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    Default PCNC Automation Routers

    New to CNC, I'm looking to purchase a a small footprint CNC router for woodworking. Have read many of the primers on this site, looked at many machines and reviews.
    Does anyone have any experience with Pcnc Automation.
    How about other machines ranging from 24 x36 to 36 x 60.
    Thanks,
    Mike

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    Member cabnet636's Avatar
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    camaster makes a doggone good little machine.

    www.camaster.com

    "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LIqaDUOLtI"]YouTube - CAMaster CNC MC-2840 cutting sign out of solid surface

    jim

    James McGrew CAMaster 508 ATC
    www.mcgrewwoodwork.com http://dropc.am/p/EJaKyl


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    the only peoblem with the camaster is price, its about $4000 more than the pcnc



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    Talking

    I ordered the 24X36 on Monday 28 September, 2009 price was $2,995.00 at that time which I thought was a good deal and it should be ready for pick up on Novenber 10th, I will let all you guys know the Pors and Cons of the machine. I will include Pixs too if that will help. So far only problem is owner is real slow to answer my emails and I do mean reaaaaaaaaaaal slow!



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    Member cabnet636's Avatar
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    the mc CAMaster is an industrial class machine and even though camaster is building a table top the price is still at 4500+ for it, when you are looking at this metal it makes sense. it will be nice to actually see the router though!!

    jim

    James McGrew CAMaster 508 ATC
    www.mcgrewwoodwork.com http://dropc.am/p/EJaKyl


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    Default Beaware of PCnC Automation

    I purchased a 24X36 Machine From Bill Johnson the owner of PCnC, I paid in full for the machine and a license for Cut3D software. When I arrived at his place in Vevay,IN to pickup my machine, He did not have the Software which I ordered and paid for, also he did not have the 4 bits included with the sale of the machine. Instead he gave me 4 used bits which only one was worth anything and the other 3 were shot and dull. With a promise he will ship it to me later in a few weeks. To this date I still have not recieved my Cut3D software which I paid $299.00 in full or anything, He does NOT answer my e-mails and phone calls. I feel riped off and am warning anyone who is thinking of making a purchase from PCnC Automation, be aware of his tricky tatics and bull talk. He is a con man and just be careful if you make a purchase from him. His machines are okay, support is non existance, no manuals or tech papers. I am at a loss here and I am afraid of returning the machine as I will never get my $3000.00 back and he is a poor guy living way out in nowhere USA. Think twice and remember you get what you pay for. I thought it was a good deal but now I kick myself and think I should of had build my own machine or brought the CNC Shark Pro from Rockler which is at least a legimiate company with great support.
    Thanks for listening to my gripe and thanks to Bill Johnson the owner of PCnC for making my Hobby CNC purchase a bad experience.
    Brian



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    Still to this date December 18, Bill Johnson keeps giving me excuses why he did not ship my software, keeps avoiding my phone calls and states he is in Texas? Gee, you guys think I am ever going to recover my $299.00 for my License of CUT3D ? Hope one of you who read this are either a Lawyer or Police Officer who can give advice on to what to do with this con man.



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    Member cabnet636's Avatar
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    he would not ship cut 3d, the license would be issued by vectric direct and he would pay them, if you have paid him. i would contact support@vectric.com and "politely" see if the license was sent and it went in a junk mail box by mistake. i can tell you are pissed so remeber this is simply an attempt to help you get to the bottom of this. i would also download the full working demo of cut 3d, you can begin to test files.

    www.vectric.com and begin to check out the forum under support as well

    jim

    vectric aspire afficcionado

    James McGrew CAMaster 508 ATC
    www.mcgrewwoodwork.com http://dropc.am/p/EJaKyl


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    Thanks Jim,
    I wrote to them and also included my proof of sales slip so there should be no
    doubt.
    Have a Nice Holiday!



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    Talking

    Looks like I will have a "Happy Holiday" after all. I emailed Vectric as Jim suggested, and Boy they sure got things rolling fast. See reply from Vectric below:

    Hello Brian,
    We have received confirmation of your order from Bill at PCNC Automation I’ll get your license details to you in the next day or two.
    Sorry for the delay while we get this issue resolved.
    Regards,
    Tony McKenzie
    Vectric Ltd.

    Vectric is my kind of company, they forever have my business!
    Thanks again Tony and Jim
    Happy Holidays



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    Member cabnet636's Avatar
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    as you have said you have a machine. most do not come with any real manuals so to speak as cnc has an awful lot of variables and an operator is somewhat expected to learn his machine, sounds wierd i know but there are no magic buttons with these things. on the vectric forum there are other mach users and the forum is a wealth of info. look forward to seeing you get moving now!!

    jim

    James McGrew CAMaster 508 ATC
    www.mcgrewwoodwork.com http://dropc.am/p/EJaKyl


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    Hi Brian,
    I have the same machine and it was delivered a few weeks ago. Fortunately I built my own machine years ago from Maxnc components. Their support and documentation was pretty iffy too. Really after installing the software and plugging in the machine, the learning curve is in Mach2. The machine will do what Mach tells it to do. If your machine is homing correctly then you should be OK. I did find that turning on the machine before resetting mach allowed for a better result in homing. I installed a fence on both x and Y axes using the table clamps. After zeroing in the machine, I had the router cut the wood edge so that it would be parallel and perpendicular accordingly. My biggest gripe is the wisecarver guides that they are using. Mine have too much play when the router enters the wood. I've contacted the wisecarver people but they are on vacation. If there is no adjustment in the guides, I will have to replace one with some other type of guide. Everything else is well designed and put together, I can't believe they would use sloppy guides to save a few bucks. My homebuilt machine flexes less. I know you get what you pay for, but for $3k, I'd expect a bit more accuracy. That's my only beef with the machine so far.

    Last edited by luthier; 12-21-2009 at 07:58 PM.


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    luthier,
    Thanks for your input, I did carve a few things from some drawings found on the CnZone, and on the Vectric forum a few turned out okay, not the best but just okay I do notice some chattering of the bits when carving and I do not know if it is my fault or the machines as it is my first machine and do not know yet how a good machine is supposed to run. All I had seen is a SharkPro demo at the local Rockler wood store. It is intresting about what you say about the Bishop Wisecarver rail and guides. I do see some play but do not know if that is normal or not? If you come up with something I am intrested in learning a few tricks from you if you do not mind sharing them. I find the CNC Router a fun machine and spend too many hours playing with it, Mach 3 is not too hard for me to learn, it is VCarve Pro that is giving me the fits, as there are so many options and so many different bits and mills to learn about. After seeing some of the members here and at the Vectric forum show off their work it just amazes me what a machine can do and do relize it also pretty much depends on the operator that makes a carving look good or like crap as much as a good machine does. I am pressed to try and succeed no mater what and am always looking for ways to improve. Thanks again for your input.
    Brian



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    A few things you may want to look at is the feedrate, direction of feed, and bit type. First of all you want a cutter that is designed for plunging into the material. This has a cutting edge on the bottom of the bit. Secondly, you may get a better finish if you change the direction of how the bit is moving through the material. Technically the router should be moving away from the direction of the cut, not into it. So a google search for climb milling and you'll see what I mean. One directon pulls the bit into the wood and the other doesn't. This machine isn't a milling machine. When I look at the results, I can see one direction sometimes looks better than another myself.
    This machine can really move the router fast. You may want to slow things down some, as a laminate trimmer is not designed to hog off wood like a bigger HP router. If you play with those variables, you may see a difference. I'm going to tinker with a spiral bit and see if I can get a better result than what I'm currently getting. I've slowed my feed on the Z and start my cut in the center of the rout as opposed to the edge and that shows some improvement. I'll let you know how a downcut bit works as opposed to a cheaper straight bit. My problem is I have a ton of files that will have to be modified for these changes.
    I'm learning Rhino3D and have experience in Bobcad V20 for 2d work. You may want to play with some CAD and Cam programs to generate your G code. There are freeware converters you can download to take PDF and Jpg files and convert them into DXF files. If you are not drawing your own stuff, you should, as it will help you to understand how the whole process works. Learning how to edit Gcode is a useful skill to tweak your programs. Start with something simple like creating a ruler or yardstick making program.
    If you don't have a cad program, there are freeware ones that are pretty simple but will do the basic things you need to do too.



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    Member ger21's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by luthier View Post
    . My biggest gripe is the wisecarver guides that they are using. Mine have too much play when the router enters the wood.
    I'm not familiar with your machine, but Dual V wheels should be installed with eccentric bushings on one side to allow you to preload them to remove any play.

    http://www.cadcamcadcam.com/eccentri...ovewheel2.aspx

    Gerry

    UCCNC 2017 Screenset
    [URL]http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2017.html[/URL]

    Mach3 2010 Screenset
    [URL]http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2010.html[/URL]

    JointCAM - CNC Dovetails & Box Joints
    [URL]http://www.g-forcecnc.com/jointcam.html[/URL]

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)


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    Thanks for that bit of information Ger, I looked at the bishop wisecarver site and saw that the middle wheel is indeed eccentric. I'll probably have to take the machine apart to get at the wheels. I may wait until I hear from the rep of the company because I may want to upgrade to a different guide anyway. Today I did some guitar body routs conventionally milling them and using a downcut spiral. The results are better but I think this is something that can be improved. I'd rather not redo all my toolpaths if I don't have to.



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    Hey luthier
    Merry Xmas, good luck to us both and to all at CNCZone!
    Brian



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    Thanks you too. (after the fact):-)



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    Wow.. I just read this thread and now I'm worried. I also ordered a 24x36 towards the end of Sept. To date, I've received nothing.

    The last Email I got was just before Christmas. Bill states that he had a setback and all machines are 4 weeks late (mine is going on 8 weeks late). I also plan on getting vcarve+cut3d, or just bite the bullet and get Aspire. I intended on ordering from his site, but I'll think twice about that now.

    I'll try calling him tomorrow.



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    My machine was affected by the " setback" too. I just kept asking for an update and got one at least once a week.



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