Hi everyone. My xcarve just came in the mail today. Still have to build a bench for it but I’m really excited to start it. I am very new to woodworking. I’ve got the desire but always lacked the time and the workspace. Still do lack the space but now I’ve got the time and I’ll be making the front half of a single car garage work for now. My wife just finished her masters degree and we also had our second girl. So we decided to leave Florida and move to Colorado but the catch was, I become a stay at home dad for a year or two since she can supplement our income from before #sugarmomma. So I’m going to make a go of this opportunity. If I can turn out a decent income maybe I can make this my ‘job’ and do this forever which has always been a dream so I’ll try not to muck it up.
My idea for a bench is a 4’x4’ with a 2’ extension for a laptop and catch all. Only having an SUV here has made it a bit difficult getting plywood but I just got a sheet of melamine, seemed sturdy and I liked the finish on it. I’m going to just 2x frame everything, because that’s all I know. Never worked to much with mdf or cabinet making. But I want a nice sturdy surface to start with. I’ll be making rolling carts for the rest of my tools as well. Any guidance I’m given is much appreciated. I’ve spent the last few weeks reading all these posts and learning as much as I can before I begin. I’m sure I’ll be asking for a lot of help. Just wanted to introduce myself to the xcarve community!
Sean!
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Welcome and congrats on this new phase of life!
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Welcome @SeanMelchiorre, I’ve been an X-carve owner for a little over 3 years and Still a Self proclaimed novice. But there are plenty of PROs on here that are more than willing to give you help and advice. My advice to you is to watch all the Machine assembly video’s, Then when you think you’ve got it, WATCH THEM AGAIN ! LOL I was going to have my buddies help assembly the X-Carve, But one gave me some tough love and told me I should do it myself. I’m A disabled Veteran and although it seemed harsh at the time, I did as my battle buddy suggested. MAN am I Soo Glad I did !! Before, when I read through the forum, everything seemed to be written in french. Now I actually know what their talking about.
Besides Assembly videos, I don’t know if your Sugar Momma will go for it but, I would suggest Vcarve software. Although Easel is advancing, I still do all my work from Vcarve.
Good Luck to you, Sam
@SeanMelchiorre. Congratulations. I’m sure you will have a great experience. Many people here are very willing to help. Enjoy
Colorado is a great place to be in. Where in Colorado do you live. Many opportunities to sell products
My first shop was a one car garage
@PhillipLunsford Thanks! I’m looking forward to it. I live in Colorado Springs. Lots of military here, could probably work that route. Also lots of brewery’s so was trying to think of ways to work that angle. I love concealment furniture too so I was thinking maybe some for 420 related products as well. Also a couple colleges here. Just need to find the right niche
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@SamCampbell thank you! I’ve heard vcarce mentioned but haven’t looked to much into it yet. I’m also thinking a laser might me a worthwhile upgrade as well. But that’s down the road.
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Check out Estes park. Lots of tourists
Welcome Sean! I am also limited by a tiny garage so I downsized my machine. The good news is, you can down size and upsize easily! Recently, I got a job where I had to make larger signs so, I used my old 1000mm rails and mounted them directly to a solid hardwood door I found at Lowes on sale. I cut the door in half, put 3/4" MDF underneath and screwed the rails directly to the side of the door. DONE. Once you build your machine you will get it. I keep short Y Axis/x-axis rails and long ones on hand. It only takes about a half an hour to switch it out. Leave your belts long and let them dangle when you down size.
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Hi Sean,
Congrats on purchasing an X-Carve, I have the 1000mm and built my table 49" X 6’ and then used the extra piece of MDF that was 49" X 25" to make a drawer. It works great for a catch all. I used the X-Carve to cut out the big drawer pull.
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@RussellCrawford that looks great! I was thinking the same thing for my extra piece.
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Just got done with the bench, sorta. Ran short on 2x4s and my wife and kids took the suv out for the day. But only the computer area is not supported. Very solid and I get no movement. Table is flat. Might just leave it and add a drawer under it.
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1000mm. Made the main section 4’x4’. Easier for me to work with since my garage isn’t ready to handle ripping down a sheet of plywood. And roughly a 2’x2’ extension for laptop and such. Planning on the notch open on the back side for housing a future dust collection system
If you ordered the extra side piece for the X-Controller it will be a tight fit at 48 inches. Did you order the dust collection with the X-Carve? I watched a lot of Phillip Lunsford videos on YouTube to help me when I first started. Check out his YouTube channel.
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Great thanks. I’ll be going through it tonight and starting build tomorrow
@RussellCrawford yes I did order both the extra side piece and dust boot. Hopefully it all fits on there ok. I’ll ditch the side piece if it will mess anything up
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Hey good luck ! I too am just getting going with this machine and so far having a ball . I just retired from Trucking and have been doing a little wood crafting for years but didn’t have time to really get into it like now . But I made a wooden flag for my wife and it’s taken off from there , I can’t make them fast enough , like you small area not enough room !
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@CurtisCatt that flag looks awesome! What kind of wood did you use? The last couple days I haven’t been able to touch it but I’ve been messing around on easel getting projects ready. I want to upgrade to fusion or vcarve but can’t justify the extra cost yet. Also really want to attach a laser to this thing
