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yuppicide
10-01-2007, 06:40 PM
I really want one of these machines. I have a few questions though:

1 - Is there any reasons I really shouldn't get the Sears model? It's $100 cheaper.

2 - Will it carve any font I have installed on my computer or only certain fonts?

3 - The unit accepts wood up to 14.5" wide. What if I want to make something that is about 22" wide and join the two pieces with one of them biscuit joiners. Do I need to make one graphic and slice it down the middle or will the machine know it can cut this much on one piece of wood and then ask me for a second piece of wood to carve the rest? Sort of like how a printer runs out of paper to print on it takes another sheet.

4 - Lastly I see all the bits it comes with. How will I know what bit to use when? Let's say I want to cut out the shape of a pig in wood. Do I just need to insert one bit or will I be changing during the carving process?

oldjoe
10-01-2007, 07:51 PM
From what I have read there is no difference between the CC and the CW both are the same machines save your money get the CC and if you watch for sales you may better that price.
Yes it will carve any font in your library of fonts, some will carve better then others and it will also depend if you purchase the centerline upgrade how they carve.
As far as bits you will only get two of them the 1/16" carving bit and the 1/8" cutting bit each does what the name implies. You will use the carving bit for all raster cutting or carving. You will use the cutting bit to do follow a cut path for making cutouts or cutting the board to size.
There are people on the forum that have done exactly what you described as far as a wider board I am not sure if they were able to split a pattern in half though. Someone else will field that question.
And as far as the pig not real sure what you want to do but if its what I think if you can generate a cut path it will cut it out.
Hope this was some kind of help

Old Salt
10-01-2007, 08:02 PM
1. Sears & carvewrigt are the same. get the best buy.

2. You can use any fount you have . you will find some will carve better than others in some uses.
there is three type of carving fonts center line is a add on you must buy to carve.
3 you will need to split patterns that are over 14" can be done with some planing.

4 The software will pick the bits you can use for different types of carving, the unit will tell you when to
install the bit that is needed for each step.
5 You can down load sample software and give it a try . This is the best way to get your feet wet.
Nothing Like Give it a Try You will Like it Miky ! sorry

Hope this helps Old Salt

911guy
10-01-2007, 10:28 PM
Yuppi, where ya from? Carvewright just announced in a newsletter I got by email they are touring the country's woodworking shows for demo's. I plan on going to the Chicago show on October 12th...In fact, I havent been to a woodworkers show in years, I'm dying to go! I think the schedule of shows is posted on their website if I'm not mistaking.

yuppicide
10-02-2007, 01:36 AM
Thanks for all the help so far. I have some ideas of things to make and your questions helped me a lot. I don't know that I'll be getting a machine until a few months from now, but meanwhile I'll still stick around the forums and post. When I make something I'll be sure to post pictures here.

As for the upcoming show demonstrations, I missed it. It was Sept 14-16 for New Jersey.

I knew the Sears & Carvewright are the same. I just didn't want to buy the Sears one and not get support here or purchase add-ons if I wanted. I would rather get the cheaper price, but if $100 more is all it takes to get a lot better support I'd have gone for it.

Anyone know how much memory the card holds or how many designs you can fit on it approx? I will be leaving my machine at my Grandmother's. I don't think I should be using this in my apartment. :) I'm going to buy a cheap computer and leave it down at my Grandmother's, so it doesn't really matter anyway, but figured I'd ask.

jlitz
10-02-2007, 01:57 AM
Anyone know how much memory the card holds or how many designs you can fit on it approx?

The current memory cards labeled "2x" are 8MB. But, 256KB is reserved for the firmware. Plus, there's overhead for the filesystem. Any empty card should be ~7874KB.

As for how many projects will fit, it depends greatly upon the complexity of the project. I have over 82 projects on one of my cards with about 3MB free. But, most of those are vector projects with a few projects containing patterns. In my case, the projects using patterns consume the bulk of the space.

It's really difficult to estimate the exact space requirement for a project without uploading it to the memory card. In an extreme example, one pattern I'm using consumes ~336KB. If I rotated it 90 degrees, it only consumes ~13KB. Space requirement is highly project dependent.

yuppicide
10-02-2007, 10:46 AM
No. No. Thanks. That's all I needed. If you can fit about 80 things on your memory card then I certaintly can fit 15 to 30 designs no problem and that is enough for me.

At first I might just get the system, which means I'll have to design stuff at my house because I have the computer and internet then when I am ready I'll
go to my Grandmother's where I'll have the machine. Later on I'll get a computer to have at her house as well.

Good thing is my Grandfather was a carpenter. In their house we had a basement full of tools. When they sold their house and moved they gave away most of the
tools. My Uncle ended up getting the biscuit joiner and biscuits, which he's never used, so he's going to give it to us.