New X-Carve launched today!

Thank You.

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@MarcCohen this time they are going to be text and pictures. We had a number of complaints with the videos because if we make any changes the videos are out of date even if we add warnings to the page.

I’m not sure how deep they are tapped but the hole goes all the way through. We shipped with thread forming screws so they should go all the way in.

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Heads up yall!!! when installing the new x rail make sure to flip over the limit switch so the lever roller will line up with the slot.

I’m gonna take a risk on this one. I know people are talking about doing this internally but I don’t know how fast their progress is. Some people in this community might have good contributions for “gotchas” or things that our team isn’t thinking about. For example if you’ve done mods or perhaps you have more experience with the machine than the two people from our Customer Success team we have working on the instructions

Anyone from the forum interested in contributing to this shared doc?

There are many sources of insight and intelligence on this forum. Could the people on this forum make a better set of upgrade instructions than our own internal team?

I’m gonna start a separate thread to repeat this post.

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Done
Its rough Draft

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Here’s the other post:

I can confirm that orders have started to ship.

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Damn it! I thought this meant the new xcarve where shipping OUT! :frowning:

they have started to ship…read post above yours…i am looking forward to my shipping confirmation email…been checking my email way too often

That is for the maker slide upgrade and xcontrollers only

Looking forward to getting my 1000mm. Just about have the work table finished for it…

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I have two questions about what I see in the “new X-Carve tour” video.

  1. Where can I buy the clamps with the red headed handles and what appear to be blocks of some kind supporting them on the back? (Securing the materials to the wasteboard has been occasionally problematic and these clamps and blocks look like they’d be a big help!)

  2. How is the cord for the Dewalt 611 routed? I don;t see it dangling anywhere and I’m wondering if it’s being routed through the drag chain?

The new drag chains open up so you can put the cord in it.

@DougHill: Your post says “4 of the 13 upgrades”. What or where are the other nine?

Yep. Video describes some of the features of the upgrades. But where are the details on exactly what components are part of each along with the ordering info? If I had that info I’d probably order them all today.

What I’d really like to see is a spreadsheet or list with a feature-by-feature, or part-by-part, comparison of the differences between the new X-carve and last year’s model.

I don’t know how to post a table but here is a list.

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 (P&S): 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 (S): 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.

How the features translate to benefits

  1. Simplified set-up
  2. Better performance- More reliable, sturdier, stiffer
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Thanks @Zach_Kaplan! As soon as I can figure out all the parts numbers for these upgrades I’ll be ordering them. I imagine that customer service could help me with that?

FWIW, it might be nice if the other upgrades could be bundled into an upgrade kit similar to how you’ve bundled the X-controller, gantry, side board, Z-probe, etc… into a single upgrade package.

P.S. Any chance that a belt upgrade might be available any time soon? Just a few days ago I had a Y-axis belt break on my X-carve when I was trying to adjust the tension with a gauge. It broke before the tension had even hit 3 lbs. Now I haven’t yet done many carves on my year-old X-carve and when the belt snapped it came apart like something that was old and brittle.

@RickJohnson your best bet would be to email or call customer support at 312-775-7009 on Monday so you can explain what you want to do and they can look up what your prior orders were. Depending on the set up you want they will make different recommendations. I believe we have most if not all the parts available for sale separately. We looked at doing an upgrade kit like you are talking about but there are so many different variations that people have and so many variations for how people want to upgrade no single kit made sense and people get very upset with us when they have to buy parts they don’t need.

This drove the decision to offer this upgrade kit and then handle the additional upgrades with the assistance from Customer Success to minimize the chance that you order the upgrade but then you are missing a few things and have to order again and pay shipping twice. The whole team in Customer Success is prepared to answer questions on these upgrades and if you take them past their knowledge they can escalate the case to someone who can.

Also some of the upgrades require some significant disassembly and reassembly and we wanted to make sure people had clear expectations for what they were getting into before they ordered.

Thanks for your interest and support! I hope we can get you a machine your proud of.

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Thanks @Zach_Kaplan!

I have faith in your customer service. My experience with them so far has been the best of any company I’ve dealt with in many years!

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