Building the XCarve
The day comes when the courier arrives with a dozen boxes, full of little bags and you realise that there are a LOT of parts, considerably more than you previously imagines. You rummage through the boxes and realise there are no instructions. In this modern, digital age it shouldn't come as a surprise that you need to switch on a computer and here's a few of those useful links to bookmark:
Before you start unpacking every little screw, check that you have all the parts, not only will you have the peace of mind that you have everything, but it means that you can contact support for any missing parts now, rather than when you have a half-built machine. It's also the start of you learning what the parts are called and familiarising yourself with what they look like.
Having space (separate to where you will be building) to organise and spread out the parts is very helpful. I split my build up, across a few days, but would estimate that it was roughly a 20hr build, so be prepared for that, especially if there's a chance that "little hands" might do some exploring.
When you're building, check and double check the instructions, take your time and trust your instinct ... if a part doesn't feel like it fits right, check again. There are numerous posts on the community, where the builder has put something on backwards, wired a motor the wrong way or otherwise missed something in the instructions.
Do not be afraid to seek help; I have found the XCarve Users FB community to be an invaluable source of information and yes, occasionally you may get trolled by someone, but don't rise to it, the vast majority of users are very helpful.
- Inventables 1000mm XCarve Step-by-Step Instructions and on the first page, you will find a complete list of the parts
- The New Brit Workshop on YouTube has a whole bunch of videos which take you through the assembly of the 750mm machine
Before you start unpacking every little screw, check that you have all the parts, not only will you have the peace of mind that you have everything, but it means that you can contact support for any missing parts now, rather than when you have a half-built machine. It's also the start of you learning what the parts are called and familiarising yourself with what they look like.
Having space (separate to where you will be building) to organise and spread out the parts is very helpful. I split my build up, across a few days, but would estimate that it was roughly a 20hr build, so be prepared for that, especially if there's a chance that "little hands" might do some exploring.
When you're building, check and double check the instructions, take your time and trust your instinct ... if a part doesn't feel like it fits right, check again. There are numerous posts on the community, where the builder has put something on backwards, wired a motor the wrong way or otherwise missed something in the instructions.
Do not be afraid to seek help; I have found the XCarve Users FB community to be an invaluable source of information and yes, occasionally you may get trolled by someone, but don't rise to it, the vast majority of users are very helpful.
