Is there one place..

[Spencemark]

..that has all the things we should know about a CW in some sort of order?

Mine is a few years old and only has a couple of hours on it, mostly test
files. I keep reading here and the more I read, the less I want to use the
machine until it is brought 'up to code' .. but I spend an hour or more every
morning here and don't feel any closer to understanding all the things that
might need to be corrected before using it.
And I'd rather not use it if it's just going to break because I didn't do some
recommended upgrade or change out a part that is likely to fail. And if it's
going to cost too much to upgrade it, I'd rather sell it with 3 hours on it and
nothing broken yet..

Is there a 'master list' somewhere of recommendations?

[Old Salt]

you wont get any more out of it with low hrs .
Bite the bullit , get your feet wet .make it hum.
Don't hide out you will be happer with what it can do more than what it can't. We will all help if you have a problem.
:rolleyes:

[wizer]

Man if you are that scared of the machine, sell it. It's meant to be used.

[TIMCOSBY]

really all that you should need to do is to make sure the flex shaft is lubed good. i have the old zpack etc and mine is humming along just fine. seems like all this "you gotta get this upgrade that fixed new this new that" has rattled you somewhat. just use it to make what you want. hell i dont even use dust collection.....even on a 14 hour carve....shavings just pilled up to the top of the clear cover and didnt seem to bother anything. i think they designed it to work that way and i remember my first carve and seeing the shavings and needing to get them out of there really bad and then having errors when the vacume tube got to close to the keyboard side. that was the end of that and i havent looked back. i may get a dust collection thing done sometime soon but that is just because the fine dust covers everything in the shop within 10 feet. have no fear and go for it. my opinion is the unbalanced chucks were the root of most peoples problems and there was no real way to percieve that problem. if youve got a bad chuck the flex arm will dance around quite a bit. good luck.

[ChrisAlb]

Well this forum has EVERYTHING you'll ever need to know about the CW. With that said, I bought mine in August 07. I've had very little trouble with it at all.

I've replaced the belts once, a couple board sensors, one new QC after almost 400 hours and the new Z bundle when it quit after like 300 hours.

Now I know most folks don't like hearing this but I'm still a firm member of the camp that "most" problems are caused by a lack of understanding on both how to use this machine, and it's overall capabilities. Running poor quality patterns is another, and I believe HUGE killer of the CW by making it work much harder (Bouncing hard and fast over the Peaks and Valleys) than it should have to thus literally beating itself to death.

So my 2 cents is, I would run it, have fun with it and simply fix what needs fixing when it happens. In my humble opinion, even if you do EVERY "upgrade" available and still don't know how to use it correctly, you'll still have problems.

Knowledge on it's proper use and care is KEY and you'll never make it "bullet proof" without it.

[eelamb]

I agree with Chris, run the cw, use it, and read. If something goes wrong post it here, and you will get help, either with the pattern or the machine.

Keep the cw clean, keep it lubed, and enjoy it.

Only other item is read every thing about the QC if that is what you have, and when you can upgrade it to the rock or the new chuck.