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View Full Version : Disappointed



reads5179
07-14-2008, 07:18 PM
Poor product review.

I purchased my carvewright machine Feb 20 2008 and have had nothing but problems with it. In less than 66 hours of use I have had the Flex Shaft burn up, back rollers jam, rear sand paper off track, door closed error and it drilled through the metal wood guide. I sent the machine back to carvewight for repairs. I got it back and the head was not level causing the machine to cut poorly. A bolt inside the machine was not tight causing the head not to lower or raise. Then the machine broke the cutting bit off. I had to get a new y truck from carvewright to replace that. After that the cutting bit broke off inside the project I was doing. Then the door closed error was not fixed and I have to replace the cutting head and another y truck.

Jeff_Birt
07-15-2008, 12:38 PM
Flex Shaft burn up, back rollers jam, rear sand paper off track, door closed error and it drilled through the metal wood guide.

While I can understand your frustration I do have to observe that most of the things you mentioned here fall into the category of proper maintenance and operation. (or lack thereof). Of course, everything mechanical will fail at some point. Much has been written in this forum (and Tips & Tricks) concerning proper care and use of the machine. It is up to us as users to avail ourselves of this information.

The flex shaft should be checked periodically for operating temperature and lubricated as recommended. There have been a few reports on this forum about folks having flex shaft issues within a few hours, but in general if you monitor it every few hours of cutting you can tell when it needs to be lubricated. The pressure rollers can become impacted with sawdust, again this falls back to proper cleaning. There have been a few folks who have reported problems with misaligned switches though.

The traction (sandpaper) belts can drift to one side for a variety of reasons, such as an the head not being level, your stock not being planed properly, the stock getting jammed in the machine due to mis-adjustment of the sliding guide or the stock having tapered sides. The out of level head seems to be a common issues with machines that have been recently shipped as the carriers seem to really bang stuff around. Any tool such as this (say a planer), needs to be checked for alignment after being shipped. I know I gave my new planer a good once over after reading the manual a few times.

As for the open cover error. This has plagued some folks, it seems like some folks really have had problems with sawdust in the switches. I personally have not, but tended to vacuum out my machine (now have a DC system), and then lightly blow out remaining sawdust after each use. I'm not sure what the 'metal wood guide' is that you are referring to so I am unable to offer advice or observations concerning it.

I cannot follow what the situation was with the Y/Z trucks by your description. It sounds like CW sent you the upgraded Z-pack which is a good thing.

In general what I'm saying is that I can understand your frustration but at the same time encourage you to look at what areas may have been operator error. I know I have personally done things like pushed the sliding guide plate up against the stock too tight, not had the sides of my stock parallel (mis cut on table saw), not kept an eye on head pressure and then realized it was too high (cleaning/lubrication issue). We all do similar things and it is important to recognize them so we can learn to avoid them.

nicobie
07-18-2008, 06:49 PM
I also have had endless trouble.

It has come to the point that they won't even answer their phones !

I hope that CW is not going belly - up......

jspringertx
07-18-2008, 07:13 PM
I seriously doubt if LHR is going belly up. I have had no problem connecting with tech support on the phone or thru the website. Maybe you should try earlier in the morning before lunch breaks and you may get thru quicker.

I personally have had great success with the tech support people from CarveWright.

Things will get better!!!!

jcorder
07-18-2008, 07:39 PM
I had some issues the last couple days and had to call hardware support yesterday. They took great time with me in going over tearing off my cover and making some adjustments. When the tech got a bit stuck, he asked if I could call him back in a while after he spoke with a senior tech. I was able to resolve the problem due to some stupid mistakes I was making and not a fault of the tech. I tried to call him back and he was at lunch, I told the tech that answered that I had resolved my issue and did not need to talk to the other tech. The other tech returned from lunch and called me on my business phone and when he got the machine, he called my cell phone to be sure I was satisfied my problem was resolved. I have nothing but good things to say about both hardware and software support.

snood56
07-18-2008, 07:58 PM
I agree. Tech support is awesome. I have a suspicion that they are secretly training us as a field repair force.