What will this machine really do?

[displayit]

Sorry for being a newbie but I could use some info. Hi my name is Phil from west central Illinois I own and operate a partime (hopefully full time) woodworking business making display cases and more. I saw a commercial for this tonite and was intrigued. I am actually looking for someone to engrave plaques until I saw this machine. I am getting asked if I can engrave the plaques I make and from pics it looks like this could pay for itself any comments?
My next question is could I really lay out all my boards needed for a display case with the software and have them cut out of one board and then routered I get alot of time in a case just in setting up the tools to make boards into a finished product could this save me time? I also make custom trim and moulding will this machine be a step up from a router table? Does this machine cut very good tight miters??? I need to match alot of 100 year old trim and molding or as close as it gets would the probe be worth the cost in this case? THANKS!!! hope I didnt blab too much

[David M.]

It can do everthing you discribed and more. I have personally not used the miter aspect yet, but if it's half as accurate as the rest of it, it'll work great. The design software is growing on me and is amazingly capable, text, shapes, designs. Although there is a good learning curve to it all so be prepared for some computer time. The software is propritary so it has to be learned from the ground up, it is unlike any other drawing program I have used but, very good.

[Dan-Woodman]

The " other" operations this machine does are mostly for people that don't have too many tools. If you got other tools and know how to use them then most things will be faster with them.
One thing I do when I'm building a case is have the machine drill adjustable shelf holes while I'm doing other things.
As for routing edges , no its too slow.
Its a carving machine and thats what it does best, the other woodworking functions are just boneses .
I have also cut decoritive gooves in a solid cabinet door to make it look like raised panal. These type of operations are usefull if there is more than the standard square. Idone some with arced tops whach tured out very nice, but they do take a while , about 7 passes per door.

[hardwaremike]

if you make cases you will want to use this to dress them up, carving shells or corners, but it wont mitre like a mitrebox. it will make awesome plaques, just made some house number signs. good luck.

[fbrittain]

I have only had my machine 10 days and am amazed at what it will do. I have made a couple of plaques and they came out great! I am intrested in jewelery boxes and was researching miters when I ran across your post so I'm not too sure. the comments that others have made don't sound too encouraging.

[liquidguitars]

I could be tricky to set up but if you can make them with a router and a 90 bit you should be able to do it.
just cut two at once from the top.

LG

[sweliver]

fbrittain and displayit......

like others have said, carving is this machine's forte.

each function puts more cut time on your motor and wear and tear on the system. So to preserve the machine I'd recommend doing any cutout or mitering on a table saw or miter saw. Not to mention if you are relying on an exact finished size and you happen to overlook certain setup parameters...your finished product might not be "perfect" and a redo is in store. The more functions you include the more room for error there'll be.

I just did 6 of the apple designs from the "apple box" project, they were 1.3 hrs each the way I had them set up. The apple design will basically be an applique on another project.

I'm working with some of my own scans that will someday turn into great carves on future projects.

This is a great machine!!!

sw