First Time Buyer

[zman]

I am in the process of buying the Carvewright Machine. Is there anything I need to buy additionally to the machine to make it complete or is everything in the box to get a good start.

zman

[Azbear]

It's all there.

If you have a memory lapse as do at times, perhaps an extra memory card. (for the machine)

[Dan-Woodman]

zman
Do you have router bits? If so, you'll need extra adapters to go with them,if you plan on doing anything other than cutting and carving like edge routing or dadoing or lettering.
later Daniel

[ChrisAlb]

I am in the process of buying the Carvewright Machine. Is there anything I need to buy additionally to the machine to make it complete or is everything in the box to get a good start.

zman

Hi zman,

The machine comes with the 1/16" ball nose carving bit and the 1/8" straight cutting bit. These will get you going but I recommend getting the full bit set if you can. Having them on hand will help you realize the full potential as you get better and more comfortable with it. An extra memory card is good as well. I intend to get another so I can design and upload while the machine is carving.

Hope that helps and welcome to the fun of carving.

Chris

[eromran]

I am in the process of buying the Carvewright Machine. Is there anything I need to buy additionally to the machine to make it complete or is everything in the box to get a good start.

zman

You will probably find the most expensive part of your projects is the wood and they don't supply that. LOL Any thing to help keep things clean will help(VAC, air compressor ). You are never going to be totally prepared for that first project. But what you get in the box does allow you to jump on in. Read plenty of the post on this forum. But if your like most , you will never quit spending but it all well worth it. I would read the post on a down draft table first since that helps to keep things clean and never hesitate to ask this forum for advise your going to love it and the people on this forum are great. WELCOMB and good luck.

[Old Salt]

I agree with the rest a set of belts and a quickchanger are nice to have on hand . Tool kit to replace quickchanger is very handy when needed. The scanerprobe is a good item but not a must to run the machine. I think the centerline updat is a must have to do sign and lettering. hope this helps. ps. I Know this all adds up but I priced a set of good carving chisels,knives.a mallat or two a book to tell me how to do it. The tools you would need to do the same thing by hand that Carveright will do in 1ooth the time will cost about 3000.00 you can ck this out just ask a wood caver how much he has in hand tools in his shop.

[Jeff_Birt]

Zman, welcome to the forum. You may need a few supplies to help keep your new machine clean and properly lubricated. Check out this months Tips&Tricks for some ideas.

http://www.carvewright.com/tip20pdfs/CarveWrightTips&Tricks_Jan08.pdf

[deemon328]

Everything you need to get going is in the box. There are some things you can get to make your experience even better.

Buying the bit set is a good idea. At the very least, get the 3/8" bit so that you can calibrate your machine. You'll want to do that every 10 hours or so to keep your machine running at peak accuracy. If you want to do a lot of text, centerline is the way to go. You'll need a 60 degree (for deeper letters) or 90 degree(for wider letters) bit for it.

Have a sturdy table ready so that you can bolt your machine down. I'm a firm believer that reducing as much vibration potential as you can will help you in the long run.

Good luck, and rely on this forum if you should encounter any problems.

[zman]

Thanks everyone for the replys. I do have one other question. Some say the machine is extremely loud and others not too bad. Also one post had said to buy router bits now I take it these have to be the Carvewright brand. If not what brand should a person buy.

Thanks
Zman

[ChrisAlb]

Thanks everyone for the replys. I do have one other question. Some say the machine is extremely loud and others not too bad. Also one post had said to buy router bits now I take it these have to be the Carvewright brand. If not what brand should a person buy.

Thanks
Zman

Good morning zman,

With the supplied muffler it's really not too loud. To me it's somewhat like a muffled shop vac. Although now I stick my shop vac hose in it without the vac running (helps a "little" with dust) and it's even a bit quieter. I run mine in the basement and it doesn't disturb us upstairs at all. As far as bits, You can use any NON piloted bits (no bearings) both 1/4" and 1/2" shank but you'll need the bit adapters for each. So far, I've used nothing but the CW bits. they cover a very nice range of profiles and I find them to be of excellent quality. Being a carpenter for 30 years I have boxes of standard router bits of every kind and so far, haven't had the need to use any of them.

Oh, one more thing, I don't know of any way to add bit profiles to the CW software (perhaps there is) so I would think that laying out a project with profiles other than the CW bits might be a bit difficult to see what it looks like on the board in designer.

[Router-Jim]

Welcome Zman. Everything you need to get started is in the box. Two additional items I consider "must haves" are a shop vac and a dremil tool with the brass wheel for cleaning the fuzzies off your carvings.


Jim

[deemon328]

The noise level is the same as any 1 1/2 HP router running at full speed.

The 3/8" bit from carvewright is recommended for calibration. Others have used signmakers bits from other sources with great success.