Good Morning, Afternoon or Evening, Morning in Arizona. I recently inherited an SO3 XXL from a friend who’s wife got tired of not being able to park in the garage. It only has maybe 10 hours of use total and is in Great Shape. I currently have including the SO3 have 3 CNC Machines in the shop, including 2 that were purchased from Rockler. This machine seems to be much more stable in the Z Axis that my other 2 machines, having the HDZ compared to the extruded plastic of the other ones. Am a newbie with Carbide Create after having used VCarve Desktop for years. Am posting this as I am curious, I know there is going to be a learning curve with this machine compared to the machines that I have now, but does anyone have any advice as to what I should be looking for as far as tips or peculiarities of these machines? I use the machines to make mostly vcarved signs that I make for Military Veterans who are living in nursing homes or nursing homes. These are delivered to the Vets free of charge with a handwritten letter thanking them for their service. They are not marked with my company logo or personal information as I do this as a thank you for all those who served us. I am planning to start a small business in the next few months with my Fire Department Retirement coming up at the end of the year making signs, boxes, cutting boards and led lighted signs.
For boxes the big question is what sort of joinery do you intend to do and how do you wish to approach it?
An SO3 has an overhang cutting area at the front, so one can do traditional joinery, but I’ve been working on various techniques to cut joinery into parts flat on the machine:
I have an SO3 XXL with HDZ and it has worked flawlessly for 5+ years. The only problems have been operator ones and not machine ones. You mentioned you use Vetric Desktop and that limits you to 24" x 24" and the XXL is 32" x 32" so unless you want to use the full capability you will have to upgrade Vetric to Pro or just download the free Carbide Create and use both. Use your Vetric for smaller projects and CC for larger ones.
CC has come a long way in the last 5 years. If you have a BitSetter and BitZero on the Shapeoko then be sure to get the latest post processor from Vetric to take advantage of those features. I started out with a Shark and frankly I hated it. I got a Shapeoko and have never looked back. I think you find a big difference between the Shark forums and this one. I always felt that the Shark forums were dead as a door nail. The C3D forum is quite lively and very helpful. So ask for any help you need and you will get it here.
Be sure to update to the latest Carbide Create and Carbide Motion to take full advantage of your Shapeoko and the free software they provide. You can use both CC/CM and Vetric and any 3rd party gcode sender you may have been using. When I had the Shark I tried to use CC and used the generic post processor but sometimes the Shark would just sit there. That was a while ago but I did create a reference to help remove the gcode commands that the Shark could not understand and would just sit there. Here is a link to my post from 2020 about using CC and a Shark.
I appreciate the responses. I currently have a Shark Pirinah FX and a Shark HD pro in the shop along with the SO3 XXL with the HDZ. The only thing that the Shark HD has that the SO3 XXL doesn’t have is 1/2 inch bit capability, but the only 1/2" bit I use is a bowl bit and a surfacing bit. Just playing with the CC software a little and doing a couple of really simple test cuts, I will honestly say I like the SO3 better than either of my sharks. I actually have the Pirinah FX and the HD up for sale, and will use what I sell them for to add the spindle, build an enclosure and add the bitsetter and touch plate. Since I have a standard desktop license for VCarve, I will probably use VCarve to recreate some of the stuff I have already made in the past and take the time to learn CC as well as I know VCarve. Eventually I probably will try to move up to the newer Shapeoko Machine with the Tool Changer, but that is only if I am successful at turning this type of work into enough to suppliment my retirement income. At this point, I would have been happy to recoupe my investments in the Shark machines, but now that I see the difference in the communities and in the ruggedness of the machines, I am sold on the Shapeoko’s. This coming from someone who was firmly a Shark Fanatic in the past.
I really appreciate it. I’m down in Mesa but work in Central Scottsdale as an EMT on those Blue and White ambulances you see all over. I will definitely do that. I have had a Shark Pro HD with the upgraded HD4 Controller for about 5 years now, and a Pirinah FX for about 2 years, bought NOS from Rockler. I’m familiar with the vcarve desktop software, but learning the difference in the CC software is going to be fun im sure. I have tried to do some really limited stuff so far as I am waiting for the air conditioning to be installed in my shop this weekend I hope. I actually have the HD Pro listed up for sale right now as I have already decided that this is the machine for me and am planning to retire from EMS at the end of the year and see if I can make doing this a part time business.
Definately nice to meet you