Pulled the trigger on PRO XXL

Community
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Er … now what. LOL

Any advice on getting ready for the new arrival. Is there a doc that lays getting started out?

Phil
St. Louis, MO

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Welcome Phil.
I have the Pro also. Love it.

Docs? There should be a build manual included in the box. Pretty straight forward.

I think you mean How To Get Started.
After “Hello World” - Tutorials - Carbide 3D Community Site

There are many docs available and people that are willing to help.

If you have been reading the forum you can see that there are people that are from many backgrounds and experience levels. There are no dumb questions.

Good luck with your build. Where are you planning to set your machine up? A good foundation (bench, table, desk,) is a great start.

Again, Welcome.

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Welcome to the club @PhilCav
Be sure to go and visit my.carbide3d.com, that’s where all the good beginner stuff is (video tutorials, documentations, etc…).
And like @Zman said the forum folks here are friendly and always ready to help, so ask any and all questions.

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What @Zman and @Julien said.
Just wanted to add that take your time figuring out the details on:

Location
Where to put it, keep in mind the option of working on long stock, middle of the room/up to the wall.

Enclosure
Keeps the noise and chips contained, but you need access for maintenance and headroom. Pass-through option for working on long stock.

Dust/chip collection
Shop vac, cyclone addition, 4"/6" large collector.

Software
Download Carbide Create (or whatever design software you intend on using, Fusion360 maybe) and make some simple projects, like a square circle diamond for example.

Research the forum, find out what people have done with benches, enclosures and dust collection.

The more you have figured out before the machine arrives, the faster you gan get up and running.

And don’t go crazy buying lots of stuff/cutters, buy what you need when you need it.

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As noted, the documentation is at:

so see:

What sort of work do you wish to do? Using what materials? How do you wish to approach it?

  • eye and hearing protection: Safety Requirements - Carbide 3D
  • Additional assembly tools: Flush cut pliers (or scissors — fingernail clippers can also be used to cut a short zip tie with a nicely rounded edge), Needle nose pliers, Tape measure or ruler, Level, Pencil; possibly also Easy-peel masking tape, such as blue painter’s tape (nothing that leaves a residue behind), Adjustable wrench, Flashlight
  • a trim router (you can order with a machine, but Carbide 3D only has our Carbide Compact Router, but if you prefer you could get a Makita RT0701/0700
  • some endmills (one is included with the machine, but they’re consumables: Shapeoko Endmill Starter Pack - Carbide 3D ) — if cutting wood or plywood a downcut endmill such as the #251 is recommended. If you wish to do small-scale or precision work you may want 1/8" tooling
  • you should already have ​a place to set the machine up (the Shapeoko is more suited for use in a shop environment) — note that you’ll want to have access to the front and back of the machine so that you can feed material in from end and out the other if working with oversized material (you can process an entire 4x8 sheet by cutting it into thirds and feeding it incrementally into an XL or XXL — an SO3 would require 1/6ths). See: Torsion Box for Shapeoko XXL and Instructions
    *​dust collection suited to the material which you are cutting (at least a shop vacuum — many of our customers rig up dust shoes and formal dust collection) — you’ll want to tie into existing dust collection if you have it — Carbide 3D offers https://shop.carbide3d.com/products/sweepy-dustboot which will fit many smaller shop vac / dust extractor hoses
  • ​workholding (some way to hold the material in place)
  • calipers
  • pendant option of some sort
  • good quality square for assembly or positioning parts
  • tools to break stock down
  • tools to post-process stock (files, deburring tools, &c.)

​and of course, material and designs to cut. I recommend that folks start by drawing up a design (follow along in one of our tutorials: Tutorials - Carbide 3D and watch our videos: Getting Started with Carbide Create and read through: http://docs.carbide3d.com/assembly/carbidecreate/userguide/ ) and working up toolpaths all the way through 3D simulation — if that effort seems workable to you, you should be in a good place to get a machine.

Are you familiar w/ CAD software/Bézier curve drawing software? If not, see:

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Thanks Michael. Followed the link and was blown away by the information available. Really getting excited about the journey. Already received the tracking number for the order!

Phil

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Hi Will, Followed the link and was blown away by the information available. Really getting excited about the journey. Already received the tracking number for the order!

Phil

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