Rudy asked me what we should do and I suggested we sell it to make room for whatever we buy next! My AtC on my CAMaster has me so spoiled I basically stopped using the ShopBot almost completely. One last thing, if you notice my signature, you will see that my ShopBot is no longer listed.
Only you are going to know if this will work for you. Slap some 12/4 glue up oak on this to do a relief carving or something large and you have a stepper that is straining to move the weight of the wood, the table and comping for the inertia of the cutter.ĭon't get me wrong, it appears to be a great machine and ShopBot is a first class operation, however, I see problems with a machine like that in a shop like mine. The X axis Stepper has to move the table and the weight of whatever you are cutting. I was not to familiar with the Buddy, but I have to agree. I've never used one, but that is what I would be worried about.This is so funny. A heavy sheet of stock moving back and forth constantly might be a source of problems. Some day I will have a bigger machine.Īlso consider that with the Buddy, the stock constantly accelerates and decelerates while cutting. I wanted a Shop Bot for my Business but saw the CW and have been very happy with it. I cut 1/8 inch FRP Tags for Sublimation with one and it works great with a 1/16 end mill. You can also use the line tools and assign a depth of cut to vector cut lines or parts.
#CARVEWRIGHT MANTLE FULL#
You can do a full depth one pass cut in a. 27 cut path and 3 passes did it for this HOBBY machine. I was cutting some hard pine last week and snapped two 1/8th inch bits taking a.
You are not able to select the feed rate for the Cut Path feature but you can select the depth of cut. The table acts as the X axis on the buddy instead of the Gantry and all the power-stick does is extend the X axis so there shouldn't be any problem cutting normal toolpaths.Good write up on the Buddy. The Buddy also cuts like a normal router compared to the carvewright which I believe only rasters. Last edited by Michael Schwartz 01-04-2010 at 10:21 PM. The table acts as the X axis on the buddy instead of the Gantry and all the power-stick does is extend the X axis so there shouldn't be any problem cutting normal toolpaths.Įdit *As a clarification The Carvewright also cuts vectors, in addition to raster toolpaths. With the 4X4 PRS you could theoretically just replace the rails, add the additional table components and convert it to a 4x8 some day, or at least as long shopbot still uses the PRS format. If a 48x48 sized machine is really the best option for your needs the Buddy is great, but I would also take a look at the 4x4 PRS with a gantry, or even think about building your own machine. I feel for my needs at least I would have made a mistake by getting something smaller. I have no regrets with that and I am very glad I went that route.
I originally was in the market for a small machine but I changed my mind and went with a 4x8 table. The Power Stick is not a replacement for a larger router (ShopBot or Other) with a gantry. However with all that being said I am sure the Power Stick has many uses, and again if you have, or would get a buddy otherwise the Power Stick is a nice eature to have available to extend the capacity of your machine. If I am wrong about this somebody please correct me. The other issue is that you do need support for the longer power sticks, and the weight of your table can cause problems.įrom what I understand as well the power stick is not something you can just take off the router at the end of the day and store when not using it as well. This is why I decided to get my PRS Standard over a Buddy. If you have the room for a Buddy 48x48 with 8' or 12' Power Stick, A 48x96 machine would take up less "effective" space. I looked into the power stick before I bought my 48x96 bed PRS Standard and it is nice if you have or are going to get a buddy regardless, but it has its limitations.įor one the Power Stick requires additional room in use since the work has to move through the Buddy on each side.