What to buy?

[ajay]

I'm considering a new machine and am wondering if there is a difference I need to consider between the CarveWright and Sears brands. In other words is one better/worse than the other in terms of performance, price, capability, warranty.

Will the machine do box cuts, dovetail cuts on end boards? Just curious.

I've done some woodworking, clockmaking actually, in the past, but have been relatively inactive while the kids were growing up. My last machine was a Shopsmith.

Any comments would be appreciated.

ajay

[DustyUsr]

ajay,
from what I understand, the only difference in the CC and CW is the name, it is the same Machine.
I have the CC and it will do anything, it's amazing.
I would say one and Happy Carving.
I also have a ShopSmith that I use for Turning (1947) still works Great.
Michael:D

[Andy C]

Same machine.

But Sears has many specials, if you join the tool club you get 10%, and there are other "deals". I paid $1499 for mine. Delivery to store costs no extra. For the first 90 days you can return for money or exchange with no shipping charges or restocking fee.

For my money you get a better deal from Sears than CW. They're great folks, but Sears is local and they aren't, at least not for me.

Andy

[ajay]

Thanks guys, I kind of assumed they were the same machine, but I didn't know for sure. Andy C, what's this tool club? Never heard of it. How do I join?

ajay

[JOHNB]

You Never Heard Of The "craftsman Tool Club"!!

[911guy]

what's this tool club? Never heard of it. How do I join?

ajay

Here is the link to join.....They will send you flyers in the mail and give you special discount pricing on tools:

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman_signup.html

[Lin]

Also keep an eye on Sears online store for 10 to 15% off the Compu-Carve. I saved 15% back in June and I know they have done the same deal at least once since then.
Lin

[ajay]

I just signed up for the previously unheard of (by me) Craftsman Tool Club.

I must live under a rock.

Thanks all.

ajay :p

[JOHNB]

SIGN UP FOR A SEARS CREDIT CARD AND GET ANOTHER 10% OFF, ON THE DAY IT GOES ON SALE, WITH THE CRAFTSMAN CLUB SALE GOING, A SEARS COUPON, AND MAYBE A NO INTEREST-NO PAYMENT FOR 12 MONTHS. HECK, YOU MAY GET IT FOR UNDER 1,000.00. heh-heh

[menewfy]

or if you have a dividend visa card then you would get double the warranty, check with visa company to make sure yours does. i asked them about it before i bought and they said any elec item i buy on the card it get double the manufact warranty at no cost.

in my case it did not matter cause i returned to sears for refund but something to keep in mind.

Tim

[ajay]

I thought I would receive a fairly immediate email acknowledgement from Sears re the tool club, but after a day and a half I haven't. Is this normal?

[DocWheeler]

Unfortunately, yes.
I was told 6-10 weeks, it was about 6.

[JOHNB]

I thought I would receive a fairly immediate email acknowledgement from Sears re the tool club, but after a day and a half I haven't. Is this normal?

don't fret it, maybe a good thing... sign up at the sears store and you may get another 10% off?

[mtylerfl]

I thought I would receive a fairly immediate email acknowledgement from Sears re the tool club, but after a day and a half I haven't. Is this normal?

If you call Sears Customer Service, they can activate your Craftsman Club account over the phone and you can use it immediately.

[Ivanq]

I signed up for the club as soon as I saw an ad for the CC on sale. Two days later no response from Sears and the ad was only good for the week. Went down to my local Sears store and informed them of the delay - their response was 'no problem. What's you phone number'. Sure enough their computer system showed me signed up and I ordered the machine at the sale price right then. Took a month for the little card to hit my mail box. Machine was there in 5 days. I think the sales people will help you as most of them get a commission of some sort and they really want your money.

As a side note two weeks after I got my machine they had an ad for the CC at $10 less then I paid. Was in the store buying some other stuff and I told them about the price difference - gave me the cash difference (even the sales tax) right there. Not bad.

Cliff - - -

[mtylerfl]

Glad to hear you got such a good deal !

[pat]

FYI - looks like the CompuCarve will be on sale at sears.com for the next couple of days. A flat $95 off ...and then 20% off on top of that brings the price to $1443.99 with free ship to store.

Save another $28 of you register with ebates.com (free).

So ...$1415.00 + tax. Do I get one ...whew.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Get it and MAKE your Christmas Presents...

AL

[jlpemberton300]

That is a deal that I will seriously have to consider. My only concern is who supports the product? If I have to go back through Sears for the initial support, it may not be worth the savings..... Your input is greatly appreciated.

Jim

[jlpemberton300]

FYI - looks like the CompuCarve will be on sale at sears.com for the next couple of days. A flat $95 off ...and then 20% off on top of that brings the price to $1443.99 with free ship to store.

Save another $28 of you register with ebates.com (free).

So ...$1415.00 + tax. Do I get one ...whew.

I had assumed that the 20% was the Craftsman Club discount and the new Sears credit app. When I went to the site to look at this, through 9/8, there is another 20% discount on tool purchases over $500. If I can combine all the discounts (40%), I am down in the $1050 range for the purchase. I am going to have to do some serious talking to my better half about this.....

Jim

[Lin]

I honestly think Sears is the better way to go. You get the 90 no questions ask warrenty
and if goes on sale for less in the next 30 days...you'll get that much more back...plus LHR is still your support for 1 year or 200 hours which ever comes first...Just keep your box.
Lin

[forqnc]

That is a deal that I will seriously have to consider. My only concern is who supports the product? If I have to go back through Sears for the initial support, it may not be worth the savings..... Your input is greatly appreciated.

Jim
As Lin said above, LHR Technologies will be your support people. They have been excellant, if it needs to go back to them, they pay shipping and replace any bad parts. Mine has been back twice, turn around was about a week.

[PhotoProf]

My advice is SEARS!!!! You have a 90 day return if issues arise that aren't satisfactorily resolved by CarveWright support.

[pat]

Is there a way online to apply for a card and get an instant 10% off additionally? I didn't see anything on the site.... Last day for the discount - time to make a decision.

[Kenm810]

Here ya go Pat,

http://f.chtah.com/s/27/217789800/CraftsmanMailer.html


this I think is what you're lookin for. http://www.carvewright.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

If you order the machine from a local Sears store or on the phone,
tell the clerk or sales associateto call the club for your membership number.

[pat]

Thanks - I'll give that a try. Club membership includes 10% off any tool purchase?

[Kenm810]

Pat,

Club membership includes 10% off any tool purchase'
that's in the Clubs monthly sales flyer, like the CompuCarve Machine.

[heftyh]

The Craftsman Club sale starts Sunday (9-9-07); the price is $1709.99 starting then.
However, Sears has the -20% off web special on the sale price of $1805 till midnight Sat. (9-8-07). You will not see the extra 20% off till you go to the checkout.
I called their 800 number to try and figure out a way to stack both but it doesn't seem possible since one sale/ web discount goes off when the club price sale starts. They do have a price match so if the 20% web special comes back on while the club price is in effect, then you can call and get a refund for the difference.
If you need your club membership immediately, call 800-682-8691 and they can set you up over the phone. I just called and now have my #; operator said they normally just send you the card by mail (not E-mail).
I'm buying mine tonight for $1444 (plus tax) with free shipping to the store.
John

[PhotoProf]

Just curious... heftyh... were you able to buy your machine for $1444? I picked mine up for around $1587 + tax several months ago and was pretty tickled at that price. I opened a Sears charge but didn't get anything like an extra 10%. Did get deferred billing for a year so that was worth a chunk considering their annual APR.

[heftyh]

Yes- I did complete the order online Sat. The price was $1443.99. I also picked up 2 extra 1/8" bits for cutting and got those for $32 each since I had purchased over $500 in tools (that was the trigger for the extra 20%). Paid $94 in tax. Shipping on the CNC was free since it went to the store. Paid $6.25 for the bit shipping since they mail them to you.
Downloaded the software today and am really impressed. Hopefully unit will show up in time for weekend!
John

[jlpemberton300]

Well, my boss just came through with a substantial bonus for things that I have done for the business for him, so it looks like my purchase is on the horizon. My initial thoughts are the Compucarve / Carvewright machine, centerline text, and the bit pack. Anything else that will make my life easier getting started?

Once I can play around with the machine for a while, I am assuming that I will need to investigate graphics software to manipulate images for carving. The 2 big ones that come to mind are CorelDraw and Photoshop. What are the pluses and minuses of each when working with the supplied software with the machine? Is one recommended over the other? (I do have a predetermined direction in mind due to having access to one of them through my job, but I would like objective opinions from the experts)

Thanks,
Jim

[DocWheeler]

Jim,

May your experiences be good - welcome.

I'm no expert, but I have a suggestion and a heads-up.
Join the Craftsman Club to get the discount and time your purchase to get an even better price. I have PhotoShop which I'm more familiar with as well as CorelDraw - both take a whole lot of learning to get where images are doable.
You can get OEM versions of either package for reasonable costs.

[jlpemberton300]

I am already a member of the Craftsman Club, and I wish this had came so I couold have taken advantage of the last 20% off sale a few weeks ago, but I am sure it will come up again.

I already have Photoshop on my work laptop, but don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing....

Thanks for the opinions.....

Jim

[oldjoe]

Another thing to watch for is online sales and if you catch a craftsman club sale and if you go in an apply for a Sears Credit Card they sometimes knock another 10% off. So be patient good things come to those who wait.

[BobHill]

Joe,

I doubt that the Credit Card discount will ever be again, as Sears has sold it's Credit Card to CitiBank ... but with their name on it. The SEARS credit card is still good if you have one, but they are trying to get everyone to use the new one. I suspect they will let present Sears cards just expire without renewing them.

Bob

[oldjoe]

Bob; when I purchased my machine back in April Sear offered me the 10% for opening a new account with them and I believe CitiBank already took over the credit line already back then. Course I could be wrong on that. But they also offered deferred billing for 6 months on it.

[Andy C]

that doubles your warranty. That was worth more to me then the extra 10%.

My VISA doubles the warranty on my purchases.

Andy

[oldjoe]

You are right that sounds like even a better deal. But how does it work? Does LHR have to bill your credit card company once their original 1 year 200 hours runs out?

[BobHill]

Andy,

That sounds like my American Express card and I had forgotten all about that. I've not ever read the small print to that extent, which of course, means that I've never used that function, but you have reminded me that is it actually there.

Bob

[Andy C]

Luckily I haven't had to use the warranty as yet.

You should be able to get the details from the card companies 800 number.

Andy

[Hexe SA]

I have photoshop and corel draw but I'm better with photoshop. The version I have will not open ptn format. I haven't tried corel draw at all. If you have a router skip the bit set buy extra bit holders for you 60 and 90 degree bit for the machine and get the scanning probe instead from LHR.
Eva

[BobHill]

Eva,

The only program that will open a PTN file is Designer or Jeff Birt's Pattern editor ( http://allcw.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=834#834 (http://allcw.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?p=834#834) ). You make your original design in CorelDraw, Illustrator, Xara (for vector) or PhotoShop, PhotoPaint, etc. (for raster) and then each will Save the image to PNG format, which will then be imported into Designer, which will automatically convert that to a PTN file useable in Designer. Jeff's program will allow you to convert a PTN file (viewable in his editor) to a raster format that will open in any of the above listed programs for further editing, then you do a Save to a PNG (best format to use) to put back into Designer.

Bob