Craftsman Compucarve

[Darrin Davis]

I was thinking about getting a Compucarve for my high school woodshop class as a fundraising device. I was planning on making sports, band, choir, etc. signs for parents to buy of thier kids. The signs would have a school logo, kids face, activity logo, jersey #, etc. I have attached a sample pic.

My concern is the negative feedback I've read on this product. Is this negative feedback recent? But since Craftsman is now selling it, it must be doing better. I can't see Craftsman selling a product that doesn't perform. We cannot affort a $6000 shopbot at this time so a product like this looks very tempting. We would only be doing a few (1-5) projects a week on it so we would be using it like a home hobyist.

I would love any feedback including personal experience with it, possible other products in this price range that I am not familure with, etc.

thanks!

[Bob Tate]

I had every intention of buying one until I read all of the negative feedback on the CarveWright forum. Now I am wondering if this thing is ready for prime time. On top of that, I read that they are working on a larger version also.

[Nick Cardone]

Same here - i placed an order for one but was e-mailed that they have a backlog of orders and will be getting some more inventory in early January...i read their forum threads every day and it does seem like some folks are having a variety of issues with their units...Seems more like quality control issues...Im sure the Carve Wright folks will resolve all of the bugs...

Overall - some users have been turning out some really nice stuff with it...I may hold off on ordering a unit as i also heard a larger model will be coming out soon....

Cheers,

Nick C.

[John Glowaski]

I have owned a Carvewright since last March. I will have to say that when it works, it works great! ( I've had rave reviews about the projects I have turned out) However there has been downtime due to problems with the unit.

In Carvewright's defense, when I bought the unit I knew it was a Beta product and that there would probably be problems that would arise. The support I have received from Carvewright is top notch. They take the time to walk you through resolving the problem and helping you better understand your machine.

The machine has been back to Carvewright twice (and is currently in their shop). But I have no doubt that it will work well when I get it back (and hopefully for a long time after that).

Would I recommend it for use as a tool in a school wood shop? As much as I like my machine, I would still have to say "not right now". I would wait for more units to hit the market and some more of the bugs to be worked out (especially if you plan on it being used by multiple operators with varying degrees of experience...this could be a formula for frustration).

Don't get me wrong....I like this machine and the company that makes it. I just think it needs a bit more development before it should be unleashed on under-experienced users.

[Joe Pelonio]

I remember when the Carvewright came out, it was a small company selling them online and was always meant for the hobbyist, not as a production tool. I too may get one eventually and am waiting. I expect that Sears will either see to the quality issues or eventually stop selling it.

You might consider having a local laser or shopbot owner work out a deal for some donated time in exchange for a newsletter ad or something for making the fundraising items, then use the money you make for a shopbot!

[Charles McKinley]

Hi Darren,

I would find some way to swing a small Shop-bot or other CNC router, even used. Why? The Shop bot runs off of industry standard code that your students will be able to use in a job. Carvewright uses a proprieraty code according to the earlier post I read.

Just my 2 cents.