I'm out of the carvewright madness club...

[stephanilynn]

yes I know it was a 2 year old post and the point is they are still mechanical nightmares. I understand the difference between hobby machines and industrial. I am not trying to use the carvewright to do production carving. I used it maybe once a month to cut out a circle or make a curved template all things the cw should be able to handle with no problems.

By the sounds you are all happy with your machines, so congratulations atleast someone is getting their moneys worth.

[jwhllh55]

yes I know it was a 2 year old post and the point is they are still mechanical nightmares. I understand the difference between hobby machines and industrial. I am not trying to use the carvewright to do production carving. I used it maybe once a month to cut out a circle or make a curved template all things the cw should be able to handle with no problems.

By the sounds you are all happy with your machines, so congratulations atleast someone is getting their moneys worth.

I do understand what you are saying. I use my machine the same way. It's easier to have the CW to outline a cut out and use the bandsaw to do all the work. My machine breaks down everytime I try to use it for a complete carving. I have had machine apart and cleaned hundreds of times, and getting good at it. That post that is two years old, is holding up even today.

[John57]

Well, let me bring it back up. I have had my machine for about 3 years. Unfortunately, I had problems from the beginning and basically put it in a corner discouraged and then took my new job covering 13 states. No time.
Got it back out this week (no use for about 1.5 - 2 years) and have seen many errors on it including one which lost a project. I did get 3 of 4 projects through it (each about an hour and a half in length - but took me a good 14 hours to accomplish)
This machine is an engineering marvel before its time. Right now I am re-fighting a clear board sensor error. I have had this message several times and have been able to overcome it with minor cleaning. Cant any longer. (15.4 hours on it)
Also overcame a problem with the device not sensing the bit. The arm was not swinging out - hung a modified curtain hanger in it so it wouldnt return the full distance and that fixed that issue. (Set cardboard in it originally, but it came out each time and had to be replaced)
In general this machine needs a lot of retooling. I would think that if it would run under water in testing, it would avoid issues with its biggest enemy - the dust. That would at least assure me that fine dust wont be the problem
Right now I am in a quandry. Deciding what to do. After reading this forum for several hours and some of the discouragement that some (many?) of you are having, I am wondering if it would be better to create a YouTube video extolling the "virtues" of this machine - so others will be aware.
Even those of you that like the machine talk about a ton of maintenance - for a guy thats not retired, I dont have that kind of time now and not sure I want to spend it doing repairs when I do retire.
As it stands right now it doesnt run. That would be the opening of the video......since Im not a demolition expert, I need a different ending.....

[AskBud]

John57,
Since you are starting over, why not go back to the beginning.
Do all the lube and cleaning to make sure nothing is dirty, out of place, or rusted.
Make sure you have upgraded/downloaded to the latest version (1.153).

If the Touch Plate is not moving correctly, something is dirty, needs adjustment, or needs lubed. You should turn off the unit and move the truck to the far side (it should move with no effort, after the power has been off for about 30 seconds). If you have to force it along, you know some of the things to check/correct. If movement is easy, but it is hard to operate the Touch Plate, the track may have a dust/dirt build-up, the TP nay need lube, or a wire may be out of place just behind the TP (toward the back of the machine).

Fooling the machine with anything only tells you that you need to take the time to look for the actual reason the parts are not working properly.
AskBud

[Smoken D]

Know how ya feel. Mine has been down since Aug after 50 hours on the new machine. Every time fixed something, another item was out. Did get another 10 hours out of it after sending it in for fixen ( I thought ) after the 3rd brake down. Course that cost me for parts and sending. Around $220. Have spent another $130 for parts since. All under warranty of course (Right!). Tried to sell it with no luck. Will try again, now another $150 for the rock and will build a dust collector system. Maybe not too much money there (Right). Will do after Christmas. After trying this maybe only one more fixen possible. The #12ga! At least I have learned how to take this machine apart time and time again.
At least I finally got to vent
And the amount of Cherry and Walnut that was wasted

[luckettg]

Know how ya feel. .....Tried to sell it with no luck. Will try again, now another $150 for the rock and will build a dust collector system. Maybe not too much money there (Right). Will do after Christmas. After trying this maybe only one more fixen possible. The #12ga! At least I have learned how to take this machine apart time and time again.
At least I finally got to vent
And the amount of Cherry and Walnut that was wasted

I am just curious at this point, but may I ask how much you were asking for it when it did not sell earlier? If you like you could send me a PM rather than respond here.
Greg Luckett
Michigan

[Smoken D]

Here's the thread;

http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?t=13898

[PCW]

Here's the thread;

http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?t=13898

Don't take this the wrong way but just for reference I'm getting ready to put a Compucarve machine in the paper locally for $600.00. It has 89 cut hours on the motor and has the new z bundle and never had any problems with the machine other than the typical belt drift. In the original box with everything it came with.

[Smoken D]

Yea, that's what made me so mad. Pay $1700 for a new machine and 6 months later with 50 hours only worth $600. Something just wrong there

[edutrisac]

I've had mine for a little over 2 years now before it was available in Canada. Smuggled it in Before ordering it, I asked them if there was any issue if I were to buy it abd bring it into Canada. The lady I talked to told me that my warranty would be void as they didn't have anyway of servicing it or ship me any parts to Canada. That nor any of the negative posts that I've read on here or the Sears thread detered me from ordering it.

I've only got a little over 60 hours on it with my only issues being in the last week. A torn belt and the common L2 Power supply issue. The belt was probably because I've been using it in colder temperature (about -5 C in my garage). I usually bring it the house first for a few hours to warm it up. Once I'm ready to go, I quickly set the board up and measure it and get the project going. If it's too cold then the head won't lower properly or sometimes not at all, I sometimes help it along by putting some pressure on the head and turning the crank. I'm probably asking for trouble by doing that and probably what caused my belts to roll over. And I tipically just do a quick vaccuming before the next project.

I'm either lucky or mine was made on Wednesday.

Again besides the L2 issue, all my issues have been either environement or not cleaning properly. From what I've learnt on my own and read here, you just can't use it like a regular router or circular saw and then throw it on the shelf for the next time, the CW is like a child, it needs a lot of love and tender care.

Haven't ordered the Rock yet but from what I read, seems like it will save alot of wear on the CW and prolong it's life.

I've read alot of tip & tricks in many posts, is there anyone who's compiling a list of all this info? I haven't really looked but it seems it would be very usefull to have such a document with important maintenance info and best practices that many of you's have figured out on your own.

I really like the CW, need to insulate and heat my garage so I can use it more. I bought it in the fall a few years ago, and only had time to get a few test carves in before putting it away for the winter.

Anyways, just my 2 cents (or maybe 10 cents after this long post )