Out of The Blue.........

Some more pics of stuff.....

goddess_mdf.jpg
here is a carving that I did in MDF of an Indian Goddess, it took 8 HOURS and 26 minutes, and looks not so good, again, this is a problem with running the software again, operator error :eek:

ash_mess1.jpg ash_mess2.jpg
This carving was done in Ash, boy what a mess :eek:

chinese_dragon_1.jpg chinese_dragon_2.jpg chinese_dragon_3.jpg

Here is the latest, a Chinese Dragon, I think it looks OK :dunno:
 
Stu I have a question which I am not sure you can answer but i will add it to the debate on this machine.

Can this machine act as a cnc machine or is it stricktly meant to be a carver only?

I am struggling to see the broad appeal of a unit like this. It seems very narrow since a cnc even home made units i have seen on other forums and for which plans are sold on the internet, can carve a sign but also cut out a mortise and cut out patterns of components.

I just find that the total time regardless of operator efficiency to carve something like you have done to be way to long for my patience. Granted this would take place in your sound proof box and could be left to run while other tasks take place but i seem to be missing the big hook that the manufacturers feel is out there to justify the development.

I guess they must have done the research to ascertain the interest in a unit like this and the price point.

Is it intended to be able to "carve" out in brass or aluminum or even steel or only plastics and wood and man made soft type substrates?

I mean here we have you the tool maker with pretty good all round skills from computers to machinery and you are going through a significant learning curve. Whats the average joe thats reaching an age where he no longer wants to have to learn the whole world of cad cam software going to do if he bought one.

Seems to me its got a long way to go in evolution before it reaches the "must have" "easy to use" mass market.

There are many comments (i have read by guys that have either bought or built their own cnc machines ) where the guys say they have built or bought the unit but its now collecting dust and only used from time to time.

I have been on a mailing list for the Gorilla CNC introduced in Canada and now taken on by General to be distributed and manufactured and of interest to me was to observe their emphasis in the marketing of providing workshops with the biase towards how to make the cnc in to a viable business tool. Granted their starting point to get into the market is around $8k up and then you have shop bot that has a mini unit and you can get in at around $6k US. So i struggle to see where a carver only unit is going to find a niche here at a price point that makes it attractive to a hobbiest joe like me where i will find a meaningful role for it in my hobby shop. :huh::dunno::dunno:

Whats your thoughts and what have the Geetech guys indicated here?
 
Stu I have a question which I am not sure you can answer but i will add it to the debate on this machine.

I'll give it a shota Rob!

Rob Keeble said:
Can this machine act as a cnc machine or is it stricktly meant to be a carver only?

Yes :D

It is designed to do carving, but I think it can be fairly easily adapted to do a lot of the CNC stuff too.

Rob Keeble said:
I am struggling to see the broad appeal of a unit like this. It seems very narrow since a cnc even home made units i have seen on other forums and for which plans are sold on the internet, can carve a sign but also cut out a mortise and cut out patterns of components.
I do not think they are looking to sell hundreds of thousands of units, the market for these machines as a whole is not huge.

I guess you don't recall that I said this is the mid priced unit, one that will be capable of doing carving and some CNC stuff, they are also planing on a entry level unit, that will be much more for carving only, and a high end unit that will be more robust, larger and include (possibly) a 4th axis (not dimension). I also think that they are going for the $3000 to $4000 market, and lower than that for the entry level unit, but that is still much under discussion.

Rob Keeble said:
I just find that the total time regardless of operator efficiency to carve something like you have done to be way to long for my patience. Granted this would take place in your sound proof box and could be left to run while other tasks take place but i seem to be missing the big hook that the manufacturers feel is out there to justify the development.
This is a specialist, or enthusiast machine for sure, this is no tablesaw. ;)

The beauty of this kind of unit is that it never needs a rest, an can work all the time, even when you are sleeping!

Rob Keeble said:
I guess they must have done the research to ascertain the interest in a unit like this and the price point.

Price point is the key, if they can bring this to market at a price that is a lot less than other makers, and it performs well, they could stand to get some business.

Rob Keeble said:
Is it intended to be able to "carve" out in brass or aluminum or even steel or only plastics and wood and man made soft type substrates?

I think steel is out, but with the right cutters, and slowing things down etc, the other materials should be possible.

Rob Keeble said:
I mean here we have you the tool maker with pretty good all round skills from computers to machinery and you are going through a significant learning curve. Whats the average joe thats reaching an age where he no longer wants to have to learn the whole world of cad cam software going to do if he bought one.
Thanks for the props :D :thumb:

The machine I'm working on is still a beta test unit, it is not ready for primetime, closer than the 1st unit, but still, not there.

Geetech are developing their own software that is supposed to work very well with the machine, right now we are using 2nd party software that we are adapting to work with the iCarver.

The new software will have the ability to take almost any image and convert it to be carved on the unit, this is where the"Average Joe" comes in.

Rob Keeble said:
Seems to me its got a long way to go in evolution before it reaches the "must have" "easy to use" mass market.

You may very well be right, but they have to start somewhere :D

Rob Keeble said:
There are many comments (i have read by guys that have either bought or built their own cnc machines ) where the guys say they have built or bought the unit but its now collecting dust and only used from time to time.
I think that you are correct, but most of the problems come from guys not willing to learn the CAM software well enough to run it efficiently, they want a cnc machine that works like their toaster, put bread in, push button and out comes a 3D Faberge Egg :doh: The do not realize that just because the bought the machine does not mean they can run it well. Lets take the wood lathe for an example, if you buy the best Oneway Mayo lathe out there, and a bunch of tools etc, does that make you a turner? Nope it makes you prepared to possibly become one :rolleyes:


Rob Keeble said:
I have been on a mailing list for the Gorilla CNC introduced in Canada and now taken on by General to be distributed and manufactured and of interest to me was to observe their emphasis in the marketing of providing workshops with the biase towards how to make the cnc in to a viable business tool. Granted their starting point to get into the market is around $8k up and then you have shop bot that has a mini unit and you can get in at around $6k US. So i struggle to see where a carver only unit is going to find a niche here at a price point that makes it attractive to a hobbiest joe like me where i will find a meaningful role for it in my hobby shop. :huh::dunno::dunno:

Whats your thoughts and what have the Geetech guys indicated here?

I hope my answers helps clear up a few things :dunno: :wave:
 
Stu I found a free CNC CAM program that shows promise. (I have been checking around the last few days.) It will take a CAD program file (for example dxf) and allow you to config your tool path and then export it to g-code. The user interface is friendly and intuitive. As well the tool controls are rather easy to pick up. If you download it I recommend you do some of the online tutes to quickly familiarize yourself with it.

The program is called cambam.

http://www.cambam.co.uk/
 
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