X-Carve CNC Machine

       I received a CNC machine from Inventables for free in exchange for a review. I don't 

       know anything about CNC machines but I was up for the challenge to build and use 

       one. I was at first intimidated by all the parts and instructions but everything turned out 

       alright.

                                         

                             The unboxing 

                             Everything was well organised and labeled. I laid out all the parts 

                             and slowly started building. Some times some of the instructions 

                             did not make sense but I reread and watched the videos and things 

                             fell in place.  

                              Assembly

                              Here I will show a few tips that helped me with the build.

                              To speed things up I put an Allen key in my drill and tightened 

                             all the nuts and bolts in no time...

                                Make sure the clutch on the drill is set to the lowest setting. Any 

                                additional tightening should be done by hand.

                              Small parts can be held with  needle nose pliers to get in those

                              tight spots.

                               I used a small vise with wood and leather jaw liners so it would not 

                              damage any parts. This made things easy as it would act like a third 

                              hand.

                                The waste board  is flipped upside down and threaded screws
                                are put in. This can also be done with a power drill and a hex
                                bit.

                              After a few tries on some scrap wood I  carved the Inventables  

                              name on this piece of oak. I am slowly getting the hang of it and

                              now will come up with lots of new ideas.

                               A small box is made with the piece I just carved and this will be

                               for the workbench for small parts and some of the tools that I will

                               use regularly. 

See Also:

         Make a large compass           Make dowels with a Jigsaw          Mitered half laps on table saw