Board Sensor, really stupid question

[newcarver]

The board sensor does way more than just measure the board. It also tells the machine where each edge is w.r.t. the axis encoders. BTW, they have recently been shipping SEALED board sensors. I think that is a step in the right direction.

That is a great step in the right direction

[SandBuoy]

I can see both sides of the coin here. For us that have programmed NCNs before its a no brainer why we need the sensor that seems to cause a heck of a lot of problems for a lot of people. We sure didn't have them on our metal CNS in the 70s and 80s. It was the operators job to position in all the axis. With cutting oils, solvents and chips it would be a full time job to clean them all the time.

But on the other hand, I have to argue that the user friendly sensor makes it so easy for people that never ran a CNC machine before. They put the piece in, the sensor finds all the correct positions and make changes for mistakes that might have been made by the designer. Heck this machine is so easy to use that my wife can now run it. And she has no machine and very little wood tool experience at all.

I do agree that by eliminating that troublesome sensor it could solve a lot of problems for both the company and us. But the simplicity that it brings to the machine sure seems to out way the elimination of it.

But, I would also like to say that I can't see why this devise can't be made to perform for a HE!! of a lot longer then it does. All I can say is very poor quality. With that said, something else I would like to vent on is why better quality can't be brought into this machine.

For such a remarkable piece of equipment it sure has been hindered by poor quality, shoddy service and poor representation from Sears. Hey I looked into a couple of the other CNCs before and even after I bought this machine. I can't afford another $4-5000 bucks for a Cox or even Cox machine.

This machine may have its problems, but it will cut a piece 10' long while the machine 3-4 times its cost still only cut the table size pieces. The way I see it, if some of the faulty pieces were made to hold up for some period of time they could have charged $400-500 bucks more and couldn't keep up with demands. Its fast, does a fantastic job of carving and its only about 2" x 2" in size.

I was going to buy another one a few days after I got this one but now I am holding off to see if this one going to carve the next job. At this time I am getting a cut motor error within 2 hours of the last job. The only thing I can think of is I got the shop vac to close to a wire and sucked it loose or it snapped off.

The part that really stinks is, I just got 5 orders from the Indian head clock face and 4 lithopanes from a guy across the street that just lost his mother. I even got invited to a craft show after showing some pieces to the chairman running it that is usually booked 1-2 years in advance. I can get the work to pay for this machine but I can't get the work out.

[Eagle Hollow]

Yup, So simple a cave man can do it!

[badger]

I can get the work to pay for this machine but I can't get the work out.

Not sure how many times this has to be covered, but I think some people are expecting too much from this machine. They have already covered this in the warranty that it is NOT meant as a commercial machine but as a hobby machine. I do however agree that I believe that some of the parts could have been made a little stronger. You put a fast moving spindle like this on plastic wheels and parts and its bound to go bad sooner or later. I also would have paid a couple hundred more bucks for better parts.

If your expecting to use it to make money you better have enough for at least two machines to start with to keep the work going while one is down.

[ChrisAlb]

I can see both sides of the coin here.

Just my take here but I think this whole issue is pretty ridiculous. Why on earth would you want to go back to a "manual" task when it's already done automatically and very accurately??

I mean, if this is just about all of you "showing your smarts" fine. But to me, technology is supposed to move forward, not backward. If the sensor is of poor quality (which to me it's not "that" bad), then improve the sensor. Don't eliminate it! After 160 hours cut time I never had a problem with the sensor (other than not keeping it CLEAN in the beginning). After 13 hours of a 15 hours carve mine coughed up it's diodes. Hey, If I worked that hard for 13 hours straight, I'd probably cough something up as well..lol

For such a remarkable piece of equipment it sure has been hindered by poor quality, shoddy service and poor representation from Sears.

The common denominator here is SEARS!! From LHR, My machine was NEVER misrepresented (it does exactly what I was told it would do). I find it be of very good quality and it performs very well so long as it's used and cared for properly. As for service, I can't speak to that on either Sears or LHR because I've NEVER had to send mine in due to how reliable it's been.

Now there are a few things I'd like to see improved a bit on the machine but it works exactly as advertised to me. The improvements I'd like to see most are in the "software". If you ask me, that's the weakest link in the chain.

Just my 2 cents.

Chris

[ChrisAlb]

If your expecting to use it to make money you better have enough for at least two machines to start with to keep the work going while one is down.

If you just use and care for the "one" you have properly, it will do fine. I have only one. Never got interrupted in my work flow for more than a few minutes. I just sold my fourth big piece and with that, the "one" I have just paid for itself.

Now I'm not advocating that you can go stamp out a thousand plinth blocks a week or keep the thing running 24/7 but on average, mine runs "Carving" about 30 to 40 hours a week. No problem. An additional 10 to 20 hours scanning. Again, no problems.

[optionman]

wouldn't it be relatively easy to have a manual mode, so that if i put in a 20x14x.75 piece and only wanted to drill/carve a small test area, i could tell the cw to ignore measuring and let me jog the bit to starting point (the upper left corner of my project, inverted and reversed to the lower right corner). then all the cw has to do is find the surface.

[ChrisAlb]

wouldn't it be relatively easy to have a manual mode, so that if i put in a 20x14x.75 piece and only wanted to drill/carve a small test area, i could tell the cw to ignore measuring and let me jog the bit to starting point (the upper left corner of my project, inverted and reversed to the lower right corner). then all the cw has to do is find the surface.

You can. Select "jog to start postion" when given the choice of centering or not.

[ChrisAlb]

Why then don't you just design a nice "manual" system for youself and not worry about the "automatic" one already in place, since it's seem to give "you" so much trouble???

Or better yet, call LHR and give them your words of wisdom. Because all this whining is helping no one in here. Jeezzz

[John]

Please see my edit to post #8 in this thread.