I just started working with the machine a week ago and I am very pleased both with the intuitive nature of the machine/software AND the quality of the machine. I build custom furniture and cabinets and I originally thought to purchase a machine solely for cutting out patterns for jigs but, now that I have the machine, I see all sorts of other possibilities as well. In general, after 25 years of experience, I have a fairly good idea of what to charge for the various things I do in my shop; I know that value of my labor and have a reasonably good idea of what the "wear and tear" costs are on my machine. The Carvewright is a bit of a mystery for me to figure the value of each hour of carve time. I know the cost of the machine and know that the first 200 hrs are under warranty (sort of)... so, assuming I have no other costs in that time, the break even point is around $10/hr "carvetime" for just the machine. Added to that would be, of course, shop time, labor, materials, etc...) I am wondering about how often people find they need to make repairs and around how much people are spending/year or /100hrs. of use (or some such thing). How are other people thinking about this? What did you spend in your first few years to keep the thing running? I see all sorts of unhappy people who make noise about problems on the internet... but I also see so many pleased people, here on the users group. Clearly, when the machine is running well it is AMAZING!
Many Thanks for Your Experience,
Mike Jacobs