Power Tools Reviews
CarveWright N01 Woodworking System
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 An excelent value, but know what you're getting. I've had the sears craftsman version of the carvewright machine (compucarve) for almost a year now. It's identical to the carvewright except for come cosmetic differences. Early versions of both machines had numerous manufacturing problems. The sensor that detects whether the door is open would fail in the open position making the machine stop working. There was also a problem with the board sensor failing from time to time. The machine detects distance from the board by shining an IR light, then reading the intensity of the light bouncing back. When the sensor works, it works great. Some people reported the sensor filling up with sawdust. While others just failed for no reason. I had both of these problems. Other people reported a problem with the flex shaft overheating. Mine didn't have this problem. When mine failed, I sent it back to them for a series of standard fixes designed to correct my problems and prevent the other common ones. The machine has worked fine ever since. I believe if you were to buy one of these today, you'd get a better version with all the bugs worked out. Pros: The software is great. You can download a demo version from their website before buying. I'm an IT consultant so I understand completely what goes into good software. And this is top-tier work. There's definitely a learning curve for the software, so be prepared to spend some time with it. This is true of any powerful software system though, so no bad marks there. There's a lot of good tutorials out there as well. It's not just for making relief carvings. You can create a tool path that enables it to cut out complicated shapes. It won't replace a scroll saw for fretwork, but it can come close. It's great for cutting out jig parts or knobs from wood. It can cut plastic. And that includes relief carvings. The quick-release collet for the router bits is great. You most likely will need the included tool to get them out though. You can get this sensor attachment that goes in place of the router bit. It moves back and forth scanning a 3D image into the software. This allows you to copy existing carvings. Even though they're a small company, their customer service was good. All their customer service agents were in texas, not india. And they were all very knowledgeable about the machine. There aren't many people working there. This means you can easily get on a first name basis with the customer service people. But sometimes they're not available. So you may lose a day or two getting the right people on the phone. You can buy it at amazon now. (yea!) I had to buy mine from sears. (yuk) Cons: It's a bit slow. But considering what it does, I can't complain much. There's three quality settings. And on the highest setting it can take 45 minutes or more to carve a 8"x10" face. They claim they've run them for 6 hours straight on complicated carvings with no trouble at all. I believe it. Think of this machine as something you start, then leave while you do other things. It's loud. But it's a router. So again, I shouldn't complain. Because of temperature limitations, I can't really keep it in my garage where the rest of the shop is. It gets too cold and I'm worried about how well it will operate in that environment. I keep mine in the basement next to a shop vac. Dust collection isn't so great. But there's not a huge amount of dust. But you do have to vacuum it out after every run, which is not hard since the machine really opens up. It only carves up to 1" deep. I wish it were more. But it's not a huge problem. It can be really difficult to import a picture of someone's face into the software and make it look right on the carving. This is probably a problem with the user though. :-) Their sales literature claims that you can rip, crosscut, and miter with it. But make no mistake, you won't be replacing your table and miter saw with this machine. It's really only good for occasionally cutting off a board after carving. I wish the software included a more extensive carving library. Some are included with the software. But you'll quickly find yourself looking for other things to carve. It's a bit plasticy. And lastly, it's expensive. For what you pay for this machine, you can get some other really nice machines for the general shop, all made of steel and cast iron, and all of which will be around for my grand kids. Sometimes I get the feeling that this will be obsolete soon just like computers. But we spend this much or more on computers these days so I guess it's fair. It really does do a lot for the price. And it's a lot cheaper than the alternatives. An excelent value, but know what you're getting. I've had the sears craftsman version of the carvewright machine (compucarve) for almost a year now. It's identical to the carvewright except for come cosmetic differences. Early versions of both machines had numerous manufacturing problems. The sensor that detects whether the door is open would fail in the open position making the machine stop working. There was also a problem with the board sensor failing from time to time. The machine detects distance from the board by shining an IR light, then reading the intensity of the light bouncing back. When the sensor works, it works great. Some people reported the sensor filling up with sawdust. While others just failed for no reason. I had both of these problems. Other people reported a problem with the flex shaft overheating. Mine didn't have this problem. When mine failed, I sent it back to them for a series of standard fixes designed to correct my problems and prevent the other common ones. The machine has worked fine ever since. I believe if you were to buy one of these today, you'd get a better version with all the bugs worked out. Pros: The software is great. You can download a demo version from their website before buying. I'm an IT consultant so I understand completely what goes into good software. And this is top-tier work. There's definitely a learning curve for the software, so be prepared to spend some time with it. This is true of any powerful software system though, so no bad marks there. There's a lot of good tutorials out there as well. It's not just for making relief carvings. You can create a tool path that enables it to cut out complicated shapes. It won't replace a scroll saw for fretwork, but it can come close. It's great for cutting out jig parts or knobs from wood. It can cut plastic. And that includes relief carvings. The quick-release collet for the router bits is great. You most likely will need the included tool to get them out though. You can get this sensor attachment that goes in place of the router bit. It moves back and forth scanning a 3D image into the software. This allows you to copy existing carvings. Even though they're a small company, their customer service was good. All their customer service agents were in texas, not india. And they were all very knowledgeable about the machine. There aren't many people working there. This means you can easily get on a first name basis with the customer service people. But sometimes they're not available. So you may lose a day or two getting the right people on the phone. You can buy it at amazon now. (yea!) I had to buy mine from sears. (yuk) Cons: It's a bit slow. But considering what it does, I can't complain much. There's three quality settings. And on the highest setting it can take 45 minutes or more to carve a 8"x10" face. They claim they've run them for 6 hours straight on complicated carvings with no trouble at all. I believe it. Think of this machine as something you start, then leave while you do other things. It's loud. But it's a router. So again, I shouldn't complain. Because of temperature limitations, I can't really keep it in my garage where the rest of the shop is. It gets too cold and I'm worried about how well it will operate in that environment. I keep mine in the basement next to a shop vac. Dust collection isn't so great. But there's not a huge amount of dust. But you do have to vacuum it out after every run, which is not hard since the machine really opens up. It only carves up to 1" deep. I wish it were more. But it's not a huge problem. It can be really difficult to import a picture of someone's face into the software and make it look right on the carving. This is probably a problem with the user though. :-) Their sales literature claims that you can rip, crosscut, and miter with it. But make no mistake, you won't be replacing your table and miter saw with this machine. It's really only good for occasionally cutting off a board after carving. I wish the software included a more extensive carving library. Some are included with the software. But you'll quickly find yourself looking for other things to carve. It's a bit plasticy. And lastly, it's expensive. For what you pay for this machine, you can get some other really nice machines for the general shop, all made of steel and cast iron, and all of which will be around for my grand kids. Sometimes I get the feeling that this will be obsolete soon just like computers. But we spend this much or more on computers these days so I guess it's fair. It really does do a lot for the price. And it's a lot cheaper than the alternatives. An excelent value, but know what you're getting. I've had the sears craftsman version of the carvewright machine (compucarve) for almost a year now. It's identical to the carvewright except for come cosmetic differences. Early versions of both machines had numerous manufacturing problems. The sensor that detects whether the door is open would fail in the open position making the machine stop working. There was also a problem with the board sensor failing from time to time. The machine detects distance from the board by shining an IR light, then reading the intensity of the light bouncing back. When the sensor works, it works great. Some people reported the sensor filling up with sawdust. While others just failed for no reason. I had both of these problems. Other people reported a problem with the flex shaft overheating. Mine didn't have this problem. When mine failed, I sent it back to them for a series of standard fixes designed to correct my problems and prevent the other common ones. The machine has worked fine ever since. I believe if you were to buy one of these today, you'd get a better version with all the bugs worked out. Pros: The software is great. You can download a demo version from their website before buying. I'm an IT consultant so I understand completely what goes into good software. And this is top-tier work. There's definitely a learning curve for the software, so be prepared to spend some time with it. This is true of any powerful software system though, so no bad marks there. There's a lot of good tutorials out there as well. It's not just for making relief carvings. You can create a tool path that enables it to cut out complicated shapes. It won't replace a scroll saw for fretwork, but it can come close. It's great for cutting out jig parts or knobs from wood. It can cut plastic. And that includes relief carvings. The quick-release collet for the router bits is great. You most likely will need the included tool to get them out though. You can get this sensor attachment that goes in place of the router bit. It moves back and forth scanning a 3D image into the software. This allows you to copy existing carvings. Even though they're a small company, their customer service was good. All their customer service agents were in texas, not india. And they were all very knowledgeable about the machine. There aren't many people working there. This means you can easily get on a first name basis with the customer service people. But sometimes they're not available. So you may lose a day or two getting the right people on the phone. You can buy it at amazon now. (yea!) I had to buy mine from sears. (yuk) Cons: It's a bit slow. But considering what it does, I can't complain much. There's three quality settings. And on the highest setting it can take 45 minutes or more to carve a 8"x10" face. They claim they've run them for 6 hours straight on complicated carvings with no trouble at all. I believe it. Think of this machine as something you start, then leave while you do other things. It's loud. But it's a router. So again, I shouldn't complain. Because of temperature limitations, I can't really keep it in my garage where the rest of the shop is. It gets too cold and I'm worried about how well it will operate in that environment. I keep mine in the basement next to a shop vac. Dust collection isn't so great. But there's not a huge amount of dust. But you do have to vacuum it out after every run, which is not hard since the machine really opens up. It only carves up to 1" deep. I wish it were more. But it's not a huge problem. It can be really difficult to import a picture of someone's face into the software and make it look right on the carving. This is probably a problem with the user though. :-) Their sales literature claims that you can rip, crosscut, and miter with it. But make no mistake, you won't be replacing your table and miter saw with this machine. It's really only good for occasionally cutting off a board after carving. I wish the software included a more extensive carving library. Some are included with the software. But you'll quickly find yourself looking for other things to carve. It's a bit plasticy. And lastly, it's expensive. For what you pay for this machine, you can get some other really nice machines for the general shop, all made of steel and cast iron, and all of which will be around for my grand kids. Sometimes I get the feeling that this will be obsolete soon just like computers. But we spend this much or more on computers these days so I guess it's fair. It really does do a lot for the price. And it's a lot cheaper than the alternatives. | |||||||||
