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Today we launched the new X-Carve. Today is about much more than a hardware launch it’s about everyone on this forum, everyone who has participated in the community, everyone that shares our spirit and passion for making. Our hope is this new X-Carve helps you grow along your maker journey.
There were more than a dozen updates to this new model. They all came from listening to the community. We worked hand in hand with the amazing community over the last year to do our best to help every person be successful. Sometimes success came quickly and other times there were issues to troubleshoot. We worked together and solved problems, created new projects, and inspired each other.
We also added a new size today…750mm
Here’s a sneak preview of the key items.
The new sideboard attaches to your X-Carve wasteboard and is a tidy solution for securing your X-Controller. The X-Controller has 5x more power.
The extruded Wide MakerSlide makes the gantry stronger and more reliable for all carves.
With the new Z-probe, you can quickly and reliably find the material surface electronically. Like all the wiring on the new X-Carve it’s plug and play.
We now include belt sleeves with the kit. They perform the same function that heat shrink tubing does, but they look more polished and are a lot easier to adjust when the belt stretches over time.
Belt Assembly: We use a custom molded part to make assembly easier and reduce slippage.
Loose Hardware: We moved to locking hardware wherever we could. This prevents nuts from coming loose due to vibration.
Eccentric Spacers: We got rid of eccentric nuts and moved to eccentric spacers.The eccentric spacers have a machined dot to help located the side offset closest to the hole. This helps with determining the right way to turn to tighten.
Z Bracket: There is more clearance to prevent bumping the Dewalt router.
Home Switches: The placement prevents smashing of switches with bad GCode.
Z Lead Screw: The new lead screw is made in the US by a company that only does ACME lead screws. It is less likely to wobble.
Drag Chain: It is fully supported now and will not droop over time. It is also much larger and has openable doors. This makes wiring easier especially if you want to run your AC router through the chain.
Gantry Stiffness: We now use wide MakerSlide which is significantly stiffer.
Motor Pulleys These are now permanently mounted. They do not need to be located and will not slip.
Wiring It is now fully connectorized and takes about 1/10th the time to wire, no soldering or crimping required.
X-controller: It has four stepper drivers instead of 3. Each stepper can handle 4amps where the old model could only handle 1.5amps. It also has a heat sink and fan to prevent overheating on long carves. It comes with an Estop and button controls built in.
Side Board: This feature neatly organizes your electronics – Adds organization to setup and mounts onto frame to organize and place electronics
Z Probe: This is fully integrated into the design as an option.
Does the machine ship with a larger size drag chain (bigger than 20mm)?
My X drag chain is maxed out, and I already upgraded it to 30mm.
I may have to go to 40mm. I love the addition of the Z probe! Looks easy to use!
Will add that to my current machine.
Overall good job!
Yes! It’s 25mm wide and 18mm tall. Also it has a cool feature where you can snap the links open like little doors so you don’t have to fish your wires all the way through.
Totally awesome! Fishing the wires was one of the most time confusing (and frustrating steps for me)! These continual little improvements are always great too see!
Is there a closer view of the new wheel tensioners (long eccentric spacers?)? I’m assuming all eccentric nuts were replaced with the tensioners and nyloc nuts?
@Zach_Kaplan Can we get a little more info on what’s included in the Upgrade Kit? It shows X-Controller, Wider MakerSlide, side board and Z-probe… does that include some of the new bits-and-bobbles (the new wheel tensioners)?
The eccentric nuts were replaced by the eccentric spacers and nyloc nuts. The eccentric spacers are the tensioners. When you turn them with a wrench the wheels get tighter on the rails.
The Z-Probe will work with the X-Controller and the original X-Carve. You can’t use the Z-probe with the Aruino unless you are a ninja with electronics. We don’t have a support path for that approach but if you can hack it on your own go for it. However the original didn’t have the port for the plug so you will need to wire it manually. Also the Z-probe feature will be in Easel.
Are the new eccentric spacers available in your store yet? I want everything but the X-Controller … thats why i asked what else is included in the upgrade kit
awww man… right on the heels of me buying a lot of upgrades for my xcarve.
I should have waited… ugh! Kinda bums me out
guess I’ll need to start saving…
How long will the upgrade be offered?
Does the Z probe kit include the socket for the probe connection and the appropriate wire? I see the X carriage on my machine already has the hole for the socket.
Any idea when you’ll have them in the store? I’m only going to be adding the new Wide MakerSlide and Z-Probe… i might as well take apart my X carriage while im at it
