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What I think I am seeing is that the X-carve is not able to do 3D carving. Please tell me this in not correct. My whole reason for wanting to learn CNC was to take my 3D printing to another level. I have so many beautiful pieces that would look incredible in wood. I am in the process of building my own “Root3” CNC machine but wanted to get a better understanding of how they work and the concept of CNC milling so I purchased your kit. Please tell me I did not spend 3K to be limited to 2D work only.
not correct… I do 3d carving all the time. The Cad and Cam need to be able to do 3D. Most people today seem to use fusion360. 15 years ago it was Rhino3d. I am a Rhino user in conjuction with Meshcam. I draw and generate Gcode with those apps and then run it on my xcarve. Easel will run the 3D Gcode you generate elsewhere. Easel is not a 3D drawing program though. Some people have used the gradient to do some 3d stuff, but really you need to use 3d software in order to do most stuff.
I never heard of the Root 3 machine, but from what I see of it, you’ll be glad you bought an X carve. Rigidity is the key to accurate parts and you can add a lot of upgrades to the Basic X carve if you want to.
This is coming from a guy who built my first machine from scratch using roller skate bearings, drill rod, HDPE, Allthread, and aluminum hex. Basically a hardware store machine.
I use V-carve desktop to create G-code to make my 3D designs which I create in other programs. I often 3D print the designs to check their validity. I import the 3D designs in .STL format to V-carve desktop and it creates G-code toolpaths that carve my 3D shapes.
Because you typically need other software, the 3D CNC designs I make I put up on Thingiverse rather than the design gallery here.
If you create G-code with other programs, you will need to send it to your machine either with a separate G-code sender (which is what I do because I have a third party machine) or you will have to upload your G-code to Easel and then have Easel send to your X-carve. When you upload G-code, Easel will carve it, but will not let you see a preview. (Inventables should fix that).
Thank you for your response it is encouraging. I am a Fusion 360 user as I use it to create many of my files for 3D printing. These files are typically in in stl format. I have built most of my 3D printers and most of them run on Marlin but I still use basic gCode for tweaking the settings. I did download a product called “GWizard” but I feel like I am falling down a rabbit hole went it comes to converting my stl files to gcode and or svg files. I live in the computer world so I am no novice there. I already have several thousand dollars tied up in software licensing I just don’t want to add more if I do not have to. Am I missing something? By the way I love the guitar, I have 3d Printed several fully functioning electric violins I would absolutely love to try carving a guitar.
Consider looking at Meshcam for converting STL to Gcode. It is user friendly and has been around for a long time. It is hobbiest priced too. It probably is free for a while, or at least used to be to try it out. I have some 3D neck and body drawing tutorials as well on TDPRI. It also can be used to slice your prints although I’ve not done that as I have just used Cura.
