After a few hundred hours of effort-
We are just entering alpha testing of the customized machine as of May 20, 2024.
A X-Carve machine was donated to DMS. We found that in order for our member's to make the most of the machine they would be required to subscribe to Easel Pro software. This would cost each SMS member $25 monthly. After an informal survey, it became apparent that most of our membership had little desire to pay this monthly fee.
We decided to flush the 100+ hours we had already invested and go back to the drawing board.
So the team spent many hours researching an easy to use software solution to no avail. The two software solutions that we did qualify were VCarve Pro and Fusion 360. These were deemed too difficult for the casual DMS user to learn. Since we expect our casual members to be able to enjoy the machine with a minimum investment in time we continued the search for a solution.
The solution we decided on was to replace the original X-Carve control computer with a Shapeoko 2 computer, thus allowing the machine to act like a Shapeoko with a few differences. It was not a one-to-one, plug & play solution. It has taken a lot of mental, physical, and fabrication effort. We will release more information as we lock the user process down.
- It appears as a Shapeoko device to software and training.
- It will have a non-standard Shapeoko work area
- Most of your existing Shapeoko training will transfer
- You will be able to use pretty much any CADish software to design in, but we suggest Carbide Create for the smoothest experience.
- Carbide Create will be used for CAM
- It will use Carbide Motion for machine control.
This will use the same software that the plastics CNC uses so your 95% training will transfer.
Something to think about.
This was a donated machine and we didn't prequalify it. Hundreds of volunteer hours have been invested by several different people throughout this process. While you where enjoying your time pursuing your personal projects over the last few months, several people on the team spent the majority of their time at DMS working on this machine for you to enjoy. Once the machine is released they will be introduced. Any meanness or abuse towards these members will be met with a less than pleasant response. So please be nice, never forget that they volunteered their time so you could enjoy a new device at DMS that we otherwise wouldn't have.
More info soon.
Getting Started
