Dan Frecks
08-24-2009, 10:45 AM
Hi all,
I just finished my first couple of carves and thought I would offer my initial thoughts on the Carvewright for anyone who is interested.
It does beautiful work! On the optimal setting it is absolutely stunning. I have been carving mostly in redwood and have been very impressed.
The downside is that it is not a plug and play machine. You have to be willing to learn the thing and the software to make it work correctly. Some of my issues were:
1) Right out of the box I had low head pressure which was not fixed with lube. I had to add some washers to the handle, that they had hidden in another part of the machine, evidently cause this is often an issue. It took a lots of calls to get through to Customer Service but when I did they were helpful.
2) On my first try at a carve the machine had a board measurement issue. It gave me a front roller code. when I pushed up on the back roller I could hear a little switch click. When I pushed up on the front roller....no click. After perusing the forum. I took off the side panel and was able to locate and free a stuck little switch and voila...I'm carving!
3) On my second carve I got a bit read error. After cleaning everything in the machine I read the forum and ever so slightly tweaked (bent slightly upward) the bit plate, and now I am carving again.
4) After my last carve, I noticed that the front sandpaper belt seems to be drifting to the right even though my head pressure is fine, so I will tackle that proactively today I guess.
5) I have been a graphic artist for years and the software (admittedly from my perspective) is not terribly intuitive regarding sizing, merging, grouping etc... but this could just be cause I am so used to photoshop and designer so....
I guess I would tell any newbies like myself that this is a technical computer controlled machine that is a fairly sensitive piece of equipment. Lots to know and research to keep it running well, and lots of research required to figure out how to overcome errors when you get them. It is not a table saw or router from an upkeep, trouble shooting or maintenence perspective. Even right out of the box you cannot be afraid of having to dig in and tweak it to get it to work right, but when it does, it creates works of art.
There you go, my .02
Dan
I just finished my first couple of carves and thought I would offer my initial thoughts on the Carvewright for anyone who is interested.
It does beautiful work! On the optimal setting it is absolutely stunning. I have been carving mostly in redwood and have been very impressed.
The downside is that it is not a plug and play machine. You have to be willing to learn the thing and the software to make it work correctly. Some of my issues were:
1) Right out of the box I had low head pressure which was not fixed with lube. I had to add some washers to the handle, that they had hidden in another part of the machine, evidently cause this is often an issue. It took a lots of calls to get through to Customer Service but when I did they were helpful.
2) On my first try at a carve the machine had a board measurement issue. It gave me a front roller code. when I pushed up on the back roller I could hear a little switch click. When I pushed up on the front roller....no click. After perusing the forum. I took off the side panel and was able to locate and free a stuck little switch and voila...I'm carving!
3) On my second carve I got a bit read error. After cleaning everything in the machine I read the forum and ever so slightly tweaked (bent slightly upward) the bit plate, and now I am carving again.
4) After my last carve, I noticed that the front sandpaper belt seems to be drifting to the right even though my head pressure is fine, so I will tackle that proactively today I guess.
5) I have been a graphic artist for years and the software (admittedly from my perspective) is not terribly intuitive regarding sizing, merging, grouping etc... but this could just be cause I am so used to photoshop and designer so....
I guess I would tell any newbies like myself that this is a technical computer controlled machine that is a fairly sensitive piece of equipment. Lots to know and research to keep it running well, and lots of research required to figure out how to overcome errors when you get them. It is not a table saw or router from an upkeep, trouble shooting or maintenence perspective. Even right out of the box you cannot be afraid of having to dig in and tweak it to get it to work right, but when it does, it creates works of art.
There you go, my .02
Dan