I concur on this. Vcarve is the best thing that happened to me after Shapeoko.
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I definitely will be doing an enclosure upgrade . . . the stock solution does not invite accessibility. Captured cables?
Early product designs had service in mind, I am going retro and will post my solution. Other than that I love my Shapeoko 3
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Thanks guys for all the helpā¦been using tape to hold stuff down so currently looking thru wasteboard and clamping threads as next step. Still unsure how all that works and best method for clamping. I think I like the cam styleā¦with those do u need threaded inserts or just holes and wooded dowel?
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I havenāt used the cams yet, but I donāt like the side forces it would create.
In my mind, I see it pushing the rods, like little pry bars, and wollering out the holes pretty fast, but I dont know.
Iām sure dowels would work OK, instead of bolts for the pivot point, tho.
Some people also use dowels, or a fence with wedges to accomplish the same thing.
Something besides MDF wouldnāt woller out as fast.
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Thanks I will be looking more into it and try to figure out which is best route for me to go with. but I need to put another whole sheet of MDF on top of the 2 pcs that came with the machine right. So that I drill holes in the pc that I buy not the pcs used on the cross bracesā¦Correct?
On another noteā¦was on inkscape just now and was tracing some bitmap to get vectors, I got them all done and resaved but when tried to open in vcarve only got 1 out of 5 to work. Got the same error code on the other 4 saying that some of the vector might be missing, but looks fine when I save it in inkscape. Am I missing something or have any of u all had this same thing happen how do you fix it? @WarrantUSN @WillAdams @JimInAshland @jdg3 Thx guys
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It is best, but not essential.
A 2.5" long bit will barely reach the bottom of the original wasteboard, and life will be easier down the road, if you just get a new board to put on top.
I did not, and I regret it.
I have a 32" square pocket in the middle of mine, that I have to deal with, and will eventually have to replace it.
I would much rather replace one on top, because if I unbolt it, iāll have to re square BLAH!
My machine is now flat and square, and Iām not changing anything unless it breaks 
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thats next on the agenda also squaring and trying to maybe use a dial on spindle even tho not sure what im doing on either of those lolā¦for starters on square I just measure corner to corner and see if is same. But if not how do you change if machine is all bolted?
Squaring up the machine depends on how it is out of square ā please see https://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Calibration_and_Squaring_the_Machine#Squaring_Gantry_to_Front.2FRear_Plates and the balance of that page.
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Try saving as a different formatā¦ if youāre using DXF, try SVG. If youāre using SVG, try DXF. Iām not using V-Varve so canāt help you there. 
It ābut looks fineā ? did you try using your bad SVG files in Carbide 3D Create? When getting art as a PDF original, I sometimes have to clean it up in Photoshop for Inkscape to behave. I will try to reproduce your Inkscape issue if you want to send me your file.
Cringe alert! I am a hack . . . >> MDF is cheap, dirty, disposable and works so far. I just screw a piece of MDF on top of the original board and use screws to hold the work down. I use a big rabbet bit in jog mode to manually surface it flat with a minimal -Z zero setting.
I am a noob and maybe am having a case of beginnerās luck. (I can make thick plexiglass gears that look good) When I grow up I will make a vacuum frame like I did for my darkroom easel back in the wet chemical days.
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back in the wet chemical days
Ahhh! they were the days, I remember them well.
Update on what been doing in the free time I haveā¦ ok I squared the machine the other day and got it right on from corner to corner. But the gantry height isnāt same from left to right not even in middle. Do I even worry about it there or wait and put down my wasteboard then fix it? How to fix it if bolts only have 1 spot to go in on gantry? Or would just planeing the whole surface fix it? Also not sure just yet but I did a pocket and it left material on the back side of the pocket like it was stepping up at that end. Like spindle not level to surface Iām gonna use a friendās spindle dial but not till next week. If it is I need to some how tip the gantry back some kinda like a twisting motion? Correct? I hear ppl say shim it on gantry shim z axis where exactly would all these shims be placed cuz got a feeling Iām gonna need to do some? Thanks as always
You want to get the Y-axis extrusions level, plumb, and at the same height ā adjust as necessary to make that happen ā flip them end for end, enlarge/drill out holes, shim or machine the ends of the extrusions, &c.
Then you need to get the X-axis extrusion level and square to the Y-axis extrusions ā same drill
Then get the Z-axis plumb and square.
The big thing is to work from large to small, outside to in ā once you get all the way to the Z-axis spindle carriage plate, it may be needful to go back and start over at the outside ā sometimes itās maddening, tail-chasing stuff, but patience and persistence will pay off.
Once the metalwork is as square as it can be, then the wasteboard can be addressed ā you can shim it from underneath if need be, but thatās not usually necessary ā then tram it w/ the largest endmill you have taking skim coats ā my preference is to mount a piece of spoilboard to the wasteboard and surface the spoilboard all the way to its edges (ensure that it is smaller than the working area).
There is a bit more on this, and some hopefully helpful / explanatory links at: https://www.shapeoko.com/wiki/index.php/Calibration_and_Squaring_the_Machine
Thanks Patonā¦you solved my question 
Hey there! Iām new to XXL as well! Did you figure out how to cut things from online graphics etc?
Thanks for any info and I hope you are enjoying CNCas much as I am 