Which CNC router for wood carving is good

[CNCguy82]

Hi guys, been reading posts for a while on here, cant seem to lock in on what i really need. Im basically looking for an entry level 3-axis that i would be able to do some 3d wood carving / plexi glass !
Im relatively new to this, I dont have much experience CNC routers. Ive seen the CarveWright and have heard lot of mixed reviews 70% of which are negative. My budget is around $6000. The lesser the better. I liked the carveWright especially because of the short learning curve with their design softwares. Im very computer literate so learning something new wouldnt be that bad. I liked the ShopBot Buddy CNC router and almost bought it but because of its dimensions it wouldnt fit through my 35" door. My main interest for a CNC router is to make signs and 3d wood carvings. Its time to upgrade from my scroll saw. A working space of 15" - 24" would be within my specs of what i would use this machine for.
Any advice / input would be appreciated.
Thanks

[landdesign]

Hi guys, been reading posts for a while on here, cant seem to lock in on what i really need. Im basically looking for an entry level 3-axis that i would be able to do some 3d wood carving / plexi glass !
Im relatively new to this, I dont have much experience CNC routers. Ive seen the CarveWright and have heard lot of mixed reviews 70% of which are negative. My budget is around $6000. The lesser the better. I liked the carveWright especially because of the short learning curve with their design softwares. Im very computer literate so learning something new wouldnt be that bad. I liked the ShopBot Buddy CNC router and almost bought it but because of its dimensions it wouldnt fit through my 35" door. My main interest for a CNC router is to make signs and 3d wood carvings. Its time to upgrade from my scroll saw. A working space of 15" - 24" would be within my specs of what i would use this machine for.
Any advice / input would be appreciated.
Thanks

you'll be super happy when you get to make the jump to cnc... it will open up ideas you cant even imagine right now.

I would discourage you in the CarveWright machine though. A friend of mine got one and I played with it a bit and it is rather limited in a lot of ways...

the 35" of door will be a kinker for a lot of machines. you may think about another shopbot other than the Buddy. most of theirs come ship un-assembled so you could fit a 48 X 96 machine in your basement one piece at a time... call them and check out the forum. ask questions and see what they have to say.

I currently have two machines and one of the small wishs I have is I wish they were bigger... both are 48X96.... HA! I wish one was 60 X 120...... I realize that bigger rigs are not in the cards for most but think big now because you done want to regret you size after you drop 6 grand. I guess a 24 X 48 would be a fine size for a small sign shop.

you might think about getting a used rig to make your $ go further. the shop bot sight has a link for machines that are being sold used and smaller ones come up all the time...

also... software will be a big key to what you can do and also how easy you can do it... I'd encourage you to look at VCarve Pro..... you can down load a free version to play with before you drop any money. I think you get a version of it with new shop bots so thats food for thought too...

also #2 .... 3D work is very time consuming.... I have run larger files that run 3-5 hours... my record is 23 hours... it was a 48 X 46

have fun

Erik

[lovebugjunkie]

This may interest you. http://www.romaxxcnc.com/WD-1.html
At the base price you would still have the $$ for something like VcarvePro/Cut3d and Mach3.

I have the smaller HS1 and it is a great machine. Also use VcarvePro and PhotoVcarve, can't be beat for the price.

Someday I hope to add the WD1 along side my HS1.


george

[ryansuperbee]

Hi CNC guy, Have you had a chance to look at torchmate? I bought my torchmate about 2 years ago. Awsome machine. Anyway, as an acessory you can buy the third axis for this machine. I got mine fully loaded with all the bells and whistles for under $15,000. But if all you wanted it for was to do 3D wood and glass and plastic stuff then you could get away with one of there machines for under $5000. My machine is 4' by 8'. One of the very first jobs I had to do was make four wood french doors and they turned out awsome! You get a lot more machine for your dollar. If you have any question, or you would like me to send you pictures, just ask!

[CNCguy82]

Hi CNC guy, Have you had a chance to look at torchmate? I bought my torchmate about 2 years ago. Awsome machine. Anyway, as an acessory you can buy the third axis for this machine. I got mine fully loaded with all the bells and whistles for under $15,000. But if all you wanted it for was to do 3D wood and glass and plastic stuff then you could get away with one of there machines for under $5000. My machine is 4' by 8'. One of the very first jobs I had to do was make four wood french doors and they turned out awsome! You get a lot more machine for your dollar. If you have any question, or you would like me to send you pictures, just ask!

Hey ryansuperbee,
i did look at torchmate but didnt do enough research to see how their machiness would work for me. I was so convinced about gettin a shopbot buddy after lookin at so many other machines, I figured as a last resort I could take the buddy apart and get it past my 35" door. I work with robotic packaging equipment at current job so doin tht shouldnt be a big problem. I did look at their website though, they got some good machines for reasonable prices. What are the specs of yours so i can compare and is the machine work with ArtCam Pro, or softwares by vectric? Would love to see the pics of some of ur work and the machine set up too.

[ryansuperbee]

Hi CNC, the specs of my machine are 4 feet by 8 feet and I have 8 inchs in the Z axis. The nice thing about this machine is that you can disassemble as you please. It will take you probably 2 hours to assemble it (very first time will take about 6 hours) but once you get good at it you will be fine. My 4x8 all came in boxes and I had no problem getting it in the front door of my house! So you will be fine in that department. As far as size goes. Maybe you don't need a machine this big. But I have never heard anybody complain about their machine being too big. I can't say the same about smaller machines though. As far as programing goes, I use my own personal computer to program it and I have no problems. As long as you can save your drawings as a .DXF you should be fine. Even if you can't they will make it work for you! What's also nice about the torchmate ( i'm sure you won't need this) But they make a 4th axis for this machine as well. Which means that you can do round parts with it. In the end you have to make the decision. The reason I chose torchmate for is because of the price, size, reputation, and versatality. You get a lot of machine!