PCNC Automation Routers

[bdsorcic]

jstrait76
So Sorry about your horrible experience, Your machine does indeed look a bit different than mine. My machine is serial R1016, when I went down to pick it up in Vevay, it looked quite scratched up and beat up which made me wonder if I was getting a used machine, anyway Mr. Bill and I tested it out at his shop and it seems to work just fine but we only did thin stock engraving which turned out pretty good. Brought the machine home and cleaned it up. I am able to do engraving quite well with it, but have problems making carved signs as the carves turn out rough, however I am new to all this so I am still learning the ropes and they seem to improve each time after I take the machine apart and align things here and there I also did some adjustments here and there, then put it back together in a better way, a washer here, a shim there a better and stronger part there, the machine seems to improve a lot after tinkering with it, which is like you say a great learning experience for me too. However that was not something I expected and I expected a machine that worked as Bill advertised and I DID expect much better tech support from the maker, but Bill seems to avoid that the best he can. Attached are a few pixs of the PCnC factory in Vevay Indiana. All in all, if I had to it all over again I would avoid PCnC Automation!

[bdsorcic]

luthier,
Since the top shelf products from Precise Bits do not make a collet for the dewalt, this is what I am going to try and use when using 1/8th" bits in my dewalt they seem to be made pretty good and I am going to give them a try.
Hope they work!!
They are made by:
Galaxy Products, Inc
http://www.gpcollets.com/adapter_cross.html
A25-1250 (1/4" collet to use 1/8" bits)
and
K2 Cnc
http://www.k2cnc.com/shop/products.asp?cat=31
1/8th inch bit holder made of brass. (2 qty of .250" combo diameter shaft).

[luthier]

Those look like they'll do the job just fine. It's a pretty small operation in Vevay, eh? Brian, Did you take the router and Z axis section off the Y rail?

[y2khines]

I ordered my machine from pcnc back in late Sep 09. To date, I've received nothing but Emails stating that he's having problems getting hardware.

I haven't gotten a response from bill in several weeks. I think I'll also have to contact Visa. Since it's fairly obvious I'm not going to get my router, I just hope now that I can get my money back.

[bdsorcic]

luthier
Yep, took everything apart, even the top rail, it was not straight to the table, I had to shim the back screws that held the top rail to make it straight and square. The Bishop Wisecarver UtiliTrak linear guide rails looked real good and they did not need any adjusting. The biggest problem was that the router was not square to the table it was tilting to the left and out like a crooked tooth. Loosened the rails and adjusted them to be square to the table, so now that it is fixed I am about to try a new carving sometime this week after I finish with my other chores. The wife has been bugging me about the leaky kitchen faucet fixure, looks like it needs to be replaced and UGH do I ever hate working under the sink!

[melybell30]

Woodworking was a hobby of mine years ago and I have always been interested in getting a cnc router. I too was looking at the PCNC Automation routers, and based off what I read here, I'll probably steer clear.

I contacted PCNC and asked if they're currently shipping and was told that all problems are resolved. I thought I'd share that conversation:

ME 12/30/09:
I read on a few boards that you're having delivery issues. If I order a
36x48 today, what would be the delivery time?

PCNC 12/30/09:
It is true I have had some issues in the past but they are slowly
dissolving, it was with supply and me moving from Texas to Indiana but
currently I have a 6 week lead time or sooner and it should be sooner now

ME 1/4/10:
Thank you for the reply. I am still not sure what to go with. Right now it's between a shark pro and one of yours. I can say that I read a couple of negative posts on various forums about your routers and your company.

PCNC 1/5/10:
I am sorry that there has been problems but they have been resolved and we are moving forward for as far as the quality of the machines I will be happy to give you a list of customers that have our machines and you can talk to them about the machine and customer service from our company if you like

[ashgrimm]

nothing has been resolved in my case.
only ignored.

[y2khines]

@melybell's post...

WTH!! He responds within 24hrs when he wants your money, but hardly ever responds when he has your money. That just makes me sick.

[bdsorcic]

Noticed PCnC Automation Web Site no longer offers VCarve Pro, Cut3D or any other Vectic Software. Looks like Vectic pulled the plug on him for not paying his bills.

[dobrientruckers]

Noticed PCnC Automation Web Site no longer offers VCarve Pro, Cut3D or any other Vectic Software. Looks like Vectic pulled the plug on him for not paying his bills.

When I went to pcncautomation.net just now, it showed all the Vectric software under "software" and under "new Products".

[luthier]

Well I haven't heard back from the Bishop Wisecarver folks about their guides. I carved a practice guitar neck yesterday. I am running at F100 and the Z at 5. The machine did what I told it to do. Using MeshCam to generate the code from my Rhino file, I stood there with my dust collector hose for 45 min. I'm thinking I might want to go to a bigger router. I'm tempted to go in and adjust the carriage wheels.

[bdsorcic]

After spending a considerable amount of time learning Mach3 and Vcarve Pro 5.5 and adjusting the machine to my liking, I finally came out with something good enough to post on the CnZone forum "Show and Tell", found the saw blade on this forum (I think) and made use of it...