Rock Chuck for CarveWright

[Dave Garcia]

One and all,

How many SMC'ers have and or use the CarveWright CNC machine?

Who among you have heard of, purchased and or used the Rock Chuck replacement tool chuck device on their CarveWright?

Thanks in advance for any and all comments.

Dave Garcia
The Wood Block, Ltd
-----------------------------------
CarveWright CNC router plus Designer Software
MacBook Pro with OSX
Photo Shop Elements 6
LaserPro C180 (soon)

[AL Ursich]

It is a great replacement for the QC to hold the bits. No more bit flutter...

AL

[Dave Garcia]

It is a great replacement for the QC to hold the bits. No more bit flutter...

AL

Al,

Thank you very much for this input. I've noticed on my CarveWright that there seems to be a lot of vibration. I just thought it was the flex shaft and have let it go at that. But the more I read about this Rock Chuck the more I'm thinking that the vibration comes from the runout of the chuck somewhere. What you are telling me is that I could be right?

Quesiton. Do you have a CarveWright machine and have you changed your QC to the Rock Chuck?

Question. If so, did you have any problems taking the QC off? I'm reading that heat must be used to loosen up the lock tight to get the QC off. Comments?

Dave
The Wood Block, Ltd

[AL Ursich]

Dave,

I post on the CW forum as Digitalwoodshop and I had to heat the old QC with my Crack Torch I use for Epoxy Doming to get it off. Watch Ron's Video that helps.

Yes the Rock is SO much quiter.... Like I posted over on the CW.... It is SO Quiet now my buddy Ricky the Rattle Snake came to visit again thinking I was gone.... Need to make more noise.....

The old QC with 3 ball bearings holding the bit holder just wore out too quick... I would have used 9 or 12 Ball Bearings.

AL aka Digitalwoodshop

[Kendall Stokke]

dave

i have two carvewrights and have changed both to the rock chuck.

there is almost no vibration and the cuts are better but the best part to me is it is so much quieter that the qc.

if you watch ron's video of how to remove and replace with the rock chuck you should have no problem unless someone used red loctite to put it on.

if your going to get a carvewright i would definnitely get the rock chuck to go with it

kendall


hey al i see your not "al who" on this forum lol

[Dave Garcia]

dave

i have two carvewrights and have changed both to the rock chuck.

there is almost no vibration and the cuts are better but the best part to me is it is so much quieter that the qc.

if you watch ron's video of how to remove and replace with the rock chuck you should have no problem unless someone used red loctite to put it on.

if your going to get a carvewright i would definnitely get the rock chuck to go with it

kendall


hey al i see your not "al who" on this forum lol

Kendall,

Thank you very much for your comments.

I already have a CarveWright. Got it last year. But, and this is where the Rock Chuck really caught my eye, there are two BIG issues, vibration and noise. Living in a townhouse community, noise is a very big deal. Although I can close my garage door and use my other wood machines, the CarveWright, even with a hush house, still sounds pretty bad out on the street.

And yes, I will watch Ron's video on how to remove the QC since I've never done this before. Thanks for the reminder. Hopefully the Rock Chuck, complete with the appropriate hardware, will arrive sometime this week.

Thanks again.

Dave Garcia
The Wood Block, Ltd

[Kendall Stokke]

dave

the rock chuck will not dissappoint you

i wish someone would put a sound meter on the machine before the rock chuck and after to see what the sound difference is.

heck my wife even lets me run both machines at once and it is not as loud as one was originally

good luck

kendall

[Dave Garcia]

Kendall,

Thanks again! I too am really looking forward to getting the Rock Chuck installed on my machine because of the noise!!!

Dave
The Wood Block, Ltd

[Dave Garcia]

One and all,

I thought I'd give everyone on this forum the benefit of some of the issues I've had with this new Rock Chuck, and the removal of the original CarveWright QC.

First of all, Ron does in fact provide a great after market product for our CarveWright machines. He has been personable and very professional. His advertisements and removal video tutorials are outstanding. But I carried that a little further and read EVERY note in this forum, and the CNC Art Guild forum, on the Rock Chuck concerning the removal of the original QC before buying and attempting to replace my QC with the new Rock Chuck. There were a number of individuals that stated that heat, in varying degrees, was necessary to remove the original QC. That should have been a clue to me. But.........

Here's the issue. After watching the video and reviewing the various posts, I elected to try to remove the original QC without using heat as Ron did in his video. It didn't work. The first thing to happen was that the square ended original QC removing tool broke. Thankfully there was no damage to the machine and I was able to replace the shaft and continue on with my project carving. Now if I could only find the square ended piece that broke off.

I've again reviewed both the video and the forum posts and I can see, in my case with my machine anyway, where heat is going to have to be applied in order to break loose the original QC fittings. But I'm out the cost of a new QC removal tool from Rock Chuck.

My suggestion to those who have, or will spend the $181 to purchase one of these new Rock Chucks, is to do some "preventative planning" and get a second square ended original QC removal tool when you place your original order for the Rock Chuck. I'm not sure how that's done but I'm sure that Ron will be able to provide you with that information. Unfortunately it costs some additional dollars which I feel should not have been necessary in the first place.

Good luck to everyone with this. Once I get my second removal tool, speak with a few other folks about which way and how to apply the proper amount of heat to loosen the fitting on the original QC, hopefully I'll be able to remove it and find out first hand whether or not this new Rock Chuck does in fact do everything everyone has said it would do.

Dave
The Wood Block, Ltd

[Bruce Volden]

First off I apologize for being in the dark. I have a "beta" machine that I seldom use, perhaps 3 hrs. since new? I bought the scanning probe (still unused) and now I am reading about a new chuck...my intention is not to keep up with everything but, try to keep abreast of new things. PS that isn't happening either-I tried to fire up my CW and I was so many versions of software behind I had to call LHR to get a "push" from them. Anyway, is there a link for this new stuff?

I find myself keeping busy with the laser end of things therefore all else gets dropped.

Kendall~love the Platte area for it's scenery and walleye production!!!

Bruce

[AL Ursich]

Bruce,

They made a change with the Z Motor and have a Z Bundle with a new motor, new 14 pin cable to replace the thinner 16 pin cable and a 14 pin circuit board for the other end. The heavier wires of the 14 pin help with the Z Stall problems. It also moves the probe to the left side inside cover jack with jumper.

The ROCK will make a big difference in cutting quality and noise.

I spend so much time with my CW, my 2 old laser's just sit...

As for the CW QC, I used a small crack torch to heat the area close to the nut. I broke 3 square drive bits on another QC that I think was put on with forever red locktite.... Gave up on it....

When I ordered my Rock, I bought 3 extra square drive bits... Just in case.....

AL

[Peter Meacham]

Well, I changed my chuck out yesterday and installed a Rock Chuck - did not have to use heat - in fact, the old one came off with about the same effort as Ron shows in his video - and I am the original owner (older machine).

Seems to be quieter with the new chuck - but the CW is not a quiet machine! You still need hearing protection.

[Rob Slaughterbeck]

I too had recently purchased and installed the ROCK chuck. I was fortunate that my original QC had no thread locker and when it did come loose before I used a small amount of blue loctite, therefore it broke loose pretty easy. I have only done 1 carving since installing it, but am extremely please with it and Ron's service. The ROCK is simply a must have for the CarveWright/CompuCarve machine. The improved performance, less vibration and escape from inferior overpriced bit adapters will quickly pay for itself.

Rob

[Dave Garcia]

Rob,

Great news! Now if I can only get my original QC off for the new RC. Got the two new square tools today. Will make my second attempt sometime tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Dave Garcia
The Wood Block, Ltd

[Dave Garcia]

One and all,

How many SMC'ers have and or use the CarveWright CNC machine?

Who among you have heard of, purchased and or used the Rock Chuck replacement tool chuck device on their CarveWright?

Thanks in advance for any and all comments.

Dave Garcia
The Wood Block, Ltd
-----------------------------------
CarveWright CNC router plus Designer Software
MacBook Pro with OSX
Photo Shop Elements 6
LaserPro C180 (soon)

One and all plus Ron Justice,

Just thought I'd provide a follow up to my last post concerning the issues and replacement of my QC with the Rock Chuck.

First of all, whomever used a hair dryer to apply heat must have gotten very lucky. And as he said, a little dab will do ya! We're all getting on up there in years but I too remember that commercial.

Secondly, I also thought there were only three grades of locktite, red, yellow and blue. My QC had GREEN locktite on it, and that was BEFORE I applied heat, so it did not change colors because of the heat.

Thirdly, I followed Ron's heating directions to the letter plus some. I think I used up an entire roll of aluminum foil and a couple of water soaked towels in the process. But did not burn any belts and or ruin any bearing seals.

Fourth point. I ordered TWO new square removing tools after breaking the first one, and I'm very glad that I did, because I broke one of the two new ones as well. So I'd strongly recommend to anyone making this change to get, at the minimum, two and possibly three of these square removal tools.

OK, now on with the narrative. I must have watched Ron's video a couple of hundred times and still made some silly mistakes. I did in fact remove the plastic cover from the CW, but I did not disconnect the top switch wires, just moved the cover to the back and supported it so that there was no strain on the wires, and it was out of the way of the flame pattern from my propane torch. Then I placed double and sometimes triple layers of aluminum foil to cover the Z truck track, around the Z truck, around the Y tracks and just about every where else I could think that might be affected by the heat from the propane torch. I followed the 1/2" shaft length and installation to the letter. After the aluminum foil etc, I wrapped the Z truck with a wet towel, put the wrench in place per the video, and started adding heat. The video states that heat should be added for about 2 to 3 minutes or until it glows sort of pinkish. Around plastic and computer parts that scares the hell out of me and I thought I was fearless. That's when I broke the second square removal tool. With one left I removed the foil and towel just to check to see if the heat had caused any damage. It hadn't, so I felt a little bolder. I replaced all of the foil and the towel and the steel rod (yes, I had it mounted in the old tool holder etc as per the video) and begin applying heat again, only this time I applied it for about four minutes. I then let it sit for a minute or two before inserting my last square removal tool and giving it a couple of "loving" taps vice constant torque. Low and behold it began to move!!! Finally I was able to get the original QC off.

The story does not end there. After cleaning the threads and looking at the video again to see if Ron recommended using blue locktite on the new chuck (he doesn't or I didn't see it, again) I went back to my machine and promptly put the Rock Chuck collar on upside down!!! Once I got that turned around, literally, the rest went smoothly without a hitch and I'm now a proud owner/operator of a CW machine with a new Rock Chuck.

Still haven't carved anything with it because I need to visit my local hardware store for some shrink wrap and or some of those nylon plumbing washers to use as stops for the bits.

There you have it. Hope this helps someone out there to keep from reinventing the wheel.

Dave Garcia
The Wood Block, Ltd