We use cookies to personalize content, interact with our analytics companies, advertising networks and cooperatives, and demographic companies, provide social media features, and to analyze our traffic. Our social media, advertising and analytics partners may combine it with other information that you’ve provided to them or that they’ve collected from your use of their services. Learn more.
Just finished my 1000m build this weekend and wanted to give some feedback on the instructions.
The M5 8mm screws for assembling the side board rails were too short to connect to the T-Slot on my build. Jiggling with one of them for 10 minutes got one to connect with a 1/4 turn rate before locking in. I had to use the M5 10mm screws and then use my own M5 12/14 mm screws with washers to affix the washboard instead of the M5 10mm I used for connecting the rails.
No instructions at all for connecting the X-Controller to the sideboard. I can tell what to do from the pictures, but it’s not obvious you need to remove the rubber feed and then screw into the waste board.
One of my 1000mm rails was damaged in shipping, just one end about 1 inch long, Proper facing of the damage allowed me to use it without issue.
On my Mac Pro Easel will only connect after rebooting the computer once I turn off the x-Controller. If I goto the About - Mac System Report it looks like the X-Controller USB driver gets duplicated in the system everytime you power off /on the x-carve. It’s probably causing conflicts since easel doesn’t know how to handle multiple of them. This is likely a driver issue and should be looked into.
I can concur with the 8mm screws for the side board rails are too short. Took me a bit of swearing …err… thinking it through, to figure out that they were just short. I had a few extra 10mm that i bought in advance of the build, so just used those.
I didn’t bother to affix the x-Controller to the board. and the way my X-controller and pc are set up, the usb cord was a few inches short. So, i ended up pushing my X-Controller back a few inches to accommodate. All good there. (its not like the X-Controller is moving about anyway…)
Can’t speak to the Mac Pro as I have windows 10… but (knock on wood) no issues thus far… (excepting the Z-Probe wasn’t working but a quick update on that resolved the issue…)
They’re counterbored. Even with a washer, the screws I had were either slightly to long or slightly too short, the head of the screws are below the surface.
I just completed the build of the New 1000mm kit and have a few questions.
First let me say that I am quite pleased with the kit as a whole… From Unboxing to start of first test carve was approximately 10 1/2 hours over a three day period. For the most part the instructions are spot on and easily understandable. I did run into the same issue with the Side board (instructions call for M5x8 screws and they are just not long enough…luckily I have lots of various M5 screws on hand) I’d have to say that the instructions for the side board and the X-Controller are not quite as detailed as the rest of the build, but nothing that was too difficult to figure out. (The X-controller instruction set is completely missing the step where you mount the power supply to the base)
As stated, I have questions about the side board and the X controller.
X-Control… the three buttons on the front face… It would appear that the buttons would allow a user to “Pause” “Restart” or even “Delete” a job (based on the markings)…but no where in the instructions is this addressed.
There are also connection points on the back that have nothing to do with the X-carve so I am going to assume they are for a different machine. Since the X-Control is multi-use device, should I assume that the buttons are for another machine also?
Side Board… Based on what I’m seeing with the side board, I’m almost (not quire) sorry I purchased it. What’s the use of the threaded inserts and is there a specific reason for the arrangement of these inserts? The X-Control only matches up to the back most inserts and due to the routing of all the wires and cables, mounting the X-Control way back there isn’t an option. The only way to mount the X-Control to the side board would be to remove the rubber feet and screw new hardware into the side board.
I’ve only had the kit set up for a day and am already considering removing the side board and mounting the X-Control directly to the table top. I’m sure the side board has a use and that some find it useful, but as it is right now… I don’t see a real use for it except to increase the kit footprint.
This is just my two cents… your results and uses may vary.
Turns out this problem was VMWare Fusion grabbing my serial ports on startup. Uninstalled it and this problem is gone. Probably could reinstall it, it was probably in a weird state after multiple OS upgrades since I last used it.
Same, I’m not sure the point of the sideboard just yet. I just have my X Contoller sitting on the rubber feet on it right now. I’m going to put more thought into a bit latter, I might also be removing it to save space and make the machine easier to move.
Same here… I just assumed they were future-proofing for some other tool or something. But I do see it as an opportunity for a handy spot for loose tools and such. A simple box or bit storage might work there as well…
I too didn’t bother to affix the Xcontroller to the sideboard… its heavy enough that it aint going anywhere…
PS the E-stop on the Xcontroller works great. (I may or may not have had to use it… a few times… a lot…)
Do you have the board oriented as in the photo? I took the rubber feet out and bolted it down. It’s located in a convenient location at the front left and ain’t going anywhere. I really like the clean look.
Also, the buttons on the X-Controller function with the X-Carve to pause, restart, and stop the job. Works great.
do you have a photo of your Controller mounted? The side board on mine is oriented so the wide area is forward and the narrow section is towards the rear…
What connections are you referring to that don’t have to do with the Xcarve? I think they’re just not utilized by the current iteration of the “stock” Xcarve.
You’ve got 4 motor connections, 3 homing switch connection, a probe connection. These are all “standard” connections.
The other block is for non-standard items. M7 and M8 outputs can be used for vac control or, more traditionally, coolant controls (hence the FLOOD and MIST nomenclature). I’ve got a relay connected to my M8 to control my shop vac. The spindle outputs are multi purposed. I’ve got a relay connected to PWM that enables the machine to turn the router on and off automatically. Some machines use an actual spindle and those outputs, I believe, set the RPM of the spindle.
Exactly, the non standard items… I just wasn’t sure what they are for (I’m new to CNC) and they aren’t addressed in the instructions so I assumed they weren’t critical for the build
Me personally, I put together the side board, then put it back in the box. not because it’s bad, but because I already had made a custom stand with the controller mounted in a rack drawer below and couldn’t get the cnc with sideboard to fit on the top without blocking access to my keyboard on the side. I will eventually use the rails for it to give some extra support to the waste board.
I loved putting mine together too and ran into the same problems with attaching the sideboard as everyone else. I had some extra 2020 extrusion laying around so I just replaced the stock ones with a single long pieces along the front and back. I show it in my little video tour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjfQHUDVgs8
I have the same problem as well with the side board, contacted customer success team and shared pictures with the hole pattern issues which seem to me that they were drilled out backwards and no one caught it in QC… They kindly rushed what they thought was a correct replacement that I just received and to my surprise it’s the exact one that I already have and is wrong… If you look at the photos of the side board on the product page for the x-carve 1000mm it clearly shows it mounted at the front of the side board. (I took photos with hole pattern next to rulers and x-controller to show the distant between holes that didn’t match up to the x-controller holes)… @Zach_Kaplan
I though something was wrong with the screw holes in mine. Just confirmed it by looking at the technical drawing my mounting screw holes are miles to close together.
To give you an idea(no photo, not at machine) my ones are located near where the screws for mounting the PSU to the case of the x-controller. odd thing is i also have 2 screw holes near the bottom wire pass through that i think could be the right width for the x-controller but puts it way to close to that hole.
Just finished my build and did my first test carve. Started building on Sunday and finished last night - probably about 10 to 12 hours of work. The build mostly went very well - but with a few hitches that clearer (and corrected) instructions would help avoid:
Step 6 of the Z axis instructions should document inserting washers between the nylock nuts and the spindle mount. The mechanical drawing does show washers. Because of the size of the hole required for the eccentric spacer, a washer is required to distribute the load of the nut to the spindle mount. There were enough extra washers in my kit to do this.
The gantry instructions should highlight the need of the outer slot to be located toward the bottom of the rail so that the homing switch stop will be properly located (I did it upside down and had to undo it and redo it after putting the gantry on the rails)
As others have mentioned, 8mm bolts are too short for assembling the frame. It turns out that 10mm bolts are too long for the side board plates. So I used 10mm bolts for the frame, and 8mm bolts for the plates (there are the correct numbers of each included in the kit).
The instructions also incorrectly reference 10mm bolts for attaching the board to the frame. There are five 12mm bolts, and five holes, so clearly 12mm bolts are the correct bolts.
The bill of materials does not mention the post-assembly pre-insertion nuts which are required for the drag chain mount.
It would be helpful to document what the offset of the right side of the frame should be (I think it should be 222mm, or just shy of 8.75 inches)
