-controller. There will be misunderstanding of the assembly instructions, there will be “something not right” with initial operations and you will spend many hours troubleshooting and tweaking the machine to whatever level of performance is acceptable for you.

The Machine is a HOBBY KIT that can be used for some practical business ventures, but this is not an industrial machine and has limitations.

It takes some commitment to make this machine work properly and keep it running, but when it is running well… the satisfaction levels can be through the roof.
There are several software suites available and you will have to learn the design (or CAD/CAM) aspects of CNC. If you’re not willing to put the hours into it, then this machine may not be for you. There are many here who have (recently) purchased who i predict will be selling within the next few months. Just look at the “For Sale” section of the forum and see how many users say “i don’t have the time for it” or “it isn’t what I expected”… alot of the new users who are already complaining about shipping delays… they’ll be selling pretty quickly because this is NOT a Plug and Play device and there is no “instant gratification”.

Again…read as much as this forum as you can… read OLD postings, read NEW postings, look at the Projects section to see some of the AWESOME projects that have been made. Know that this is what you want before you commit is the best Pro/Con advice you can get.

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Many people buy them thinking that it is like a computer printer. You just plug it in and it makes all kinds of wonderful things. Not really.

There is lot to learn. Those that put in the effort are rewarded. Those that don’t place ads here to sell them.

Things will go wrong. You have to have patience to figure out what’s wrong and how to fix it.

More things will go wrong. You have to have patience to figure out what’s wrong and how to fix it.

The more you learn the more things that work out well. It takes time.

It takes more time.

Not a con, but if you stick with it, you will make wonderful things with the machine.

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what you get from Inventables now is the most upgrades that they sell. if you get the complete machine with dust collection etc.

I would recommend @CharleyThomas zero block. (it can do all three axis where the Inventables can only do one).

other than that you can only upgrade to more expensive controller (DSP) and rails (linear type) but with that type of upgrades you are no longer an X-Carve nor will you be anywhere near the price point of the X-Carve.

so are there better more sturdy and reliable machines, sure but this is not what this machine is about. if you want a machine that performs like a $20,000.00 CNC then you need to spend that amount. IF you want a cnc for around $2,000.00 then you are not going to do much better than the X-Carve. The only other competitor for that price point is the Shapoko 3 but it is not open source design so you will not be able to manufacture parts from the source, and that alone is the reason I went with the X-Carve. I have the ability to make my own parts if needed from the designs as they are released for full review.

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Occasionally it will try to kill you or just draw blood

Just kidding

lol sorry when i mean top of the line i mean getting everything that inventables offers.

I want to do it right the first time. and not buy inventable upgrades that i didn’t know they sold.

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