Wow, so inventables really has decided to move up the food-chain with the new X-carve Pro announced today. Certainly carries a professional price (even with the 45% current discount on pre-orders).
Now comes with a full 4x4 (or 4x2) bed with passthrough (the current one is 29x29x3.5 with passthrough) - so 48"x48"x4" envelope. 2hp VFD controlled spindle (instead of the Dewalt 611), ballscrews instead of belt drives. Built in dust management. Linear guides instead of V-wheels. Much, much beefier extrusions.
The problem with the pro isn’t that it’s not a great looking machine, it’s that at this price you are now competing with some of the more mid-level industrial models. So that’s a challenge in that the competition has spindles that support power-drawbars (i.e. possible to do automatic tool changing), full 3-axis probing, etc…
I got the email and I agree with your summation.
Thousands more than the Onefinity but still less than a Shopbot desktop I see it as awkwardly positioned. Some though might see it as a sweet spot.
I have been tempted to upgrade the motors to their 296oz steppers (which the x-controller can drive) along with the z-axis upgrade. Paw Paw’s workshop (Phillip Lunsford’s channel) upgraded and it was a big change. The total upgrade to a CNC4Newbie is not worth it. It’s actually easier to simply buy the machine, since the mod vs. new machine is a few hundred dollars, and that difference you save your wasteboard. At that might as well have 2 machines. But just the z-axis and motors would be nice. And not having a belt drive z-axis with rods/bearings would be huge. But the rigidity of this machine is so much higher. And the CNC4Newbie still doesn’t eat a 4x8 sheet of ply. It’s essentially the same machine as the x-carve 1000m (yes there is the slightly larger one). This is the upgrade I am considering
I was seriously considering the Z-axis upgrade. (maybe when winter comes and I need something to do).
Thanks for the video link I will have to watch it.
It’s definitely a confused message. I watched the video and in one sentence they say “Our mission is to empower Makers”, then in the next they say “The faster you can carve, the more money you can make”. I mean, I guess Maker culture was kind of a flash in the pan and is pretty much dead now, but it would be nice if they remembered who we are.
So I bought an original X-Carve, when they cleverly gave freebies to a bunch of YouTubers and made sure you couldn’t turn on your computer without watching someone unbox one. At the time, I had this notion that having a CNC milling machine would satisfy my desire to own a 3D printer or a laser cutter, thus saving me a lot of money.
I never really used that thing, but I did upgrade the controller. Then they announced the “new X-Carve” and I convinced myself I would use that one more than zero because I don’t remember why. But I got it, and I added a PID loop speed controller and a dust boot and z touch, and I also barely used it. I think I’ve done maybe 3 projects ever. Getting PCB milling working last year was awesome, but I haven’t done it a second time. It works… it’s just really not a match for my impulse-driven spur of the moment projects. Knowing I have to spend a lot of time zeroing and fixturing and cleaning up messes kills my enthusiasm. The Glowforge gets much more action, because I can mostly just drop a sheet of material in it and go. Same with the 3D printers. Oh… yeah, that whole idea that an X-Carve would stop me from getting those… didn’t work out.
Anyway, third time is not the charm here. I’m going to keep my 2nd-gen X-Carve around and keep using it once or twice a year, but I’m not tempted to “upgrade”. At least until I can afford a Tormach like somebody we know.
Thought about checking it out but then I saw the price. First rule: Define the need, and only then a solution. Never, ever find a solution before the need. My 1000x1000 X-Carve works just fine for my simple projects.
Actually I don’t spend too much doing fixturing (compared to the tormach say). But what the big thing that made it more usable on a daily basis is addition of legit dust collection. Otherwise the cleanup was so horrible.
Weird how different people with multiple smart tools end up using one or the other more. I have 3d printer, cnc router, and the glowforge. I use the glowforge the most simply because I can fire it up at 3 am but if I didn’t have to do 40 at the salt mine I would use the cnc router the most. For me it is the 3d printer that sits waiting for that one use case to get used.
Oh and for one sided work a brad nailer all but eliminates fixturing.
I have had my Shapeoko 3 for a couple years now and it has been a solid machine. The new X-Carve Pro looks to be solidly made as well, but at the price point, I just don’t see it. Starting at $5,495.00, the Pro 4x2 is 2.5 times the cost of the Shapeoko XXL ( $1,970.00), which is 33 by 34. The OneFinity Woodworker CNC machine is 36 square and goes for $1995 (and it’s ridiculously beefy).
The X-Carve Pro seems like a hell of a premium to pay for an extra foot.
