which machine or cnc to buy?

[Judy Mills]

Ok I have been looking on internet at a lot of threads, I was set on carvewright, but then I keep seeing other cnc machines, for a little more money. My question is, if new to cnc and carving machines, what would be your number one machine to start out with? I want to do country signs and family photographs, and then some regular carvings as well. Mainly for my own enjoyment, my dad used to be a woodcarver all by hand, so my love for wood is in my blood! I am pretty good with computers, but I am not familiar with CAD, not sure how hard that would be to pick up. Any advice guys???

[Dan Hintz]

Search on Carvewright here before making your decision... recent threads would likely steer me away from one.

[Judy Mills]

Thank you! I think I may end up waiting a while, I don't want to make the wrong decision! If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

[Dan Hintz]

There aren't many options at that price point, and some are quite happy with them... but I'd be leery and read up on the potential issues and decide for yourself.

[Biff Phillips]

I don't want to violate the Terms of Service for this board, so let me just give this advice:

Look for a system that is not totally proprietary. This will allow you to fix the machine easier and give you greater freedom to chose software.
Look around the net for people's experiences. Some CNC machines are more reliable than others.
Look for a machine with a good user community/forum that you can ask questions to.

[Steve Peterson]

I am not sure if it is OK to post links to other sites, but there is a forum called cnczone that is loaded with cnc advice. It ranges all the way from homebuilt to huge factory machines. There is a category for Carvewright.

Steve

[Judy Mills]

Thank you all so much!

[Bruce Page]

Judy, there is some good info in this thread: Affordable CNC... It’s a few of years old so some of the info is dated. The list is expanded further down in the thread.
I’d recommend shying away from anything that has a proprietary control system.
I spent a couple years wrestling with this decision and finally settled on a Camaster Stinger 1. I have a garage full of upgraded woodworking machines, I wanted this to be my first and last CNC purchase. I am using Vectric’s software. It is fairly easy to learn and very intuitive. They also have an excellent forum and training videos on line.

[William Adams]

A well-documented, opensource, hobby-level (but expandable) machine is the ShapeOko ---v2 has just been anounced.

[AL Ursich]

As a CarveWright user a possible option is to use a new "C" Version of the CW to make projects to pay for the upgrade to get that impressive CNC posted above. This option gets you started and making money... And learning some basics... You can then sell the CW after you move to a bigger more open sourced software. Most of the upgraded software you can buy cannot be transfer to the next owner like Centerline Text, Scanning Probe, and others.

Good Luck,

AL

[Judy Mills]

That is very impressive! Thank you guys for all your advice!

[Roy Harding]

Judy:

As a former (actually - I still own one, it's sitting dust covered and un-used on a shelf somewhere in the storage room) Carvewright owner, I tend to agree with Al Ursich's post above. Although I eventually found the Carvewright inadequate to my needs, and became frustrated with maintenance issues - the fact remains that over the two years I used it, I learned a LOT about CNC milling - and made enough money to upgrade to my current Shopbot. I doubt I would have taken the plunge into CNC had I needed to spend over $6K just to get started. The Carvewright got me into the CNC world without breaking the bank.

It's worth noting that I used to work in a cabinet shop - running their industrial CNC machine. But THAT machine simply cut parts - I never imagined the possibilities of 3D (actually 2 1/2 D) carving until I got the Carvewright.

So - IFF you're a complete newb to the CNC carving world - perhaps the Carvewright is right for you. It allows you to get familiar with the process for a (relatively) low financial expenditure. If you decide you don't want to pursue it - your financial loss is minimized. If, on the other hand, you are already familiar with the CNC then a more robust machine may be more suitable for your purposes.

After re-reading your original post - it appears you are looking at this from a "weekend hobbyist's" point of view. From THAT perspective, the Carvewright MAY be right up your alley, despite my own disappointments with it (I run a wood shop full time, and use my machines in a commercial environment which is harder on machines that your average weekend hobbyist's usage).

I'd remind you of the advice given by others here - with which I agree. The Carvewright is a "cul de sac" on the CNC highway. This is because of its' proprietary nature. What you created on the Carvewright will NOT TRANSLATE to another machine you may upgrade to in future. If that particular "cul de sac" is one which you are happy existing in - then you need not consider future upgrades.

Good luck - and have fun.

[Art Mann]

I think the "cul de sac" analogy is rather clever and appropriate!

[Judy Mills]

Thanks again all! Definitely a newbie, scrollwork, routing, and hammer and chisel sums up my experience! Ready to jump, but will say my grandmas ole saying keeping haunting me, she always said "you're big enough, your wants won't hurt you!" So with that being said, I really don't know where I stand! lol! But thanks to all!

[Jerome Stanek]

You can keep an eye out for a used unit. Shotbot forum has a for sale section.