Introduce Yourself

[Underdog]

So do you all know how many Carvewright owners are there in Georgia? Is there a way to find out how many there are near me?

[badbert]

Hi.

My name is Jim and I'm a carvaholic....

I'm the tech manager for a medium sized cabinet shop in my day job. I support our Cabinet Vision design software, as well as maintain and repair PCs and shop machines- including our 5x10 KOMO CNC router. I'm the sole user of AlphaCAM and ArtCAM. Unfortunately I don't get the chance to play with ArtCAM and the KOMO often enough, so I bought a used Carvewright model B yesterday, and I'm waiting for it to be shipped. When it comes in I plan to install the upgrade belts, and purchase either a Rock Chuck or the CarveTight spindle.

Looking forward to making sawdust with this machine.

Any advice is quite welcome!

Dust collection! Huge factor on performance for these little machines. Check out the RingNeckBlues DC-Insert, that fwharris makes! It just sucks! There is another chuck option. One that you may be more familiar with. beregrud (a member here) and at least one other, I know of, have been able to adapt ER16 and ER20 chucks to their machines. If you have access to someone who can do the machine work. It may be a much more economical path. Read everything you can on the Carvewright website, tips and tricks and maintenance. Watch their awesome videos. When you get that machine It will need a good lubing. Make sure the flexshaft is well lubed. Most beginners don't do this, and it is a $75 lesson if it melts! Perform a complete maintenance on it before firing it up. When I got mine, the FFC cable had been knocked down out of position, and shorted out the power supply. Something as simple as a loose cable, can cost money and drive you insane!! When you do get ready to run it. Perform head pressure checks, and check the board calibrations, with and without the rubber O-ring on the Brass sensor. Check all of the sensor readings and perform the user tests. Record all of your data and keep it as a base line reference. Make sure there is no wobble or looseness in both the Z and the Y trucks. Make sure that they both move smoothly and quietly. Mark all of the bearings. So you can see if they stop moving. And most important advice I can give you... Try to come here each day! Look at other peoples projects and comment on them. Post picture of your set up and share your files. We will look them over and let you know if there any problems with them. And if you need help with anything, anything at all, just ask! You will be overwhelmed with the generosity and urgency that we try to solve every problem around here! It won't be long before you will be helping others, and that's why we do it! You having both CNC and cabinet experience, I can not wait to see some of your projects!

[badbert]

Hey everyone.. My name is Jeremy.. I've had my carvewright bout 3 weeks now.. Just wanted to say I love it.. I've been lurking around the forum reading as much as I can and just ordered a dc insert for my machine.. Just wanted to say hi and what an excellent forum.

3 weeks! Where are the pictures?! I am sure you have made something by now! Don't be shy, show us your work!

[Underdog]

Thanks for the welcome and advice. I've been nodding off to the maintenance tutorials ever since making the payment last night...

If a full set of tools is coming with the router to go with the original chuck, do you think it's best to just get the Carvetight spindle? If I'm not missing something those tools come with a steel sleeve or something heat shrunk to them, yes?

[lawrence]

Welcome Jim and Jeremy!

Took you long enough Jim (I've been drooling over his amazing work on another forum for years) I've sent you an email with my phone number and would be happy to answer as many questions as I can-

Welcome to you both!
Lawrence

[liblakelady]

Ready for a lady on the boards? I just set up my new carvewright c machine. I am reading the manuals and pouring over the forum. I have a stack of cedar boards waiting to be carved. Up till now I've done all my carving and sign boards by hand. Thank you all for the tips and tricks. I'm going thru the recommended pre-startup maintenance right now.

LibLakeLady

Wondering what the opinion here on the forum is regarding the extended warranty

[easybuilt]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Carvewright carving. That is the best way to start, read everything and ask us any questions you run into. I am looking for to see your beautiful work.

[ladjr]

I would also like to welcome you to the forum. Please ask any question you may have.

[badbert]

Ready for a lady on the boards? I just set up my new carvewright c machine. I am reading the manuals and pouring over the forum. I have a stack of cedar boards waiting to be carved. Up till now I've done all my carving and sign boards by hand. Thank you all for the tips and tricks. I'm going thru the recommended pre-startup maintenance right now.

LibLakeLady

Wondering what the opinion here on the forum is regarding the extended warranty

Welcome to the community! Take your coat and shoes off, and make yourself at home! Show us some of your work. We would all love to see! You will find we are all love pictures!

[Tommy321]

Just getting started obviously. Had my C machine for about 5 months now and it is a hobby for me. So far i've made a few purchased projects of the basic skill level that turned out surprisingly well considering my newbie status. I gave them to friends. I've also made a few grave markers for friends which is rather traditional where I'm stationed, and they came out remarkable. My greatest difficulty is that wood near my station is quite rare and difficult to come by. So all wood is low quality kiln dryed cut and joined wood. All wood comes in 3 sizes only and 32" x12" x 1" is the most common. Wood only comes in 16" 12" and 5" widths. Wood type is either yellow pine or Oak. I can get Beech for twice the price but I've only seen it twice in 3 years. mostly I would call this wood for shelving but that is just about the only wood available in my country. (I'm a chaplain for the U.S. Army stationed in a small but aggresive and volatile place. here now for 13 years, so i need a good hobby) so any suggestions you have for minimizing the amount of wood loss is really helpful. I often give away the leftover wood for people to heat their homes and cook food, but i currently throw away more wood than my project takes up. If anybody has a nice little plan for making sawdust logs that would be a great blessing to others.