X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

So 5511 is looking into getting a CNC router and we're pretty much decided that it will be our next tool. We figure a manual mill can wait as we'd rather make our own gussets and custom parts with a computer rather than by hand.

However, being a second year team comes with a few drawbacks and we don't really have much money to spend at the moment making the X-Carve by inventables a decently solid $1500 option. We'll get the deluxe with the Dewalt 611 and upgraded base package. I've looked and a good feed rate seems to be 0.01" at 50 IPM but it seems like some guys have pushed it farther with PID.

We're just about to pull the trigger but I just wanted to see if anyone has had some experience with the machine or any advice with CNC routers. Our mentor says tooling will run us $500 but considering this isn't a true mill, I'm not entirely sure. I'm aware of the X-Carve forums but I wanted to get the FRC outlook first.

I'm not advocating a xcarve/shapeoko solution. But check out the shapeoko 3 if you have not. It is significantly more rigid.

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

Tooling for a router should not run you $500. You mainly need clamps and cutters, which won't be more than $200 altogether. However I don't have a whole lot of experience with them, so I can't say what else you would need compared to a standard mill.
You will probably need measuring tools and the like, and that will run you a lot depending on where you buy them.

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

Team 3604 recently purchased an X-Carve with the upgrades you mentioned. PM your email address and we'd be happy to share our experiences (assembled and are getting ready to perform our first projects).

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

1678 is looking at their router as one option for a CNC small enough to bring in our Pit Boxes, but as with ANY machining tool bigger=BETTER. The price scale on machine tools is almost comical, twice the money can easily get you 3-4 times the machine.

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

Oh come on, now you're ripping off Super Pit features before we even implement them ;)

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

Take it as a complement of extreme competence! But will yours have a mini fridge?

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

It's had a mini fridge since 2014 ;)

We love your roadcases though, super smart. Keep making that magic happen.

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

If only the build volume wasn't like 50% smaller on the shapeoko.

I've been looking into an X-Carve for my team as well. Out of curiosity, does anyone know of any other large format (30"x30" or larger) CNC routers in the sub-$2000 range?

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

You can look at OpenRail from OpenBuilds. It is based on aluminum extrusions like 80/20 so it can be sized as needed.

Be very picky of the eBay routers. Ones with linear recirculating ball rails on hardened steel tracks are typically far superior to the other options available.

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

Would you mind sharing your experiences in this thread?

I'm sure everyone would like to read a first-hand account.

- Sunny G.

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

+1 request to share this information right here in this thread! I'd love to hear more details about your experience.

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

We have a ZenbotCNC 24"x48" router. Our initial investment was just a little over $2500. It's been pretty good for us so far but we really haven't stressed tested it too much.

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

I purchased a fully loaded X-Carve a few months ago and had a chance to play with it quite a bit. The assembly instructions are great - everything is really easy to put together. The only time I deviated from the assembly instructions is when installing the belting, I'm using a different method to keep the belt in place than they recommended. I find that the recommendation they gave causes a lot of slip in the belt, especially when 'carving'.

The biggest issue I have encountered with my X-Carve is getting my CAD files to read correctly in Inventable's Easel software. In order to import your files, you need to have them in SVG format. Solidworks does not directly export to SVG, so the best way I have found to get them to be readable is by exporting files as DXF in solidworks, importing them into Inkscape and exporting them as SVG. At the point when I upload it to Easel, I usually run into multiple issues and I think most of it has to do with curves in the parts. Easel tells me that I need an (infinitely) smaller bit to run my parts, when in reality I do not. I've also attempted to import a 32t sprocket into Easel and every time I do the webpage crashes (in Chrome) I've done this on multiple computers as well. I've had a lot of problems using Easel and at this point I'm considering getting a beefier control board and running HSMWorks out of Solidworks.

The quality of the cuts the machine makes are decent, I'm sure if I played around with calibrations I could get it running as well as any top-line CNC router. I'll see if I can get some pictures of cuts I've made so far.

My Machine Specs:
1000mmx1000mm
ACME Lead Screw
NEMA 23 Stepper Motors
300W 24VDC Spindle Kit
Arduino/gShield Motion Controller Kit
Limit Switch Kit

Re: X-Carve as a budget CNC?
 

Fantastic, thanks for sharing, this is the type of information I was looking for. Did you know that xcarve runs GRBL firmware? This means you can import into files into a software known as chilipepper. It looks like you can import dxf and gcode files. Other software exists to convert solid works parts into gcode but dxf can work just fine. Hopefully this helps and you could share the result.