Bought a CNC machine

[tablesawtom]

I bought a Evolution 4 CNC kit from Bob's CNC Last Thursday. It arrived in two boxes yesterday. Yesterday it was below zero in my shop so I do not tend to start assembling it until the end of March. I am considering purchasing V carve desk top. I saw one of Bob's machines in a  professional shop last spring and I asked him about it He said he loved it and became more talkative when I told him I personally knew Bob.

Bob is retired now but at the time he was a machinal engineer at John Deere. He got transferred about 12 years back. I was planning on building my own CNC. I talked to bob at length and decided it would be cheaper to buy from him than to go the way I was planning

A CNC with a 24 x24 work envelop any place else is about 4 grand. Woodsmith did a CNC made out of wood and I was considering doing a lot out of wood so I thought I would save myself a lot of work and give Bob's a try.

Just google Bob's CNC if you would like to see what I got. I have not bought my software yet so I would be interested in hearing from some who use V carve desktop. I know that V carve is upgradable as well as my machine is.


Tom

[paul2004]

I googled it and did a quick look.. Let us know how it works.
I did the Joes CNC route.. This was about 15 years ago, when the design was more in flux and people were still figuring things out.
Building and making mods on a CNC is a hobby in itself.. so yea, you will save a lot of time with a kit, yet this one looks easy enough to modify (if you want to, not saying you have to).
The main thing to keep in mind is.. start with your velocity and acceleration low, gradually creep it up and see what the limits of the machine are. In general, the slower you go, the better the cut quality. It seems obvious, but it takes years for some people (like me) to actually put that into practice

Vcarve is good software, especially if you are doing signs/plaques/etc It is also good for general 2d, other stuff too (this is not inclusive)
I also have Deskproto. that's a great software if you have software to generate STL files. IT is full 3d, you can use it on a rotary axis or 2 sided, 4 sided, etc cuts.

I use Aspire specifically, so I don't know off the top of my head where the feature list is different between it and Vcarve.

The latest version has better 2d support. I think you import a DXF. I am not sure as I have not upgraded mine. Worth a look, but not as good for signs/plaques.
Then of course, people are fans of Fusion 360 too. I have not tried that out, but that's a free option.

It's a fun hobby. You will enjoy it.

[tablesawtom]

I googled it and did a quick look.. Let us know how it works.
I did the Joes CNC route.. This was about 15 years ago, when the design was more in flux and people were still figuring things out.
Building and making mods on a CNC is a hobby in itself.. so yea, you will save a lot of time with a kit, yet this one looks easy enough to modify (if you want to, not saying you have to).
The main thing to keep in mind is.. start with your velocity and acceleration low, gradually creep it up and see what the limits of the machine are. In general, the slower you go, the better the cut quality. It seems obvious, but it takes years for some people (like me) to actually put that into practice

Vcarve is good software, especially if you are doing signs/plaques/etc It is also good for general 2d, other stuff too (this is not inclusive)
I also have Deskproto. that's a great software if you have software to generate STL files. IT is full 3d, you can use it on a rotary axis or 2 sided, 4 sided, etc cuts.

I use Aspire specifically, so I don't know off the top of my head where the feature list is different between it and Vcarve.

The latest version has better 2d support. I think you import a DXF. I am not sure as I have not upgraded mine. Worth a look, but not as good for signs/plaques.
Then of course, people are fans of Fusion 360 too. I have not tried that out, but that's a free option.

It's a fun hobby. You will enjoy it.

Putting the machine together and operating it is not my problem. Learning software is like getting a root canal. It comes hard for me. I plan on taking very slowly.

Bob has Aspire listed as a option but it is somewhat pricy. There is a free Fusion 360  but for a more complete package there is cost.

Tom

[Rob Young]

Putting the machine together and operating it is not my problem. Learning software is like getting a root canal. It comes hard for me. I plan on taking very slowly.

Bob has Aspire listed as a option but it is somewhat pricy. There is a free Fusion 360  but for a more complete package there is cost.

Tom

The "free" Fusion360 is pretty powerful but the free CAM portion has lots of limitations. Given that you don't have a tool changer (assuming) needing to save each operation as a single file isn't much more than mildly annoying. And I think you loose out on a few of the advanced tool path options. File management within projects can be a bit stifling with the free version too.

But between the two, VcarvePro (I think you are at the limit for Desktop vs. Pro with your 24x24 size) vs paid Fusion360, go with VcarvePro. Bit simpler interface. Vcarve is more of a 2D centric interface but it does handle 3D carving reasonably well.

You can always use the free Fusion360 and export STLs to import back into VcarvePro and then set up the machining paths. But you do give up some of the fancier path generation features that F360 offers.
 
I have access to the full version of F360 and own VcarvePro for use with a Shapeoko and a Shaper Origin. It just depends on what I'm trying to make, which software I start with. If it is going to be making templates, just use VcarvePro. If I need to fit a part inside another part, F360 but then I usually use VcarvePro to do the toolpathing. Mostly because I've been too lazy to learn more about CAM in F360. I really should learn more about how it works and best practices.

[Wipedout]

Ill be interested in how it does for you.  We bought a Shapeoko - it has a 33 x 33 work area and was just under $3K  - so far real happy with it

[Ohio Mike]

I bought a Evolution 4 CNC kit from Bob's CNC Last Thursday.......... I am considering purchasing V carve desk top.


Tom

I began my CNC journey last year and I'm using Vcarve Desktop software as well.

I found this YouTube channel that has lots of tutorials about Vcarve Desktop that have been really helpful.  It offers a series of videos called "Vectric for Absolute Beginners" that is great. (Vectric is the parent company that makes Vcarve Desktop software).

It's called Mark Lindsay CNC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnOmsJZM...1D4_Tm774p


Mike

[jteneyck]

V-Carve Desktop will work up to 24 x 24" and it's pretty reasonable at around $325.  V-Carve is part of Vectric and they are the largest provider of CNC software for the hobby world.  Great tutorials and support.  You can do both design work and generate toolpaths in V-Carve.  It's all you'll need.  Design work is easier for me in SketchUp but for simple 2.5D furniture/cabinet parts V-Carve is all you really need.  Plus, as said, it will do signs, plaques, and 3D carving, too.  You can download a fully functional trial copy with no time limit that does everything the purchased version does except generate g-code toolpaths.  

W/o software a CNC is worthless. Dedicate some time to learning one.

John

[JDuke]

The free fusion 360 is quite capable.

I use it to design and generate g-code for cnc router running UCCNC this machine also has a laser
plasma cutter running UCCNC
mill running centroid acorn
And have used it for g-code running on universal G code sender to an arduino uno based controller for x-carve

It can also gen g-code for commercial machines as well.

It’s certainly a steep learning curve, but nowhere near as difficult as years ago when you had to find compatibility between CAD CAM and a g-code sender.

[Lumber Yard®]

I'll be interested to hear how rigid your build is once you get it assembled. As far as other wood framed CNC's, I've been there and done that, the performance wasn't great. In the CNC world, minimizing spindle deflection is the key to solid performance, with speed and accurate cutting.

As far as software, Vectric is king as far as CAM software and has CAD components that may fill a need. I run Aspire but VCarve also has great for 2D cutting. I still use Mach 3 for my controller software and although it's older now it does everything I need it to.

HTH

[paul2004]

Yes, Aspire is very expensive. Honestly, the best way to do it is the way you proposed.
You can get VCarve (whatever version you want) , use it for awhile, and then if you want Aspire, you can pay for the upgrade. When I bought it, it was only $50 more total to do the upgrade path as opposed to buying Aspire only first. This way you can become familiar with the Vectric Software, and it also gives you time to figure out what you really want to do with the CNC. The guy building signs as a way to earn some extra income has different needs than someone using a CNC to make furniture (for example)
Oh, I am sure you will be able to get the machine together and working.. I hope my post did not imply that you could not handle it.
If you need any help with the software and you can't find a good tutorial, you can PM. I am not an expert, but I've kind of figured it out.