CNC Shark Forum

I just purchased the 120 with 4th axis rotary- how complicated is this software for a noob to learn? I have no cnc experience- I do have 20 years working with lathes & mills, and I'm a biomedical technician, so I'm not totally a lost case, but I have zero coding or programming experience- really interested to hear how long it took other unexperienced buyers to get up and running. thank you.

Day 1, Spent 2 hours getting into the portal for registering, managed to get something to download but couldn't get it to open. Day 2, Hour and a half fighting with Windows to accept and recognize the something as the Ready2control program. It becomes sort of a juggling act between what the manual says to do and how Windows wants to do things. At the end of day 2's session, I could drive the gantry around with the computer mouse and start exploring different buttons. Think I could cut one of their demo projects at that time. Day 3,..., going to try to install the thumb drive program.
You really don't do any coding with CNC programs, more of learning the CAD program which generates all the G code gobbledygook. Keep at it and good luck.

Day 3 was a mixup of successes, frustrations, failures and learning. V Carve 10 installs fairly easy, then theres more hoops to jump thru, more passwords and verifications as you get upgraded (free) to V carve 11. The tutorial video with the Avalon sign was pretty good at showing the basics. Day 3 ended with frustration over not being able to get V Carve to hook up with Ready 2 Carve.
Day 4, (today) watched the end of the Avalon tutorial again and found the step I'd missed in saving the files . Everything is now working and its time to test and experiment (and buy more tooling LOL)

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. It's been 12 years. The biggest challenge for me has always been the "hoops", and getting communication between Vectric and the Shark. Mine is the old white one with two boxes. Vectric software has never been a problem. I have solved most challenges by reading/ watching, and mirroring the video tutorials. I have also learned the value of reading and understanding the error messages that appear. They really do answer your questions if you read them. The Shark remains a very dependable machine, and has done everything I have asked. Work within its limitations. Don't try to force it. Enjoy the ride. Remember that you have a lot of support at Next Wave, The Shark Forum, and the Vectric forum.
Bob

I'll second that. VCarve (an Aspire) is an absolutely wonderful tool. I don't get to fire up my CNC machine much anymore, but I do a lot of laser cutting and all the design is still done with VCarve.

If VCarve hadn't been included with my CNC, I probably wouldn't have jumped for that full price. I would have missed out, though. It's worth every penny.

Start on a project that you just love. Cause of the frustration while learning the love should help you through.
If you're running manual machines now, the CNC change will be straight forward.
Seek out a mentor