it takes me 45 minutes to cut out a deck with a jigsaw and sand it smooth with a belt sander. It takes me about 2 hours to manually dig wire channels with a dremel. I can’t get the perfectly smooth walls though that @cmatson posted which made me drool.
I was debating on buying an X-Carve but now i think more research is required.
I want something that can cut my 40" deck from 44 inches of bonded ply and also do my wiring channels and why the hell not drill my truck holes as well, and do it in less than 3 hours. I have center points that press into my decks, so alignment shouldn’t be an issue even with the horridly uneven edges of the uncut ply.
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If you did want to go the xcarve route, you could buy the stuff for the smaller xcarve, and then just replace the rails with longer ones from openbuilds.
The xcarve software doesn’t have to be used with their own rail sizes, so you’d be able to make a CNC area larger than 1000x1000 of the biggest xcarve
It’d also come out cheaper because you wouldn’t get the limit switches, tools, or wasteboard-
The only extra aspect you’d have to take into account is the wiring (the kit will come with a cable that contains 4 wires in 1 sleeve which you could easily find at lowes/homedepot), and the drag chains, which would need some extra lengths.
I would recommend getting the Dewalt spindel that I have, and also add the upgraded stepper motors.
If you want any specific opinions on what you may need/don’t need based on what I’ve learned after a week or two with my xcarve, just ask!
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It’d come down to around this, plus the longer rails, wiring, drag chains, and a couple bits
So maybe 1000-1050?
This is excellent advice as well!! The Bosch EVS1617 router is great. Plus it can be converted to use an ER20 collet for 1/2 inch tools! Pretty Rad!! If you upgrade the router you also have to be mindful to upgrade the rigidity of the frame. Especially along the x axis on a moving gantry design machine.
Check this video out from the dude over at Grunblau CNC…
Good stuff!!!
@longhairedboy Knowledge is power, bro! The more research you do, the better!! It’s a deep rabbit hole to go down, but it’s truly the future of small shop mfg. I like to hang out here a bit… http://www.cnczone.com/forums/
