X-Carve in Australia

X-Carve
1

G’day X-Carvers

I’m in Australia and I am almost convinced to get an X-Carve.

First I’d just like to check what it’s been like for other Australians who’ve got them -
Has anyone had trouble with anything, including getting the machines through customs, shipping, customer support, voltages, etc?

Has anyone used an alternative shipping company, or is it best to just get it sent through Inventables?

And does the default dewalt 611 spindle work in Straya? I notice they don’t sell it here. Or are there better alternatives that can be purchased here?

Thanks,
James E
South Australia, home of the FUIC

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You should contact 3dtek.xyz. They sell the XYZ-Carve which is the X-Carve with a few changes.
For a spindle, have a look at the Makita RT0700CX, available from Bunnings for $179.
See my build of an XYZ-Carve here.

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Thanks for the info!
Do you know if there’s a mount suitable for the Makita?

Thanks,
James E

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I have another router with a 800W water-cooled spindle and I’ll use it to make a separate mount for the Makita. The mount will actually fit the Makita so I may do it on the X-Carve once it’s up and running.

There is a user here @JohnScherer who is selling a [Makita mount][1] but I imagine shipping will be a killer.
[1]: Any interest in a Makita RT0701 spindle mount for X-Carve

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Yep, go with the Makita as the Dewalt 611 that Inventables sells is 110v.

I’m here in NZ and the Makita RT0700C is the all around better option. I plan to mount mine in the 611 mount from Inventables with a shim to fill the slight gap.

Another benefit to the Makita is the lower RPMs that it can operate at. Better for acrylic and wax and alu

One thing you might consider is not getting the wasteboard provided by Inventables and making your own. That being said, I got the wasteboard sent to me and am happy I did, even despite the cost.

Another thing you may consider is talking to Inventables on the phone to place your order. You may be able to get different parts of the machine sent separately to lower the value of individual boxes. It will normally come in 3or 4 boxes, but it may pay off to split one of those boxes into two shipments. If mine was, it would have been under the import threshold and wouldn’t have been flagged by customs. Could have saved almost $400 in the end.

All together though, I think you’ll be happy you went with X-Carve … The other options in AUS and NZ you will pay more for less machine.

1 Like
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Shipping from Inventables is no problems at all both my machines came through without a hitch, you could leave out the waste board if you want to save some money on shipping.

I got the Makita router from Bunnings as well.

Then sent mine in a couple of boxes so it was under the $1000 limit so know GST, Import tax etc.

Cheers
Warren

2 Likes
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Wow. Wish our limit was $1000

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Ours will change in July next year. :angry:

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I will expand on what sketch42 said about the make your own wasteboard route. It is quite a bit more work but for the price it is well worth going down the DIY route.

The price I was looking at to go with the UPS route was about $600USD and even if I had gone for the slower option would still have been about $300USD to NZ

Doing it my self. I paid ~$60NZD for a sheet of 18mm MDF which the store cut down to size. One sheet ended up giving me 2 wasteboards as well as some off cuts. It then took me about 1/2 a day(maybe just a bit more) to route the screw cutouts along the side and drill and cut the screw slots and then drill the 2 screw holes in the centre of the board.

All I have left to do on it is drill the holes for the treaded nuts which I’m hoping to do with the x-carve to do a guiding hole 4mm and then expand with a dill to the 5mm. However you don’t have to do this to get a working machine. You could use double sided tape, screws or if your really insane hold it down by hand like I did for my first project test run.

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@JamesE I’m in Perth (but I’m from SA) and had no problems at all (apart from the long wait) in ordering from Inventables.

I got one of the original spindles that turned out to be faulty and when I contacted Inventables, they sent me two (just so I wouldn’t be inconvenienced if the replacement was also faulty. Whilst shipping may be slow, Inventables are absolutely the best with regards to their customer service. I unreservedly recommend them to everyone.

I replaced the original spindle with a the Aussie version of the DeWalt router http://www.dewalt.com.au/powertools/productdetails/catno/D26204K/ which fits in the mount sold by Inventables.

Whatever you do, don’t order the washboard from Inventables - the shipping costs are horrendous. This is something that’s easily made yourself.

As a bench, I bought a 1200x1200 bar table from Ikea - it’s higher than a normal table and is perfect for the XCarve. I screwed the XCarve to the table, added some T Slot rails and then filled the spaces with MDF. I bought a box of T Bolts & knobs from Carba Tec (has probably 75 different sizes for about $40) and some aluminium clamps. Some heavy-duty lockable castors from Bunnings on each leg makes it moveable.

In between the T Slot rails, I’ve added threaded inserts which are the same size as the T Slot bolts - this way, if I need to use the hole instead of the slot, I just turn the bolt 180 degrees and I’m good to go. I can pretty much bolt anything anywhere on the table. When clamping is no good, double-sided mounting tape from Bunnings does the trick.

The electronics are in a box from Jaycar which along with the power supply, is screwed to the front of the bench/table. Some images below.

The plastic dust shields are polycarbonate hollow cell sheeting from Bunnings. I glued some aluminium channel along the bottom for stiffness and then glued a small rare-earth magnet inside one of the cells at each end. The resulting shields are lightweight, the clip in and out with the magnets and keep the dust to a minimum.

The dust boot is cut from 12mm ply, one piece is mounted to the bottom of the router, the other piece has a skirt made from rubber sheeting from Clark Rubber. The skirt is held on to the bottom piece of ply with a hose clamp, and the two halves clip together with pairs of rare earth magnets glued into holes in the ply. One pair of magnets are ‘proud’ from their holes, the others are a couple of mm below the surface, this makes a nice positive pair pf locating pins.

If you get stuck, let me know.

IMG_0746.jpg3264×2003 1.42 MB

IMG_0733.jpg3264×2448 1.67 MB

IMG_0714.jpg3264×2448 1.57 MB

5 Likes
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Topic bump for updating of info. Two years is a lot of water under the bridge.

I too am very interested in getting an X-Carve, but living in Perth, Australia, i’m just thinking through the logistics of getting this sent to me - halfway around the world.

Firstly, and obviously, the waste board is off the shipping list. It’s a massive shipping cost and something I can easily make that myself.

I also think it might be wise to omit buying rails and attempt to source the same extrusions locally… not only to keep shipping costs down, but also as a guarantee against transit damage. I guess the most important question to ask is - are the rails something I could buy/source here in Australia? Does this extrusion type have a technically identifying name they go by? Or are they something only available through X-Carve?

And one final question - can any Australian provide a ballpark estimation of shipping costs for the core X-Carve kit (no waste board, no rails, no router), or an estimation of the import/customs/duties/fees.

Thanks in advance if anyone can help with info.

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Have you checked out 3DTek??

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I did check out that site. My preference is to stick with the x-carve package. For a few reasons:

  • a large user community and modular aftersales options.
  • resale. A recognised brand is easier to move along should it prove not to be right CNC for me.
  • the ‘known’ factor. If I have a problem with an x-carve (or if I want to upgrade the x-carve), a google search and/or a search of the user community/forums will provide me the answer instantly. If I need to troubleshoot a problem with the xyz-carve, I’m at the behest of 3dtek for a solution.
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Tim,
Absolutely do the wasteboard yourself, the shipping would be insane (see my RAG* version above). Id be tempted to still buy the extrusions through Inventables however, as they’re using a new, thicker type (unless you could get that over here).

I’m also pretty sure that if you contact Inventables themselves, they’ll be able to give you the accurate shipping costs. As a company, they’re incredibly helpful.

If I had any suggestions, it’d be to buy one that’s bigger than you think you’ll need, and to buy the newer heavier version (along with their new controller etc). I’d also buy all the wiring, connectors etc through them - yes, you can get 'em locally, but there’s a lot to be said for having everything at hand and knowing it’ll all fit together.

Any questions, let me know…

David.

  • Rough as guts…
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Hi Tim,

I just got a 1000mm version, and the best bit of advice I could give you is to email Inventables first, and ask them to send each box to you a week apart, and to individually invoice you for the parts in each box.

Mine arrived all at once, Border Force took their cut, and the paperwork was so frustrating I paid a freight forwarding company to do it all on my behalf. I paid almost $600 extra all up.

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Yeah as others said, I ordered mine cost me nearly $600 in border security, however I just bought the 240 volt router which had the UK fitting but an adapter is cheap. But with a poor dollar than to be slugged with import taxes is brutal.

1 Like
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Hi guys.

Tim did you get one in the end? Im in Perth also and would very much like to see one before I push the button and commit as the freight costs are ridiculous!

cheers

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I have the 3dtek xyz carve kit and for all intents and purposes it’s identical to the inventables X carve.

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where are you located mate?

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Sorry I’m in Townsville, so not likely you will be anywhere close by haha.