Hammer dropped....XCarve

The XCarve is a little more difficult to go from design to finished product than the GF. Certainly far noisier and creates a lot more dust. But it’s a good pairing of tools. If you understand what the XCarve does better and what the GF does better then it adds a lot.

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Xcarve is not my first choice but a lot of people love them. Should complement the :glowforge: very well.

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Have you reviewed the shapoko - it’s a simpler design and it’s rigidity is i a little better, the best is they have a number of attchments for vices etc.

Also depending on your uses shaper is awesome as well as you don’t have the footprint.

Ryan

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Already have an 1000mm XCarve with rigidity upgrades. Bought it after ordering the GF and used it for well over a year before getting a Pre-Release GF to work with.

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That’s great. I was ready to buy an XCarve when the Glowforge debuted and switched. I think if I hadn’t gotten that early pre-release, I would have bought one during the wait.

Still would like to make one. I have the steppers, drivers and electronics but just not sure which way to go. I’ve been doing a lot of looking at the MPCNC, but I have a few other projects to finish first.

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The hardest part is fixturing. Oh god, the fixturing. And then it crashes into one of your clamps anyway.

Love the simplicity of job setup on the Glowforge.

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I have a 750mm and love it. The GF and X-carve compliment each other well.

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I would probably argue that Inventable’s Carvey is more like the GF than the XCarve. Just unpack and go. Of course, it does have a much more limited bed size than the XCarve and can’t be expanded/modified. (again, sorta like the GF!)

One thing I will definitely say is that whatever you order from Inventables, you’ll be impressed with their customer support. It is probably the best I’ve ever experienced. There is also a pretty good user forum dedicated to all of their products.

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Fair point - I love my carvey it’s really simple and being honest I use it most out of my machines. My only regret is it does not do well on softmetals.

Ps start shopping for end mill - you can never have enough.

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I debated off and on for a long time about getting an X-Carve, or some other CNC… but seeing as I don;t have a proper workshop, I’d have to put it in my home office and neither do I have the room for it, nor do I have a way to clean it all up… But I really want one… :slight_smile:

The enclosed machines are wonderful small footprint -dust is all contained in the housing. And a $30 HD wet dry vac solves all the clean up issues. Problems solved and no you have no more issues -smile.

If you want soft metals them get the shapoko it you are wood and plastic carvey is fantastic - you cant go wrong with either machine.

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Be sure to check out Designs by Phil for a wealth of good information on the x-carve. Phil (@DesignsByPhil) is a member here and he is a true authority on the X-Carve.

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Here are some of my stuff made on the x-carve or designed in vcarve desktop (best software for cnc is vectric software)

http://www.designsbyphil.com/phils-random-vcarve-projects.html

http://www.designsbyphil.com/custom-signs-and-more-.html

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