Dan - I just got my ultimate kit for the 1000 mm XCarve too. It's a thing of beauty. DOn't know if they made a change since you got yours, but my drag chain DOES pop open. Thanks for this video. It's helping a lot! Cheers!
Great review and video, but first thank you for your service in law in forcemeat I know as of today it is a thankless job, so again thank you. I was looking into get one of these machine not knowing what to buy and YOU and YOUR video have helped me. Thank you very much and stay safe.
Hi Dave, I just upgraded my X-carve with the CNC4NEWBIES upgrade kit. I noticed that you used your XController, would you be willing to show me the back of yours and how you set it up?
Ok okay I get it. Obviously some folks just don’t understand what a newbie can afford.. After all the guy a firefighter by choice. He may not be a cop or a school teacher but I sure respect his ability to fight fires and rescue folks in trouble. His ability to put out very informative videos is great by my standards. You very experienced nay sayers please show me your videos. Enough said.
wow very very nice beginner unit, tempted to purchase this kit myself as I'm in the process of redesigning my 1yr old home built cnc, only thing stopping me is I have alittle invested in nice linear rails and ball screws or maybe I ought to take note of a couple ideas here and implement it into my own machine.
Just got my upgrade today and I am happy to say that it now includes the drag chain with the doors. One thing I couldn't find was any instructions on doing the upgrade. I looks pretty straight forward but I don't like being sold a kit and being told to figure it out yourself on how to assemble it.
well my friend you convince me I m going to buy that thing as my first cnc. Thank you for all the comments and your experiences. Take care of yourself as a policemen and try to relax on your cnc jobs. from a french canadien bye
Bought this kit based off your video. I am having issues with wiring I believe. I was wondering if I could get a picture of how your wiring looks going into the x-controller specifically? I have paired all wire colors black to black, green to green, red to red, and white to blue. Looking for how the are ordered going into the controller.
Coudnlt you use an electrician fishing tape and connect the wires and pull the bundle through the drag chain? Or does the fun happen once it’s installed onto the gantry causing a 180 dg. turn?
this is a great review, I look forward to more videos on this as I'm really thinking about doing this, I can't take it anymore with how flimsy my x-carve is (I use a Haas at work so its spoiled me to no end, so I keep pushing my x-carve too hard haha).
It was quite self explanatory for the most part. The back of the xcontroller has each label per motor. I’d have to snap a photo for you and send it to your email. Send me your email address
How did you square it? I didn't see any measurement tools or anything. BTW... I am not asking to "sharp-shoot" you or anything. I am pretty new to all of the crafting/woodworking and other stuff. I didn't even know how to use measuring tape until the Army taught me... So, let's just say that I have asked enough "low level questions" to know that sometimes when i'm asking for help, some people may think that I am being condescending or sarcastic, while (like now), I am truly only asking for guidance.... I am pretty interested in this thing, and unlike my nearly unused x-carve, i'd actually trust this thing to be reliable & sturday. P.S. - Are there any mounts for routers with 1/2" spindles or anything?
Fyi since you did all that nice upgrades....you need to dump the crappy dewalt and upgrade to either a porter cable 892 or a vfd motor...thendewalt sucks...the rpms way way too high and limited to 1/4 tooling...porter cable can accept 1/2 inch and 2x more powerful and starts at 10k rpm instead of 16k.....and get larger stepper motors...the xcarve 169oz are weak junk...you need nema 23 480oz steppers much better... Dont get me wrong....i actually lve your machine...its got me thinking of buying the kit from cncnewbie and then make my own controller and steppers etc....
To start " Thank you for your serve " and great video. Now I did the same upgrade but I am having problems with the x controller accepting some of the GRBL'S .Did you have any problems?
Have you considered upgrading to the larger dewalt motor. How does it do on aluminum. The original x-carve recommended a 2 thousands step down and carve time are crazy long. Can you cut say 1/8 inch.
Alex Wolford I’ve considered upgrading to an actual spindle instead of a router since I know it would handle it well. I haven’t pushed it hard yet but am planning on trying aluminum here shortly. I also haven’t tried depths that deep yet lol. I run slightly conservatively
@@DanCoastie An interesting video. My hobby has been mostly metal machining for almost 40 years. To be honest router type motors ALL have absolute crap spindle bearings and a far less than rigid spindle design in them including the best routers on the market. To get the same rpms and far better bearings with the spindle rigidity design that goes with them you'd need to move up to the higher end and usually 3 ph VFD controlled industrial rated round body milling motors and priced at $2k plus. The usual standard router motors are obviously workable for most hand operated and router table mounted tasks in wood. Start trying to machine metal and even the softer types like brass or aluminum and that's where issues in tolerance and surface finish make those built in issues obvious. And unless your using very tiny end mills the average router speeds are far too high. Chip welding to the cutting tools edges and degradation of the surface finish becomes impossible to deal with because you can't use a proper flood coolant system to prevent it. Lowering the rpm is the only cure.I really know squat about these cnc routers, but if it were me I'd take a close look at littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=1663&category= It's a complete stand alone powered milling head with an R8 spindle taper, that particular taper is one of the most common and cheapest to buy tooling for. It's a longs ways from being very good but it would be good enough. Adapting it to fit your Z axis mounting system is the only minor issue, but even that shouldn't be too tough. It gets the speeds down to where the larger and much more rigid end mills can be used at the lower rpms there designed to be used at. Ultra high rpms for aluminum that industry uses on there high HP and very rigid machines doesn't apply to something in a home shop that wasn't really designed to machine metal. You have to back the rpm, feed rates and depths of cut down to what the machine structure is capable of handling. 1/8" would be really pushing things but might be barely doable (maybe) for an over sized profile cut while allowing enough for a light finish pass to size. That milling head I linked to can do those types of cuts, the rest of your machines rigidity is then what the limits are. Maybe I'm missing something since you didn't show the details. But feeding multiple wires through a closed drag chain should be at most a less than a 10 minute job. Fishing wires through long and impossible to reach areas gets done every day in industry. Straighten out the drag chain, stand it vertical, then tie a weight like a large nut onto string, fishing line or even thin electrical wire.Drop it through the drag chains opening. With that going end to end just tie and tape one end to your bundle of wires and pull them through. Your looking at that CNC4newbie kit from a wood workers perspective. I can assure you no matter how solid you think the rails are, even while milling hard woods then easily measured amounts of deflection on every axis would be showing up if you used a dial indicator to measure it while the machine is working. I can and have measured head movements on my proper heavy duty Bridgeport clone milling machine while machining metal. Nothing is ever 100% rigid because in the real world it's physically impossible to obtain that. And testing by using hand pressure alone doesn't allow you feel the small movements that can and do show up in a parts surface finish. Those machine deflections are always there in greater or lesser amounts depending on the machines design and mass. Yes it looks to be far better than the original X carve design, and even so there's still going to flex under the cutting loads. They may not be enough to make the cuts unacceptable or out of tolerance, but there still present. High cost cnc machining centers will even program there equipment's tested and known deflections out on very close tolerance work to compensate for them. Adding a heavier more rigid milling head may raise other issues with needing larger steppers, heavier and far better ball screws and nut's, beefing up the machines structure, etc, etc, etc. That's a steep and slippery slope towards a black hole. :-)
I just put my Ultimate Upgrade kit together and wired everything up. I cut the original x-carve motor connectors off and connected the new motor wires to the original wires, matching colors. After matching the first three colors I was left with a white wire on the original side and a green on the new side, so I connected them together. My motors are not operating properly. Is this how you wired your set-up?
Hi Dan, I purchased the CNC4NEWBIE complete upgrade for the X-Carve. I have a question regarding the documentation. The X-Carve provided good documentation for assembly, but as you know we both go over 1,000 pieces to put together. The CNC4NEWBIE seem to have a lot of put together. How well do they document the assembly and wiring? I received an email today that my upgrade is shipping today. I live in Niles, Illinois and DHL is showing an ETA 0f 5/11. Thank you much. Reg
The CNC4N machine was extremely easy to assemble....95% of it is done for you...its mainly just mounting everything together and making sure its all square before cutting! The wiring is pretty straight forward as well.
Ive been looking at the 1000mm x-carve but really want this type of setup. If I were to buy this kit what else would I need to make a functional ready to use machine? Thanks in advance for any insight. By the way everything looks great!!
HI Dan, just upgraded my xcarve also. Having trouble setting up the grbl settings cnc4newbie sent me. Hopefully you will see this comment. Need your help.
Have you had any issues with your Dewalt 611? I got my X-carve about 3 weeks ago and I have already burned out my brushes (I hope that is the problem). I ordered some brushes as they are pretty cheap. I have only run about 10 jobs. I had one 5 hour carve, and one 7 hour carve. Everything else was well under an hour.
I ended up swapping out to a spindle later on...but the key to running the dewalt 611 without burning up brushes was to run it at speed level 1...no more...the faster you run the dewalt, the quicker those brushes will take a dump
I am looking at the X Carve 1000 and the OpenBuilds LEAD CNC 1010. Price wise, they are pretty similar, but it looks like you need to upgrade the X Carve to get the same stiffness/accuracy that you would get out of the box with an OpenBuilds LEAD CNC 1010. Am I mistaken?
I owned the openbuilds Lead 1010...while that is also a great machine, the biggest difference between the 2 is the V-Wheel vs Linear Bearings. The linear bearings are MUCH better in terms of dealing with issues on movement. The wheels over time get damaged and need replaced, or can be not tightened properly, resulting in issues with steps, etc.
@@DanCoastie if you had to choose between the OpenBuilds LEAD CNC 1010 and the stock X-Carve 1000, which would you choose? Just from the specs for the base machine, the LEAD CNC 1010 looks like it would a lot more accurate than the X-Carve. When I search on TH-cam I see a number of videos talking about modifications that people make to their X-Carve to make it stiffer, but I haven't seen any comparable videos for the LEAD CNC. However it looks like there is more support for the X-Carve from the company. I've sent emails to both companies, asking questions, and Inventables got back to me within a day and it has been over a week and I still haven't heard back from OpenBuilds.
@@DanCoastie X-carve kits show up for sale on kijiji.ca every so often, for less than what a LEAD CNC would cost (even less than the OpenBuilds black friday sale prices). I almost bought a LEAD CNC when they were on sale, but I sent a number of emails to OpenBuilds and I never got a response. I'll see if I can wait until OpenBuilds boxing day sale (assuming that they have one!). Based on the number of youtube videos, there are a lot of X-Carve's out there.
About got my CNC4NEWBIE machine together but I'm getting hung up on one thing. I have the Makita router and it seems the power cord length is too short to go through both drag chains. Did you have an issue the DeWalt length or am I possibly running it the wrong path? They should both have 8ft cord length.
@@DanCoastie Thanks, I'll have to triple check and make sure its running the correct way. If not, I'll just splice it with a longer cord I guess. Super inconvenient with the drag chains they provide. haha
Hi Dan, my upgrade arrived and a I have watched your video several times to pick up your tips and tricks on assembly. You are correct, the X and Y are so easy to mount. Tomorrow, I’ll mount the Z axis, motors and running wires. My one thought of running wires through the new Y drag chain is running a lead wire through first and have the others attach to the end of the lead wire; then pull them through all at once. I feel like Colombo, I just have one more question... Did you mount the Z-Probe? The X-Carve Z-axis has a hole for it, but I believe the shaft may be too short. I can make connection for it, but was wondering what you did. Thanks again. Reg
@@DanCoastie ive had luck with my stock xcarve and single flute end mills off amazon with my robotics students. Lots of nail biting. Hope to see some videos of pushing this machine. Time to get Fundraising
I just watched your video while I was assembling mine. You helped me a lot. Thanks.. However, Im at a standstill for now?? My wires from my x-carve motors are red, black, green, white. The cnc4newbie wires on their motors are red, black, green, blue. Can you shed a little light on this for me please? Thanks again
I am definitely doing this. Your video is a very helpful tool. Thank you for your service as well. It is much appreciated. One question. How are you using your I O T relays? I bought 3 to have for using around my shop. Just not sure how to use them effectively. Keep up the great work. Subbed also.
What is the overall footprint I have my X-carve in an encloser thats 48''x48"x24". I'm wanting to do this upgrade just not wanting to have to modify my encloser.
I think, your machine is other version of cnc router. We can not see any feature of X-Carve in this machine (except the bed). We can call "Kit for build CNC Router" :D.
Nice explanation. So the kit allows “over travel” on the y-axis. Cool. Did you check squareness with an engineers square. Those red aluminum 90 deg. squares typically are for alignment of square parts as a hold down clamp for dry runs or assemblage? Not necessarily for calibration and alignment check. You’re a New Yorker?! (Westchester)
I'm trying to work out the relationship links between CNC4NEWBIES, X-Carve, NEW Carve, V-Carve etc. Is Newbies selling a complete CNC solution or you buy the CNC & get Newbies products to upgrade ??
So originally the xcarve was the way to go. Down the road came cnc4newbie, making a ton of awesome upgrades Z axis for the xcarve and other hobby level machines. They finally came out with their own machines which are price wise excellent for the money. You are able to buy an entire machine from them directly with a demon controller...I think the only thing not included in their setups is the spindle which you can buy on your own and setup
I have the X-Carve 1000mm NEMA 23 Stepper Motor Kit - 30570-02. Will these motors be sufficient or should I order the 269oz-in stepper motors from cnc4newbie when I order the Ultimate Kit from CNC4Newbie ? Thank you.
I'm a little bit nervous doing so because my wires on my Motors are different color than the wires on cnc4newbie Motors? Any ideas on that would be greatly appreciated. Also, thank you for your great service to the public.
Im sold. Great video. But I do have a couple questions... 1. Does this kit work with the X-Controller? 2. What software do you use? 3. Can you do a video on your laser set up?
SonofGod82 it works with the xcontroller. That’s how mine is currently setup. I use vcarve pro for the design work and universal g code sender or picsender to send the gcode to the machine. I can absolutely do a video showing the laser setup
Thanks for the video and great explanation. Do I understand you correctly. I would need to buy the $2300 X Carve (1000mm version) and then spend another $1000 or more for the ultimate upgrade kit? Thanks, Gary
D C Really! I am planning on ordering a x carve next week. Does theirs come with everything like the x carve does? Where do they fall on price? I had never heard of them until the day before yesterday. The two I’ve heard of is x carve and shapeoko.
nice, i haver similar machine, diy made. cost all aluminium profile and rails etc, less than 1000$ next you can upgrade machine ballscews and real better silent spindle.
Well regardless ofhow much u spent...one fact is that you have a very nice built home cnc machine now...its how a cnc machine should be designed....inventables should look and learn......
Dan you’re a savage! So let me get this straight, this upgrade requires that one first purchase the X-Carve in its entirety BEFORE you can get this amazing upgrade? Or can one a la carts components from X-carve and add that to the upgrade? Keep up the great videos! A+
Im looking to get a cnc and have been looking at the xcarve but basically all the reasons you went with this upgrade are my concerns. you say to go with the kit, but i am a little intimidated with having to figure out the controller and wiring. do you know of where i can get all the electronics as a kit?
Yep i agree the newcarve and millrigh mega v are both top of the class in this diy kit size format..and price range...sadly the xcarve is so inferior that noone with any common sense at all should be buying one today...i slso like the newcarve 4545....hey did u get the cncnewbie kit for free for the review?...they have given many free kits for reviews.
Great video, Dan! I ordered the full machine from them a couple weeks ago and am still waiting on it to arrive. What are the dimensions of the entire machine (fully assembled with motors, drag chain, etc.)? I want to make my table for it before it comes, but am having a hard time finding exact dimensions. I will likely build a little oversized, but want to know where to start. Thanks in advance!
@@DanCoastie I have no clue about putting any of this together. I wish I had your knowledge to be able to do this. I guess I need to spend time researching and figuring out how to add the demon instead of using x-carve.
Hey whats ur email...got a question for you about the old junkcarve.. You have any of the the old xcarve parts such as the z axis upgrade or x axis rail maker slide?
@@DanCoastie That's what I gathered. It's really hard to see the justification for such an upgrade as there are wooden and 3d printed CNCs that are rigid enough to cut wood.
@@bernardtarver yes but with this, i dont get any chatter, no skipped steps, and perfect cuts...the X-carve at the end of the day is not good...this is a great upgrade if you are cutting a lot of hardwoods which I am...
I can't BELIEVE they went with a different Drag Chain ! It would have been SO much cheaper to print a block that would interface with the existing Drag Chain...Duh...
@@DanCoastie you are not better than inventables...inventables xcarve pro is the best cnc for 12k period...per mr inventable. And msny xcarve brainwashed chronies agree....note l now like the bulkman 3d queenbee pro 1500x1500...$2200 shipped...one neg is it has undersized 8mm screw drive.....otherwise its a great value machine and decent build.
Thats a beatiful machine yep i agree cnc4newbie incredible but damn u basically paid 5k for that machine..thats ridiculous. The millright mega v is only 1900$ out of the box lol...you should have sold the junkcarve and just bought a cnc4newbie complete newcarve.$2500....that makes more sense to me...ah you got a lead 1010.. I want to buy a workbee 1515 knockoff only 1500$...is xcarve going to refund you $2000?...actually i wouldnt doubt you got the cnc4newbie upgrade for free for doing the review :).. Now thats smart.
L W I used the xcarve for a long while and then got this upgrade after having paid off the xcarve several times over. It all worked out. This also didn’t exist when I bought the xcarve
Fyi to everyone..do not buy an xcarve...its junk and a waste of money...you can now buy a complete cnc4newbie newcarve for 2500$....which as this guy shows is awesome...unfort when he bought this the full newcarve machine was not available... Or look at the millright mega v which is 600$ cheaper and a very nice machine and a bit bigger.
yes total cost of xcarve ans the kit is ridiculous.i would skip the xcarve and just buy the kit and then buy the controller etc.....xcarve is a POS anyways..junk.....the kit is nice but its a waste to buy the xcarve and the kit in my opinion..since you are buying the scarve and tossing out in trash most of it anyways when you buy the kit..fyi zenbot 4x8 is a nice machine and its about $4000 ....
der ddd I agree. Have to remember i had the Xcarve for over a year already prior. I wouldn’t buy both. Just go right for the cnc4newbie kit and add a demon controller or openbuilds blackbox controller.
first importat have change spindle lot better, router have worst spindle what have, lot better and cheapen have real spindle, 800W ER16 DC 100 volt spidle have strongest and guiet than router, or little more duiet water cooler 1,5KW spindle whit VDF. 800W cost less than 200$ and 1,5KW cost abut 400 whit VDF speed controller, the can adjust speed lot better bit cut chip not make dust. and lot lot silent than worst router.
Yes i understand but i can make thousands of dollars with a hammer doesnt mean buying a hammer for $500 makes sense when you can buy a hammer for $20 that does same thing....your machine looks great and if u have unlimited pockets go,for it....its not for everyone....for that kind of money you can get a very nice 4ft x 8 ft machine that would be much better......i love it though.....just not for me....too much involved...for such a small cnc.....too costly as compared to other options
what do you mean by "that kind of money" like the ~$1500 for the kit or the ~$3000 for the X-carve plus kit plus extras? what sorts of 4x8 machines would you recommend?
Dude, get over it. You can buy the components you need separately from Inventables - like the X controller and baseboard components, wiring, etc. and then use complete assemblies from TBDCNC or CNC4newbies and pay just a few hundred more than a new X-carve and have a far superior machine. If you starting from new you do NOT to buy and through away most of a new X-carve.
fyi im sorry but i just dont like hearing "i made thousands of dollars" as a reason that an items price makes sense...thats not why you make purchases..you make purchses based on the value of the components of the machine..not what the machine can do..like i said i can makes thouasands from a hammer doesnt mean a hammer should cost $500...inventables cant sell bases on the quality of the machine since the design sucks and its a pos so they their sales tactics are basically what you can make with it....lol.....any cnc machine can make what an xcarve can make lol....i just think its funny..they never say how good the machine is..becasue it isnt..its a joke for a $1700 cnc machine......belts....plastic v wheels....cheap thin framing...horrible z axis design....too much flex and very cheap underpowered electronics and motors.....etc etc etc....
der ddd the xcarve definitely was a good starting machine but I was happy to get rid of it. I’ll never tell anyone to buy an xcarve. It’s junk compared to some of the newer stuff on the market
Now i may agree with the cncnewbie kit and make your own cnc machine...but where i dont agree is buying a xcarve for 1800$ and then spend another $1800 on the kit that replaces 90% of the xcarve.....thats just plain wasteful and costly....thats all im saying.....i do think the build looks great and is how the xcarve ahould be made....the xcarve machine is a pos ..tinker toy....flimsy.....horiible,deaign,with vwheels....belts.....limited z....weak stepper motors....non robust framing...thin metal ....ridiculous crappy z axis design that flexes about 1/4 inch....etc etc....but ur machine is a machine not a tinker toy now....very nice....and you are right dont buy the xcarve...just buy the cncnewbie kit and then buy ur own motors,and controller for another few hundred and be 50x better than the xcarve at about same price as xcarve or a bit more...:)
Man, that is a behemoth. Watching this in 2020. Great video. Thank you for your service.
Thanks for watching!
Dan - I just got my ultimate kit for the 1000 mm XCarve too. It's a thing of beauty. DOn't know if they made a change since you got yours, but my drag chain DOES pop open. Thanks for this video. It's helping a lot! Cheers!
That’s fantastic. I know we had discussed changing that…I’m happy that they did!
Quick question, how much was that kit ?
@@juansalgado6212 I bought all the optional items. Right around $1,700. Worth every damn penny!
Firstly, thank you for your service! Fantastic video, getting ready to start my upgrade, can't wait to get this thing built.
Enjoy the build. It’s fun
Great review and video, but first thank you for your service in law in forcemeat I know as of today it is a thankless job, so again thank you. I was looking into get one of these machine not knowing what to buy and YOU and YOUR video have helped me. Thank you very much and stay safe.
Thank you so much for responding! Thank you for watching!! I appreciate you very much for the kind words towards my profession!
I have the X-Carve as well. I am looking to upgrade to the same system. I appreciate the video and your honest report.
You won't go wrong...its been the best upgrade for the X-Carve!!
Those are solid plates and upgrades..
Hi Dave, I just upgraded my X-carve with the CNC4NEWBIES upgrade kit. I noticed that you used your XController, would you be willing to show me the back of yours and how you set it up?
Ok okay I get it. Obviously some folks just don’t understand what a newbie can afford.. After all the guy a firefighter by choice. He may not be a cop or a school teacher but I sure respect his ability to fight fires and rescue folks in trouble. His ability to put out very informative videos is great by my standards. You very experienced nay sayers please show me your videos. Enough said.
wow very very nice beginner unit, tempted to purchase this kit myself as I'm in the process of redesigning my 1yr old home built cnc, only thing stopping me is I have alittle invested in nice linear rails and ball screws or maybe I ought to take note of a couple ideas here and implement it into my own machine.
Just got my upgrade today and I am happy to say that it now includes the drag chain with the doors.
One thing I couldn't find was any instructions on doing the upgrade. I looks pretty straight forward but I don't like being sold a kit and being told to figure it out yourself on how to assemble it.
It really was a super easy build without any instructions. Most of the assembly was done prior. Good luck and enjoy it
Awesome video man. Had no idea you could beef up an Xcarve this much. Thank you for your service. Stay safe!
Thank you!
well my friend you convince me I m going to buy that thing as my first cnc. Thank you for all the comments and your experiences.
Take care of yourself as a policemen and try to relax on your cnc jobs.
from a french canadien bye
Would you recommend anything else?
Bought this kit based off your video. I am having issues with wiring I believe. I was wondering if I could get a picture of how your wiring looks going into the x-controller specifically? I have paired all wire colors black to black, green to green, red to red, and white to blue. Looking for how the are ordered going into the controller.
send me an email...Danny.L.Clemente@gmail.com....see if i can help you out
Coudnlt you use an electrician fishing tape and connect the wires and pull the bundle through the drag chain? Or does the fun happen once it’s installed onto the gantry causing a 180 dg. turn?
how dose it do on death of cut,
this is a great review, I look forward to more videos on this as I'm really thinking about doing this, I can't take it anymore with how flimsy my x-carve is (I use a Haas at work so its spoiled me to no end, so I keep pushing my x-carve too hard haha).
Thank you for your service
Much appreciated!
Where did you find the wiring diagram from the new stepper motors to the xcarve controller?
It was quite self explanatory for the most part. The back of the xcontroller has each label per motor. I’d have to snap a photo for you and send it to your email. Send me your email address
Thank you.. Lquinones1964@live.com
Do they have any mounting options for 1/2" routers or spindles?
How did you square it? I didn't see any measurement tools or anything.
BTW... I am not asking to "sharp-shoot" you or anything. I am pretty new to all of the crafting/woodworking and other stuff. I didn't even know how to use measuring tape until the Army taught me... So, let's just say that I have asked enough "low level questions" to know that sometimes when i'm asking for help, some people may think that I am being condescending or sarcastic, while (like now), I am truly only asking for guidance.... I am pretty interested in this thing, and unlike my nearly unused x-carve, i'd actually trust this thing to be reliable & sturday.
P.S. - Are there any mounts for routers with 1/2" spindles or anything?
Great upgrade sir!
graveur graveur thank you!
Fyi since you did all that nice upgrades....you need to dump the crappy dewalt and upgrade to either a porter cable 892 or a vfd motor...thendewalt sucks...the rpms way way too high and limited to 1/4 tooling...porter cable can accept 1/2 inch and 2x more powerful and starts at 10k rpm instead of 16k.....and get larger stepper motors...the xcarve 169oz are weak junk...you need nema 23 480oz steppers much better... Dont get me wrong....i actually lve your machine...its got me thinking of buying the kit from cncnewbie and then make my own controller and steppers etc....
Dump the xcarve is the best statement you made...
To start " Thank you for your serve " and great video. Now I did the same upgrade but I am having problems with the x controller accepting some of the GRBL'S .Did you have any problems?
Thank you...What kind of problems are you having?
How much was the up grade
If you go to their website, there are multiple options to choose from for the upgrade. www.cnc4newbie.com
Nice build. Can you tell me if you had to do any tramming or did it come perfectly perpendicular to the wasteboard.
johntheripper it was pretty well setup after I finished but still always test everything
Does this beef it up enough to mill aluminum ?
Jonathan M yes. It’s extremely rigid and can with the right feeds and speeds mill aluminum
Thanks for the quick response!! Great vid. Might invest in this.
Jonathan M it’s an investment you won’t regret. It’s made me a ton of $$ with product I sell
What did you do with all the old x-carve parts do you want to get rid of them
grind it custom graphics sold them
Have you considered upgrading to the larger dewalt motor. How does it do on aluminum. The original x-carve recommended a 2 thousands step down and carve time are crazy long. Can you cut say 1/8 inch.
Alex Wolford I’ve considered upgrading to an actual spindle instead of a router since I know it would handle it well. I haven’t pushed it hard yet but am planning on trying aluminum here shortly. I also haven’t tried depths that deep yet lol. I run slightly conservatively
@@DanCoastie An interesting video. My hobby has been mostly metal machining for almost 40 years. To be honest router type motors ALL have absolute crap spindle bearings and a far less than rigid spindle design in them including the best routers on the market. To get the same rpms and far better bearings with the spindle rigidity design that goes with them you'd need to move up to the higher end and usually 3 ph VFD controlled industrial rated round body milling motors and priced at $2k plus. The usual standard router motors are obviously workable for most hand operated and router table mounted tasks in wood. Start trying to machine metal and even the softer types like brass or aluminum and that's where issues in tolerance and surface finish make those built in issues obvious. And unless your using very tiny end mills the average router speeds are far too high. Chip welding to the cutting tools edges and degradation of the surface finish becomes impossible to deal with because you can't use a proper flood coolant system to prevent it. Lowering the rpm is the only cure.I really know squat about these cnc routers, but if it were me I'd take a close look at littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=1663&category=
It's a complete stand alone powered milling head with an R8 spindle taper, that particular taper is one of the most common and cheapest to buy tooling for. It's a longs ways from being very good but it would be good enough. Adapting it to fit your Z axis mounting system is the only minor issue, but even that shouldn't be too tough. It gets the speeds down to where the larger and much more rigid end mills can be used at the lower rpms there designed to be used at. Ultra high rpms for aluminum that industry uses on there high HP and very rigid machines doesn't apply to something in a home shop that wasn't really designed to machine metal. You have to back the rpm, feed rates and depths of cut down to what the machine structure is capable of handling. 1/8" would be really pushing things but might be barely doable (maybe) for an over sized profile cut while allowing enough for a light finish pass to size. That milling head I linked to can do those types of cuts, the rest of your machines rigidity is then what the limits are.
Maybe I'm missing something since you didn't show the details. But feeding multiple wires through a closed drag chain should be at most a less than a 10 minute job. Fishing wires through long and impossible to reach areas gets done every day in industry. Straighten out the drag chain, stand it vertical, then tie a weight like a large nut onto string, fishing line or even thin electrical wire.Drop it through the drag chains opening. With that going end to end just tie and tape one end to your bundle of wires and pull them through.
Your looking at that CNC4newbie kit from a wood workers perspective. I can assure you no matter how solid you think the rails are, even while milling hard woods then easily measured amounts of deflection on every axis would be showing up if you used a dial indicator to measure it while the machine is working. I can and have measured head movements on my proper heavy duty Bridgeport clone milling machine while machining metal. Nothing is ever 100% rigid because in the real world it's physically impossible to obtain that. And testing by using hand pressure alone doesn't allow you feel the small movements that can and do show up in a parts surface finish. Those machine deflections are always there in greater or lesser amounts depending on the machines design and mass. Yes it looks to be far better than the original X carve design, and even so there's still going to flex under the cutting loads. They may not be enough to make the cuts unacceptable or out of tolerance, but there still present. High cost cnc machining centers will even program there equipment's tested and known deflections out on very close tolerance work to compensate for them. Adding a heavier more rigid milling head may raise other issues with needing larger steppers, heavier and far better ball screws and nut's, beefing up the machines structure, etc, etc, etc. That's a steep and slippery slope towards a black hole. :-)
I just put my Ultimate Upgrade kit together and wired everything up. I cut the original x-carve motor connectors off and connected the new motor wires to the original wires, matching colors. After matching the first three colors I was left with a white wire on the original side and a green on the new side, so I connected them together. My motors are not operating properly. Is this how you wired your set-up?
Hi Dan, I purchased the CNC4NEWBIE complete upgrade for the X-Carve. I have a question regarding the documentation. The X-Carve provided good documentation for assembly, but as you know we both go over 1,000 pieces to put together. The CNC4NEWBIE seem to have a lot of put together. How well do they document the assembly and wiring? I received an email today that my upgrade is shipping today. I live in Niles, Illinois and DHL is showing an ETA 0f 5/11. Thank you much. Reg
The CNC4N machine was extremely easy to assemble....95% of it is done for you...its mainly just mounting everything together and making sure its all square before cutting! The wiring is pretty straight forward as well.
Thank you.
I'm wanting to up grad my x-carve where did you get the upgrade
check out www.cnc4newbie.com
Ive been looking at the 1000mm x-carve but really want this type of setup. If I were to buy this kit what else would I need to make a functional ready to use machine? Thanks in advance for any insight. By the way everything looks great!!
How did you wire up the iot relays?
HI Dan, just upgraded my xcarve also. Having trouble setting up the grbl settings cnc4newbie sent me. Hopefully you will see this comment. Need your help.
Have you had any issues with your Dewalt 611? I got my X-carve about 3 weeks ago and I have already burned out my brushes (I hope that is the problem). I ordered some brushes as they are pretty cheap. I have only run about 10 jobs. I had one 5 hour carve, and one 7 hour carve. Everything else was well under an hour.
I ended up swapping out to a spindle later on...but the key to running the dewalt 611 without burning up brushes was to run it at speed level 1...no more...the faster you run the dewalt, the quicker those brushes will take a dump
Hey, did you make your dustboot/ was it complicated to mount an older dustboot onto this upgrade?
My current dustboot is a KentCNC...I have another video showing a review of it...its a great boot!
I am looking at the X Carve 1000 and the OpenBuilds LEAD CNC 1010. Price wise, they are pretty similar, but it looks like you need to upgrade the X Carve to get the same stiffness/accuracy that you would get out of the box with an OpenBuilds LEAD CNC 1010. Am I mistaken?
I owned the openbuilds Lead 1010...while that is also a great machine, the biggest difference between the 2 is the V-Wheel vs Linear Bearings. The linear bearings are MUCH better in terms of dealing with issues on movement. The wheels over time get damaged and need replaced, or can be not tightened properly, resulting in issues with steps, etc.
@@DanCoastie if you had to choose between the OpenBuilds LEAD CNC 1010 and the stock X-Carve 1000, which would you choose? Just from the specs for the base machine, the LEAD CNC 1010 looks like it would a lot more accurate than the X-Carve. When I search on TH-cam I see a number of videos talking about modifications that people make to their X-Carve to make it stiffer, but I haven't seen any comparable videos for the LEAD CNC. However it looks like there is more support for the X-Carve from the company. I've sent emails to both companies, asking questions, and Inventables got back to me within a day and it has been over a week and I still haven't heard back from OpenBuilds.
Fred Walter If i has to choose between just those two, the lead would win 10/10 times. It’s the better of the 2 machines
@@DanCoastie X-carve kits show up for sale on kijiji.ca every so often, for less than what a LEAD CNC would cost (even less than the OpenBuilds black friday sale prices). I almost bought a LEAD CNC when they were on sale, but I sent a number of emails to OpenBuilds and I never got a response. I'll see if I can wait until OpenBuilds boxing day sale (assuming that they have one!). Based on the number of youtube videos, there are a lot of X-Carve's out there.
Did it come with newer stronger little nuts that slide into the from?
AnthonyFitzgerald55 not sure I follow what you’re asking
You know the little nuts that slide in the frame? Did it come with newer stronger ones of those...the originals were kinda weak
AnthonyFitzgerald55 yes I believe it had some in the kit.
What dust boot do you recomend?
Mr. Jene Johnson KentCNC...check my other videos as I did a full review of it!
About got my CNC4NEWBIE machine together but I'm getting hung up on one thing. I have the Makita router and it seems the power cord length is too short to go through both drag chains. Did you have an issue the DeWalt length or am I possibly running it the wrong path? They should both have 8ft cord length.
Jaycen Herndon I was able to route it thru both chains using the DeWalt
@@DanCoastie Thanks, I'll have to triple check and make sure its running the correct way. If not, I'll just splice it with a longer cord I guess. Super inconvenient with the drag chains they provide. haha
Jaycen Herndon I did have to take apart the cord to get it to fit in the actual chain. Drove me nuts
You mentioned 3D printing with "Fusion"... What is "Fusion"?
Great job Dan. My upgrade is on the way. Did you ever find the need to change your microstep settings to 1/16 from 1/8?
I never changed the microstep...I kept it the way it was from the X-Carve
which model is this one?
Hi Dan, my upgrade arrived and a I have watched your video several times to pick up your tips and tricks on assembly. You are correct, the X and Y are so easy to mount. Tomorrow, I’ll mount the Z axis, motors and running wires. My one thought of running wires through the new Y drag chain is running a lead wire through first and have the others attach to the end of the lead wire; then pull them through all at once.
I feel like Colombo, I just have one more question... Did you mount the Z-Probe? The X-Carve Z-axis has a hole for it, but I believe the shaft may be too short. I can make connection for it, but was wondering what you did. Thanks again. Reg
Awesome machine! Have you tired to cut aluminum with it?
Tim Mallard not yet but I’m sure it could handle amazingly
@@DanCoastie ive had luck with my stock xcarve and single flute end mills off amazon with my robotics students. Lots of nail biting. Hope to see some videos of pushing this machine. Time to get Fundraising
Tim Mallard this updated “xcarve” is a beast. It’s amazing to watch. It never stalls or skips steps. It’s so precise. It’s made me thousands
I just watched your video while I was assembling mine. You helped me a lot. Thanks.. However, Im at a standstill for now?? My wires from my x-carve motors are red, black, green, white. The cnc4newbie wires on their motors are red, black, green, blue. Can you shed a little light on this for me please? Thanks again
watch paw paw workshop
Could a person order that upgrade kit, buy the stepper motors and control box? That way you are skipping the purchase of the original machine.
I am definitely doing this. Your video is a very helpful tool. Thank you for your service as well. It is much appreciated. One question. How are you using your I O T relays? I bought 3 to have for using around my shop. Just not sure how to use them effectively. Keep up the great work. Subbed also.
What are you going to do with the current risers?
Skip Evans I sold the xcarve ones a few days after I built this
X carve VS shapoeko for aluminum, which one is better?
MICHAEL neither...get a cnc4newbie machine and buy a demon controller to control all its input
What is the overall footprint I have my X-carve in an encloser thats 48''x48"x24". I'm wanting to do this upgrade just not wanting to have to modify my encloser.
I think, your machine is other version of cnc router. We can not see any feature of X-Carve in this machine (except the bed). We can call "Kit for build CNC Router" :D.
Can you still utilize the X-Carve dust boot? If not, what have you found that works best?
I bought the KentCNC Dust Boot which works perfect for the DeWalt Router
Nice explanation. So the kit allows “over travel” on the y-axis. Cool. Did you check squareness with an engineers square. Those red aluminum 90 deg. squares typically are for alignment of square parts as a hold down clamp for dry runs or assemblage? Not necessarily for calibration and alignment check. You’re a New Yorker?! (Westchester)
I'm THIS CLOSE || to doubling up my investment.
I like your reminder signs on the wall.
I'm trying to work out the relationship links between CNC4NEWBIES, X-Carve, NEW Carve, V-Carve etc. Is Newbies selling a complete CNC solution or you buy the CNC & get Newbies products to upgrade ??
So originally the xcarve was the way to go. Down the road came cnc4newbie, making a ton of awesome upgrades Z axis for the xcarve and other hobby level machines. They finally came out with their own machines which are price wise excellent for the money. You are able to buy an entire machine from them directly with a demon controller...I think the only thing not included in their setups is the spindle which you can buy on your own and setup
I have the X-Carve 1000mm NEMA 23 Stepper Motor Kit - 30570-02. Will these motors be sufficient or should I order the 269oz-in stepper motors from cnc4newbie when I order the Ultimate Kit from CNC4Newbie ?
Thank you.
Mr. Jene Johnson I would highly recommend the 269oz due to the increased torque, holding power
I'm a little bit nervous doing so because my wires on my Motors are different color than the wires on cnc4newbie Motors? Any ideas on that would be greatly appreciated. Also, thank you for your great service to the public.
Mr. Jene Johnson don’t be. You just need to find the correct pairs of wires. There are plenty of videos online about this
@@DanCoastie Thank you for getting back to me in such a timely manner. Please steer me towards the wiring videos. I am ready to order.
Mr. Jene Johnson th-cam.com/video/GgfgWU0bpHk/w-d-xo.html
Just ordered mine last week. What z probe was that on your table?
Michael Hurst I use a z probe called the triquetra touch plate
Why two IOT switches? Can one switch not run the router and a vaccum?
I run two so I can avoid possibly exceeding the max amperage of each relay.
Im sold. Great video. But I do have a couple questions...
1. Does this kit work with the X-Controller?
2. What software do you use?
3. Can you do a video on your laser set up?
SonofGod82 it works with the xcontroller. That’s how mine is currently setup. I use vcarve pro for the design work and universal g code sender or picsender to send the gcode to the machine. I can absolutely do a video showing the laser setup
Thanks for the video and great explanation. Do I understand you correctly. I would need to buy the $2300 X Carve (1000mm version) and then spend another $1000 or more for the ultimate upgrade kit?
Thanks,
Gary
Handcrafted Workshop this video was made before cnc4newbies started selling their own kits. They have full kits with everything ready to go!
D C oh. I wonder how the compare to x carve ?
Handcrafted Workshop their machines far exceed anything from inventables. I would never buy an xcarve at this point
D C Really! I am planning on ordering a x carve next week. Does theirs come with everything like the x carve does? Where do they fall on price? I had never heard of them until the day before yesterday. The two I’ve heard of is x carve and shapeoko.
Handcrafted Workshop do not waste your $$. Buy a Cnc4newbie machine. Check out their website listed in my description
Can you do a video on everything you need to make a laser work on the x-carve?
Sure...but it wont be for a few days...im quite busy with projects and work
@@DanCoastie Thank you! Been having a hard time finding good info on what and where to buy the parts. Really appreciate it!
SonofGod82 if i forget in a few days, reach out to me again. This is an extremely busy week at work for me so I may forget lol
nice, i haver similar machine, diy made. cost all aluminium profile and rails etc, less than 1000$ next you can upgrade machine ballscews and real better silent spindle.
Well regardless ofhow much u spent...one fact is that you have a very nice built home cnc machine now...its how a cnc machine should be designed....inventables should look and learn......
Dan you’re a savage! So let me get this straight, this upgrade requires that one first purchase the X-Carve in its entirety BEFORE you can get this amazing upgrade? Or can one a la carts components from X-carve and add that to the upgrade? Keep up the great videos! A+
peter pacheco you can buy their other kits without needing to buy an xcarve
Im looking to get a cnc and have been looking at the xcarve but basically all the reasons you went with this upgrade are my concerns. you say to go with the kit, but i am a little intimidated with having to figure out the controller and wiring. do you know of where i can get all the electronics as a kit?
Ron Tallinger the electronics can be simplified by buying a blackbox from openbuilds!
@@DanCoastie what about the motors and wiring?
Yep i agree the newcarve and millrigh mega v are both top of the class in this diy kit size format..and price range...sadly the xcarve is so inferior that noone with any common sense at all should be buying one today...i slso like the newcarve 4545....hey did u get the cncnewbie kit for free for the review?...they have given many free kits for reviews.
Nice! How long do you think it took to complete this upgrade?
few days in my spare time...you can probably do it in an afternoon if you're committed!
At this point is it really still an Xcarve?
James Bussing everything is different but the base frame
Great video, Dan! I ordered the full machine from them a couple weeks ago and am still waiting on it to arrive. What are the dimensions of the entire machine (fully assembled with motors, drag chain, etc.)? I want to make my table for it before it comes, but am having a hard time finding exact dimensions. I will likely build a little oversized, but want to know where to start. Thanks in advance!
Jaycen Herndon i will be back home in my shop Wednesday to measure for you!
@@DanCoastie I appreciate it, man!
@@DanCoastie, any update? I understand if things got busy.
Jaycen Herndon just got home today! Will check tonight for you
Jaycen Herndon machine footprint is 45x44!
It sounds very quiet !
Is this supplied by x carve or third party
Andrew Jackson a company called cnc4newbie
and it cost how much Canadian ?
Joy LaSaga it comes from Canada so that I assume would help. I’m not 100% sure of the conversion. I can message them for you
So do you not recommend buying X-Carve?
I would have 2-3 years ago but not anymore...cnc4Newbie is the way to go!
@@DanCoastie I have no clue about putting any of this together. I wish I had your knowledge to be able to do this. I guess I need to spend time researching and figuring out how to add the demon instead of using x-carve.
Nice
Hey whats ur email...got a question for you about the old junkcarve..
You have any of the the old xcarve parts such as the z axis upgrade or x axis rail maker slide?
Are you still happy with this?
It’s help me make many orders. I love it
It's not even really an X-Carve anymore. I think everything was replaced except the electronics and the main extrusion that makes the base.
Michael Spano the only thing left from the xcarve is the frame at this point
With a $1k upgrade, you should be able to demonstrate its ability to cut metal.
Bernard Tarver I don’t typically cut metal. I do almost all wood as I sell mainly wood products
@@DanCoastie That's what I gathered. It's really hard to see the justification for such an upgrade as there are wooden and 3d printed CNCs that are rigid enough to cut wood.
@@bernardtarver yes but with this, i dont get any chatter, no skipped steps, and perfect cuts...the X-carve at the end of the day is not good...this is a great upgrade if you are cutting a lot of hardwoods which I am...
It’s good
I can't BELIEVE they went with a different Drag Chain ! It would have been SO much cheaper to print a block that would interface with the existing Drag Chain...Duh...
PLUS.. make your customers happier...
Wadupdoh..are you buying the new xcarve pro? Its only $11,000
haha absoutley not!!
Why not?
@@shelby50411 why would I spend 11k on an item like that when I have a machine that is better designed at a much better cost?
@@DanCoastie you are not better than inventables...inventables xcarve pro is the best cnc for 12k period...per mr inventable. And msny xcarve brainwashed chronies agree....note l now like the bulkman 3d queenbee pro 1500x1500...$2200 shipped...one neg is it has undersized 8mm screw drive.....otherwise its a great value machine and decent build.
Now you can't say it's a x carve😁😁😁😂.
Rajiv kumar it’s like a mutant xcarve lol
Go buy the millright mega v ...much much much better mschine and lower cost choice no costly upgrades needed
Thats a beatiful machine yep i agree cnc4newbie incredible but damn u basically paid 5k for that machine..thats ridiculous.
The millright mega v is only 1900$ out of the box lol...you should have sold the junkcarve and just bought a cnc4newbie complete newcarve.$2500....that makes more sense to me...ah you got a lead 1010..
I want to buy a workbee 1515 knockoff only 1500$...is xcarve going to refund you $2000?...actually i wouldnt doubt you got the cnc4newbie upgrade for free for doing the review :)..
Now thats smart.
L W I used the xcarve for a long while and then got this upgrade after having paid off the xcarve several times over. It all worked out. This also didn’t exist when I bought the xcarve
This isn't even an "upgrade" for the x carve....it's a completely different machine which just happens to use some of your old parts. Sorry but fact.
No one ever denied your fact...so not sure why you’re sorry...
Fyi to everyone..do not buy an xcarve...its junk and a waste of money...you can now buy a complete cnc4newbie newcarve for 2500$....which as this guy shows is awesome...unfort when he bought this the full newcarve machine was not available...
Or look at the millright mega v which is 600$ cheaper and a very nice machine and a bit bigger.
FYI the mega v is cheaper because it use cheap V wheels instead of linear bearings like the newbie machine.
it's not a kit if it costs more than the actual xcarve like hardware :D
Very nice but damn all the money you have spent in past year on the machine..thats a lot of money ..thousands and thousands of dollars
der ddd I’ve made thousands and thousand of dollars in income from the projects I’ve made using these machines
yes total cost of xcarve ans the kit is ridiculous.i would skip the xcarve and just buy the kit and then buy the controller etc.....xcarve is a POS anyways..junk.....the kit is nice but its a waste to buy the xcarve and the kit in my opinion..since you are buying the scarve and tossing out in trash most of it anyways when you buy the kit..fyi zenbot 4x8 is a nice machine and its about $4000 ....
der ddd I agree. Have to remember i had the Xcarve for over a year already prior. I wouldn’t buy both. Just go right for the cnc4newbie kit and add a demon controller or openbuilds blackbox controller.
first importat have change spindle lot better, router have worst spindle what have, lot better and cheapen have real spindle, 800W ER16 DC 100 volt spidle have strongest and guiet than router, or little more duiet water cooler 1,5KW spindle whit VDF. 800W cost less than 200$ and 1,5KW cost abut 400 whit VDF speed controller, the can adjust speed lot better bit cut chip not make dust. and lot lot silent than worst router.
Yes i understand but i can make thousands of dollars with a hammer doesnt mean buying a hammer for $500 makes sense when you can buy a hammer for $20 that does same thing....your machine looks great and if u have unlimited pockets go,for it....its not for everyone....for that kind of money you can get a very nice 4ft x 8 ft machine that would be much better......i love it though.....just not for me....too much involved...for such a small cnc.....too costly as compared to other options
what do you mean by "that kind of money" like the ~$1500 for the kit or the ~$3000 for the X-carve plus kit plus extras? what sorts of 4x8 machines would you recommend?
Dude, get over it. You can buy the components you need separately from Inventables - like the X controller and baseboard components, wiring, etc. and then use complete assemblies from TBDCNC or CNC4newbies and pay just a few hundred more than a new X-carve and have a far superior machine. If you starting from new you do NOT to buy and through away most of a new X-carve.
Lol, there is no xcarve left!
phoenixamaranth and that’s a good thing lol
@@DanCoastie Probably so! Since I've had mine, I've found myself modding way more than I ever intended trying to overcome its design flaws.
phoenixamaranth since this update I’ve had to do nothing to my machine. It is solid
fyi im sorry but i just dont like hearing "i made thousands of dollars" as a reason that an items price makes sense...thats not why you make purchases..you make purchses based on the value of the components of the machine..not what the machine can do..like i said i can makes thouasands from a hammer doesnt mean a hammer should cost $500...inventables cant sell bases on the quality of the machine since the design sucks and its a pos so they their sales tactics are basically what you can make with it....lol.....any cnc machine can make what an xcarve can make lol....i just think its funny..they never say how good the machine is..becasue it isnt..its a joke for a $1700 cnc machine......belts....plastic v wheels....cheap thin framing...horrible z axis design....too much flex and very cheap underpowered electronics and motors.....etc etc etc....
der ddd the xcarve definitely was a good starting machine but I was happy to get rid of it. I’ll never tell anyone to buy an xcarve. It’s junk compared to some of the newer stuff on the market
Now i may agree with the cncnewbie kit and make your own cnc machine...but where i dont agree is buying a xcarve for 1800$ and then spend another $1800 on the kit that replaces 90% of the xcarve.....thats just plain wasteful and costly....thats all im saying.....i do think the build looks great and is how the xcarve ahould be made....the xcarve machine is a pos ..tinker toy....flimsy.....horiible,deaign,with vwheels....belts.....limited z....weak stepper motors....non robust framing...thin metal ....ridiculous crappy z axis design that flexes about 1/4 inch....etc etc....but ur machine is a machine not a tinker toy now....very nice....and you are right dont buy the xcarve...just buy the cncnewbie kit and then buy ur own motors,and controller for another few hundred and be 50x better than the xcarve at about same price as xcarve or a bit more...:)
Could a person order that upgrade kit, buy the stepper motors and control box? That way you are skipping the purchase of the original machine.