Potential Future CW User

[jlpemberton300]

I am thinking about purchasing either a Carvewright/Compucarve machine or a ShopBot. At this point, for what I am planning on using this for, I am leaning towards a CarveWright. I have one question that I can not find an answer for and was wondering if anyone could tell me.....

I can find postings that LOOK like I can use other bits than what can be purchased through CarveWright based on infering others comments, but I can not find anything that specifically tells me that this is the case. This will weigh heavily in my decision as I want to have options for bit profiles other than what is offered by CarveWright. It looks as if I can buy extra bit holders from the site, or another user on the forum, but if I can't use other bits, why bother?

Please enlighten a confused person :confused: .....

Jim

[BobHill]

Jim,

There is no reason why you can't use any bit, made by anyone, as long as it'll do the job for you. If they have shanks that are either 1/4" or 1/2" and will fit the Chuck bit adaptor. I'd not recommend quality less than what you get from LHR, but otherwise, why not.

Bob

[rjustice]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. To answer your question, at this time you have a few restrictions.... CarveWright or Compucarve offer a 1/4 and a 1/2 Bit adapter. I have 1/8, and next time i run a batch will include 3/32, 3/16, and 3/8. Beyond that, you have a restriction in the designer software with raster cutting due to supported tool shapes. You can vector cut with any tool, simply by planning properly.

It may be a good idea for you to download the designer software and play with it to see what tools are in the library, and test what you are trying to accomplish..

Good luck.. and hope to see you here more in the future!

Ron

[Digitalwoodshop]

You could always try it and if not happy end up selling it. The Resale Value has been holding very high from what I have seen. For the price it is a good value. I was going to get a Shop Bot in a year or so for my business but at this time the CarveWright does what I want. I can't do full sheets of plywood like a Shop Bot can but for signs it works great. Expert users have even pieced 2 pieces together for a large oval. The trick was to turn on the grids and snap to grids and use the grid to keep two drawings able to align. One user used 2 machines and found a slight difference in each part. I have seen the same with my 2 machines doing the same pattern on each machine. There is a calibration function and I expect doing that to both will make them identical.

I would be willing to bet that after using the machine you could end up keeping it along with your Shop Bot....

AL

[jlpemberton300]

Thanks for the responses. For what I am looking to accomplish, I think that the CW will meet my needs for quite some time. I have no grand ideas of becoming a large sign shop, or a high quantity production shop, so the machine should fit my needs perfectly.

Thanks for the esponses on the bits. I had assumed that I could use non-LHR bits, but wanted to verify my insanity. Now comes the hard part, convincing the wife that I need to have this to accomplish what she wants me to product for her craft business.

Jim

[John]

"I need to have this to accomplish what she wants me to product for her craft business."

If that means adding small "embellishments" using the carving bit, you're good to go. If it means cutting out parts with profiled bits, you might consider these numbers. I bring this up because of your original question. I would compare the cutting power of the carvewright to that of a small trim router. I takes many passes (that would be slow passes) to cut very deep with a profiled bit of any size. The pic below is drawn on a 1" grid and shows an outline cut with the carvewright 3/8" classical bit. At a depth of 3/8' in the cutting time reported is 13.29 min. At 1/2" depth the cutting time is increased to 20.34 min. These are estimates done by the software and are usually on the low side. Hope this helps.

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c348/johnluard/CWsample.jpg

[Jeff_Birt]

For something like John mentions above, that is something you want to produce many copies of, you can use the CW to produce a template that you can use with a hand router. That way you get the best of both worlds: high accuracy, and speed.

[jlpemberton300]

I would be doing mainly custom signs like John's "Beneath the Bark" or the cutesy signs that you can buy in many craft malls with the twist of offering them with the lettering routed in the wood instead of painted on and personalized with a name, organization, school, etc.... I will get into the occasitonal carving like the masonic logo that was posted in another thread, but those will be few and far between. The other item that she would be really excited about would be thin christmas ornaments cut out like fretwork, but I am not sure that is possible with one of these machines.

Again, thanks for all the input and ideas.

Jim