UPGRADE & complete Teardown of the XCarve

[@WimmDesign]

I purchased my xcarve on Craigslist new nothing about xcarve. I used this video to perform my upgrade worked any issues were user error. I now have a new found love with this upgrade kit. This video made it possible. Thank you.

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

You’re very welcome

[@redherring5532]

I got mine and got it going a good week ago, afterwards started seeing all the videos that came out. I'll tell you I'm glad I waited off until this upgrade, it's totally repositioned my X carve into the workflow. And worst of all I have all these extra motors and plates floating round the garage now spare from the upgrade. Those plexi or acrylic plates do a neat job of making the whole thing really rigid. Almost didnt think the belts would fit around. Thanks for the video Paw Paw!

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Thank you for your comments. Save the parts, you may want to build your own CNC someday.

[@redherring5532]

@@PawPawsWorkShop and therein lies my issue! 🤣 I have the X carve, queenbee and an acro system set up in the garage, but something useful will come up I'm sure- where I can migrate it to my day job, those y plates spare are really nice for conventional 2040 v rails. Grab a couple y/x plates from inventables and theres pretty much a decent limitless laser plotter! (If space and wife permit haha)

[@Mapleviewdesignsco]

You have a queen bee also, after the upgrade which do you prefer?

[@thebeardedcountryman]

I always admire your patience. Having taken mine apart numerous times I know it’s a lengthy process. The fact that taking the waste board off checking all the holes and resizing the board is over in a few seconds on video, that’s a few hours work. Good job 👍🏻

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Thank you! I appreciate that very much.

[@MrJeffery9076]

upgrading today thanks for the video

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

You’re very welcome. Thanks for watching

[@JohnColgan.]

Great work. Big project, but looks well worth the effort.

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Thank you very much.

[@pdwoodwerkz9625]

I used a hemostat for placing the parts in the x axis housing.

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Excellent

[@samis6431]

The most beautiful "like" for your wonderful videos

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Thank you so very much. I’m so glad that this video helped you and that you liked it

[@samdauria]

I also did an XCarve upgrade sad to say it was a smidgen harder than what you did . maybe because I not use to doing repairs anyway I enjoyed your video. Sam

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Thank you very much. Repairs and upgrades can be a little tricky at times. You never know what problems you will encounter

[@flightemt2]

awesome job! Try using some tape around your fingers exposing sticky side so you can stick the washers on the tape

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Good idea. Thanks

[@camanuch100]

Looking forward to do this same thing

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Awesome! It's well worth it.

[@camanuch100]

@@PawPawsWorkShop just wish there was a way to reinforce the Y axis

[@Zorrito68]

It will be fan-tas-tic!

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

The acrylic panels do an excellent jot reinforcing the y axis

[@camanuch100]

@@PawPawsWorkShop I'm sorry I meant the X

[@gregoetker1389]

Use tape on the the wrench, place on one side and then insert the nut from the other side. Then the nut won't fall out, instead of using the needle-nose pillars. No tool swapping either.

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Yes, that is a workable way of doing it also.

[@BritXUSA]

Nice Video as usual! - im really please with the upgrade and the stiffness....

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Thank you very much

[@robertpparets1211]

Great video question are you doing a video on the new waste board I got one and waiting for you to if you are going to do a video because you are great at it thank you

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Yes, I am waiting for mine to arrive

[@bernardtarver]

15:35 can't believe 1/8" acrylic makes for effective stiffeners.

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

I guess you will just have to try it to understand the effectiveness of the design

[@MrKingtiny]

Did you to increase the voltage to the stepper motors. After the upgrade my machine moves way to easy when changing bits. I haven't found anything on adjusting the voltage for the larger motors.

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

No, I did not change the voltage. Make sure that the GRBL settings have $1=255

[@Everett2015]

hello I like to do a upgrade for my drag chain I have a 1000 x 1000 machine I purchased the drag chain all ready now they tell me i have to purchase extra parts to assemble it. I believe its 2016 model not sure are they a way to do the upgrade on my machine with the new drag chain without purchasing the extra parts and can you post a video of the install of the chain. I watch all your video's very detailed in your work . Thank you Everett

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Should not need a lot of parts. You only need to attach each end of the drag chain to the machine. A simple “L” bracket is all that is needed along with some screws and t-nuts. The t-nuts may be a little hard to find.

[@Everett2015]

@@PawPawsWorkShop thank you

[@Everett2015]

Well we got it going we also done an upgrade of my Xcarve like the one you done on youtube title : upgrade & complete tear down of the Xcarve. I love it. Thank you for all your videos

[@PeteDominguezify]

Just bought the upgrade, It seems like from videos I have watched of this upgrade the Gantry is sagging from all that extra weight coming from the Z Axis, have you noticed this as well or is it just a camera angle thing

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Interesting. I have not experienced that at all

[@nicholaswoods9788]

I hope you making a before and after video on the performance improvements. I also I have xcrave and cnc4newbies I want to know if the xcrave with upgrades is closer too the cnc4n performance. currently I only use my xcrave for my jtech laser.

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

I just completed a project on the XCarve doing the text on text and pushing the limits just a little. I am planning on doing a similar project with feed rates about 30% faster and see how it responds.

[@scottburns9275]

How did you square or plum the router mount to the z axis?

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Use the square to begin with and the you can adjust from that point with a dial indicator

[@kevinmeyers1543]

Another great video, thanks Paw Paw! Always learning something new from your videos. With the X carve upgrade kit, did yo do anything to strengthen the x axis bar. The plexiglass for the y axis and the new z axis gantry are great, just curious on a good way to strengthen the x axis bar.

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

No, nothing extra there

[@rondo221]

So Ive had my x-carve since Jan 21.. and have been checking this update out.. but then I realized CNC4newbies also has an x-carve upgrade that seems really beefy..are you familiar with that one? your thoughts on either?

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

They both will accomplish the same thing. The y axis plates are thicker and they use aluminum bars instead of the acrylic sheets to stiffen the y axis. I like the Inventables z axis because you can easily add the dust boot and other accessories.

[@mmmmmmm8706]

Very helpful. Would be interesting to see tests demonstrating accuracy. Cutting a 50mm x 10mm block and measuring with calipers. Really helpful video. Im trying to decide on cnc4newbie vs the xcarve upgrade. Id like to discover differences in accuracy ... if any. Comes down to having a calibrated machine i suppose though.

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Accuracy depends largely on how you calibrate the machine. Detail calibration and the ability to take you time and not rush this part.

[@mmmmmmm8706]

Finally got the kit installed. Had a q about 3lbs belt tension because thats not much tension at all. Did u ever end up increasing that tension on your setup? Or did u keep it low at 3. Thought id ask, thank you.

[@Cuttin_It_Close]

Great vid. I've been following you now for a few years. I remember you got the z axis upgrade and risers from cnc4newbies. In the first part I see the upgraded z axis but when you are actually installing the inventables upgraded z axis you have the original one in the video. What do you plan to do with your cnc4newbie z axis? Keep up the great work.

[@waterfordrs22]

New to your channel, nice job with the videos. I was under the impression you had upgraded with the CNC4 Newbies kit which looks quite impressive though one winds up with basically an entirely new machine. Impressive, but its the cost of a 1000mm Xcarve. This upgrade seems like a solid improvement while keeping costs to a minimum. Which setup are you using going forward? This doesnt strike me as an upgrade relative to the previous upgrade.

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Yes, I had upgraded to the CNC4NEWBIE z axis. However, it was very difficult to add a dust boot. Therefore, when I upgraded the XCarve I decided to go all in and upgrade everything. This made adding the dust boot quite easy as you can see in the most recent XCarve videos.

[@waterfordrs22]

@@PawPawsWorkShop that’s a surprise, all that thought that went into that design and they didn’t provide a good setup for dust collection? Sounds as if they dropped the ball there.

[@paulwalterugazzuniga4663]

Hello, how are you, I am interested in the upgrade of the Xcarve, my cutting area is 1200 * 1200mm in that case, how would the new configuration be in the machine inspector ? Someone could help me. Thank you, Greetings from Peru.

[@ohske]

👍👍👍👌❤

[@PawPawsWorkShop]

Thank you