lawrence
08-14-2012, 10:27 PM
Saturday one of the officers from my group came over to the house to make a few ribbon rack carvings (I'll be posting soon about them... they aren't done yet) and it required several seperate carvings. The first went swimmingly.... no issues... the second one got a z-axis error.... (I wiped down my rails, blew everything off and it carved fine).... the third carve, I had issues getting my head to lower smoothly (It is time for a CW tuneup, but I waxed the screws and all worked fine).... the fourth carved fine.... I just smiled and told him "welcome to Carvewright carving L.T..... it's sometimes frustrating, usually challenging, but almost always incredibly rewarding!"
Because I post quite a bit on forums other than this one (I'm a regular poster on 7 other forums) I also get a lot of questions about the CW and on whether it would be a good buy for them. Recently, I began asking myself the question "what makes a good carvewright user?" and I came up with a few traits that (at least in my case) describe the "ideal" CW user.
1. Space saver - space consious and working out of your 2-car garage? Don't have room for a 4x8 foot machine to be set up all the time? The CW is the only CNC on the market that I know of that can do large-scale projects from a a small footprint
2. Tinkerer - If you are the kind of person that would pay someone to change out a lightbulb in your swimming pool or pays the Oil change place an extra $15 to put in an air filter, then the CW may not be for you. You WILL have some problems at some point as a user... maybe from the start, and maybe it will take time, but if you are a regular user there will be hicups and if you are unwilling to learn how to get through these hicups the maybe CNC woodworking isn't for you. It is not just because the CW is cheaper that it has problems-- the $100,000 machines have problems too, but they just are taken care of on an industrial level while we figure it out and then peel 1/2 inch off one of the sandpaper belts or buy a new o-ring for the brass roller. It's all about perspective....
3. Patient - In most cases (with the exception of some vector cuts etc) the CW is SLOW.... VERY SLOW.... this isn't usually a problem for me though because I'm not an industrial user that needs to make 100 swords by tuesday... I need one sword- today... so this works fine for me. It does suprise some folks though.
3. Flexible/understanding of others' situations/understanding self fallibilty - it seems to me that the users that have the worst experiences with the CW are often those that are the most inflexible or those that just simply cannot accept fault. I know and understand that there are lemons in existance and that there are magical exploding flexshafts-- we all know this... however with patience, flexibility, and a little understanding of LHR's situation you usually see results in the end. It may take a hold fee for a part or a $25 tech fee, but you'll eventually be up and running. I've never seen a patient, flexible, willing to ask questions here on the forum and willing to work on their machine with help person not become a successful carver. There simply aren't that many moving parts on this machine that it can't be fixed though some fixes are more expensive than others. Vocal frustration is usually accepted as par for the course, but ranting usually gets you less assistance here on the forum (and possibly from LHR) instead of more. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets greased, but the angry squeaky wheel usually just gets ignored until it goes away or finds a moment of zen :smile: In many cases though- it's operator error.... we've all done it, whether it's putting in a warped board or not understanding how the 3.5 inch rule worked in the beginning-- but it's still usually operator error. Stick with it, and eventually you'll usually figure out a problem before it actually happens.
4. Deaf - :) Seriously- our machines are loud... The best move I ever made was to hook up a small FM transmitter (about $10 online) to my little 13 inch TV that I have in my shop. Now I throw on my worktunes ear protection, tune to my TV signal, and can listen to the ballgame or my favorite show (right now, the Newsroom) while I'm in the shop and my CW is running. It amuses me when I am using hand tools (planes, saws, etc) in my shop while wearing hearing protection because my CW and dust collector are running.
5. "out of the box" thinker and/or artist - in my opinion, the users here that inspire me the most are those that either stretch the bounds of our imagination past simple lettering on signs, or astound me with their skill at finishing, layout, or pattern creation. You guys make me smile so much when you do something that is down a path that I'd never even contimplated before.
I am constantly amazed at the work that is displayed here on this forum as well as the outpouring of assistance and generosity of spirit. I hope that we can all continue down this path together and that we continue to enjoy our successes with our wonderful machines.
If all that failed to hit home- I usually just ask folks if they ever owned a VW bug or a British car like a triumph or a MBG... it they say yes then I tell them that the'll LOVE their CW!
I'd love to hear what other traits y'all think are necessary to be a successful CW user-
Lawrence
Because I post quite a bit on forums other than this one (I'm a regular poster on 7 other forums) I also get a lot of questions about the CW and on whether it would be a good buy for them. Recently, I began asking myself the question "what makes a good carvewright user?" and I came up with a few traits that (at least in my case) describe the "ideal" CW user.
1. Space saver - space consious and working out of your 2-car garage? Don't have room for a 4x8 foot machine to be set up all the time? The CW is the only CNC on the market that I know of that can do large-scale projects from a a small footprint
2. Tinkerer - If you are the kind of person that would pay someone to change out a lightbulb in your swimming pool or pays the Oil change place an extra $15 to put in an air filter, then the CW may not be for you. You WILL have some problems at some point as a user... maybe from the start, and maybe it will take time, but if you are a regular user there will be hicups and if you are unwilling to learn how to get through these hicups the maybe CNC woodworking isn't for you. It is not just because the CW is cheaper that it has problems-- the $100,000 machines have problems too, but they just are taken care of on an industrial level while we figure it out and then peel 1/2 inch off one of the sandpaper belts or buy a new o-ring for the brass roller. It's all about perspective....
3. Patient - In most cases (with the exception of some vector cuts etc) the CW is SLOW.... VERY SLOW.... this isn't usually a problem for me though because I'm not an industrial user that needs to make 100 swords by tuesday... I need one sword- today... so this works fine for me. It does suprise some folks though.
3. Flexible/understanding of others' situations/understanding self fallibilty - it seems to me that the users that have the worst experiences with the CW are often those that are the most inflexible or those that just simply cannot accept fault. I know and understand that there are lemons in existance and that there are magical exploding flexshafts-- we all know this... however with patience, flexibility, and a little understanding of LHR's situation you usually see results in the end. It may take a hold fee for a part or a $25 tech fee, but you'll eventually be up and running. I've never seen a patient, flexible, willing to ask questions here on the forum and willing to work on their machine with help person not become a successful carver. There simply aren't that many moving parts on this machine that it can't be fixed though some fixes are more expensive than others. Vocal frustration is usually accepted as par for the course, but ranting usually gets you less assistance here on the forum (and possibly from LHR) instead of more. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets greased, but the angry squeaky wheel usually just gets ignored until it goes away or finds a moment of zen :smile: In many cases though- it's operator error.... we've all done it, whether it's putting in a warped board or not understanding how the 3.5 inch rule worked in the beginning-- but it's still usually operator error. Stick with it, and eventually you'll usually figure out a problem before it actually happens.
4. Deaf - :) Seriously- our machines are loud... The best move I ever made was to hook up a small FM transmitter (about $10 online) to my little 13 inch TV that I have in my shop. Now I throw on my worktunes ear protection, tune to my TV signal, and can listen to the ballgame or my favorite show (right now, the Newsroom) while I'm in the shop and my CW is running. It amuses me when I am using hand tools (planes, saws, etc) in my shop while wearing hearing protection because my CW and dust collector are running.
5. "out of the box" thinker and/or artist - in my opinion, the users here that inspire me the most are those that either stretch the bounds of our imagination past simple lettering on signs, or astound me with their skill at finishing, layout, or pattern creation. You guys make me smile so much when you do something that is down a path that I'd never even contimplated before.
I am constantly amazed at the work that is displayed here on this forum as well as the outpouring of assistance and generosity of spirit. I hope that we can all continue down this path together and that we continue to enjoy our successes with our wonderful machines.
If all that failed to hit home- I usually just ask folks if they ever owned a VW bug or a British car like a triumph or a MBG... it they say yes then I tell them that the'll LOVE their CW!
I'd love to hear what other traits y'all think are necessary to be a successful CW user-
Lawrence