Very excited new owner of a CarveWright

[tracyhankins]

Good morning everyone. I have my machine and I successfully completed my first small project. I am Retired Army and live near Ft Knox KY. I am busy watching the videos and learning how to work the software. I look forward to hearing from anyone out there that may have a comment.

I am also a very nervous new user. I am looking for some good advice on doing preventive maintenance and repair. What type of lubricant should I use? Any help would be appreciated

Tracy Hankins
U.S. Army Retired

[oscarl48]

Tracy,

Welcome aboard. If you don't have a dust collection system, that would be my first suggestion. It will save you headaches down the road.

This board is amazing if you do have issues. They helped me when I initially had issues with my machine. Since resolving that issue my machine has run practically without any issues. I deep clean it occasionally, like all my woodworking tools, and lubricate. It is a combination of lubes, with white grease, WD40 and moly grease. The more experienced users can help out on what they use. I don't run my machine very hard or that often compared to most of the folks on here. Their experiences is a lot more relevant.

Oscar

[Digitalwoodshop]

Welcome Aboard Tracy,

AL here a Retired Navy Chief. Congratulations on your selection of the CarveWright. I have 6 machines having purchased my first one in 2007 new. The rest are used.

Lubrication is the biggie when it comes to the flex shaft. Best bet is to purchase the stuff from LHR. Lots of posts on this topic, some use engine assembly lube with good results. My recommendation is to go with the LHR stuff.

So keep track of your cut motor hours. We recommend at 250 to replace the cut motor brushes and use the LHR version as they are metric. You can find some at ACE Hardware and sand them down but the spring could be longer or shorter and the copper tether acts as a dog leash preventing a short brush from letting the spring metal from getting to the spinning parts. You should get about 5 brush changes if you take care of the brushes. The hardness or softness of the brushes can lead to early motor failure so go with LHR Parts.

The Y Motor takes a beating. LHR has 2 versions of the Y Gearbox. The Original and the new version. The old one had two 685ZZ Metric Bearings. The new one has a unknown size bigger one and one 685ZZ. It would be good to stock up on the bearings and plan to change them at 250 cut hours. Once they fail, they start to grind down the shaft on the gear.

You can find lots of posts on the Y Gear Box in the Troubleshooting thread.

I use chain lube on my flex as I have the very old version before they changed the formula. I also use that for my machine, the threaded rods and smooth rods. Many here use DRY LUBE for this and have good luck with it.

Join the Facebook CW Page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1041312339227740/

And like others have said, get a Dust Collection System. I use the ringneck blues metal version. It Sucks in a good way.. http://www.ringneckblues.com/

Things to order from LHR:

Cut Motor Brushes
Flex Lube
FFC Cable, the flat cable to the Z. They are a consumable as they can only bend so many times.. And a great source of problems when they are intermittent... Best to have one or 3.... to swap.
Board Sensor. they can get dust inside the window and give future problems. Best to have one. The TEST.. White copy paper on the board and crank down. Truck over board and call up sensor data on the LCD. A 156 is perfect. A 90 is a dirty window.
Board sensor CABLE... a 4 wire cable that will help you troubleshoot problems as you can plug the cable in on the top of the truck and plug in your spare senor... The wires can get pinched inside the truck if you pull down on the cable changing the board sensor.

I don't believe LHR sells the bearings. Use a aftermarket supplier. They DO sell the roller rail bearings.

Good Luck,

AL

[blhutchens]

welcome aboard!!!! You are in the right place. There are no stupid questions here, we have all been there and are eager to help a newcomer.

[Shelby50412]

Hi
i am new to carvewright...i have noticed something though..the carvewright requires a lot of maint and its operating costs are extremely high as compared to traditional cnc engravers...my traditional cnc machine has over 500 hrs run time with zero costs..im afraid to even use the carvewright ...it seems every part on it is consumable..and very very expensive...my traditional cnc engraver has zero consumable parts other then brushes for router which i have notbhad to replace yet.

[fwharris]

Hi
i am new to carvewright...i have noticed something though..the carvewright requires a lot of maint and its operating costs are extremely high as compared to traditional cnc engravers...my traditional cnc machine has over 500 hrs run time with zero costs..im afraid to even use the carvewright ...it seems every part on it is consumable..and very very expensive...my traditional cnc engraver has zero consumable parts other then brushes for router which i have notbhad to replace yet.

I have not needed to make any repairs on my machine for several years, probably close to 500 hours. Just a quick clean and lube.

[Shelby50412]

Ok thats good to hear but apparently not normal....seems this design has many flaws and high maint parts.
i only paid $450 for mine so not much risk but its the doomed version A machine

[fwharris]

Ok thats good to hear but apparently not normal....seems this design has many flaws and high maint parts.
i only paid $450 for mine so not much risk but its the doomed version A machine


My machine is also an A version. Bought it in 2007.

At $450 you are in cheap. Doing the needed upgrades; CarveTight chuck, A907 Z truck and a dust collection attachment should be all that was needed IF the previous owner did not abuse the machine by not doing the needed cleaning/lubing and needed adjustments to keep the machine in good working order.