is this machine and soft ware worth what I've payed

[mcharles]

I think I may have wasted my money...I'm of the mind that considering thhe amount of money I've spent that designing and using the soft ware and the shark pro plus would be easyer...I"M NOT HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!

[JerryBurks]

Not sure what your specific problems are but based on earlier posts it may be just your windows system is not playing nice.

I bought the Shark a few weeks ago and I am very happy. Obviously a steep learning curve and with many parameters to understand and set properly, there are a zillion combinations to screw up. The software is still easy to use compared with e.g. Mach3 control. But it is definitely not a "clamp wood" - "turn on" - "come back in an hour" thing. In the future there may be desktop 3D printers cheaper than today that can do so but I don't think it will ever be that easy when milling wood.

You may try to find somebody else with similar setup close by to learn from or take a CNC class at you local community college.

[jeb2cav]

Beyond connectivity to the shark, and some core principles in setup and clamping, the the key to happiness and utility is developing a good enough understanding of the Vectric software. To that end, Vectric has developed a very strong set of tutorials, including written, video and example projects. If you haven't already spent the handful of hours going through these, and even the simple, yet illustrative videos on this forum site, I'd encourage you to do that - and then reassess.

I agree with Jerry that this is not a clamp wood and turn on. The other thing to consider, I think, is that you in fact made a significant investment in a tool. Reasonable success with any tool requires developing the skill to use the tool. In this case, I think it is more than reasonable - again the training materials are superior, and the community is responsive on the forums. I also think that in this case, it is an amazing capability with minimal personal investment in learning the fundamentals. The software and the machine combination enables me to create things I'd not otherwise be able to.

If you look through some of the posts on this forum and the vectric forum, you'll see a lot of issues that never would've come up if the user took a reasonable amount of time to thumb through this stuff. Honest folks who actually post the eventual outcome have said as much in these instances.

Looking back, the smartest thing I did was take the time to go through the tutorials, including seeing if I could duplicate a given project from scratch after completing the tutorial.

Not a salesman for either company, but like many, I am enjoying this technology. If you're still dissatisfied after going through the tutorials and demonstrating to yourself that you can "do that", then perhaps it may not be worth to you what you've paid.

[CountryWoodCrafts]

I have typed in 1000 lines of code into half room sized CNCs and to go to this software and machine is a dream. The vector conversions and manipulations and print out to a tap file . . . . technology is great. It took us hours of typing in x,y,z co-ordinates and tooling changes. I really wish we could have automatic tooling changes but I will just be happy to see the 4th axis.

I have to say. . . .if you are someone that did not have my background to start with. . .it can be intimidating. Machine and software worth the money....HELL YES. If you start cutting what I am doing at this point you would need a machine three times the cost to equal what you have here. . .

I myself bought the extended table right off the bat and then went back for the aspire software to increase my capabilities ten fold.

Take some time and as the others have said and Watch the videos. . . and do the tutorials. You would not buy a Piper Cub without learning to fly. . . .
Take it on as a challenge to win over it don't give up. This blog and Vectric's blog are here to help us all. . .

[Buc]

I am a retired machinist. So I understand machining and tooling quite well. The Vectric sofeware can and will do about anything I deciede that I want to do. I have also struggled with the learning curve. I came to the conclusion this is not a plug and play thing. I may have to watch several different tutorials many times and make several different attempts at completing a project to my liking. Am I a slow learner? Sometimes yes. Machined a lot of nice things, some by trial and error. Have made a lot of nice 3D carvings and signs. Have also heard that I should make and sell these things. My answer, I'm retired and I don't want to have a job, I want to have fun and enjoy what I am doing. Was it worth my investment? Look at the what projects I have made and posted on the shark on this forum. I'm happy.

Buc

[mcharles]

THANKS GUYS!!!!! I have gone through the tutorials and that was OK. What I'm finding difficult is what I assume to be simple comands that don't turn out. I'm not giving up...I have always liked a challenge and if some one said to me that it can't be done then I was right there to prove them wrong, but not with computers. I spent my wad on this machine and taking a class at the local comunity collage is not fiscally possible for me so ya I need the soft ware to do the work may be a little more then some of the rest of you.

SO...having vented and walked away over night my latest issue is, how do I get the down loads from next wave into 3D Cut...I've read your guys' intructions on another page about this but still am not able to get it. I really am computer illiterate I guess. Can some one walk me through it step by step leaving nothing out. Thank Mark

[jeb2cav]

Hi - you say downloads from Next Wave into Cut3D. I'm going to assume you mean the post processor files for Cut3D.

The post processor for Aspire, VCarve and Cut3D are the same. Make sure you don't use the post processor for PhotoVCarve!

This post runs through the download and the installation - http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=109

If your computer is 32 bit, then the location you want to copy these post processor files to is C:\Program Files\Cut3D\PostP. The picture below is taken on a 64 bit machine, so it has the "(x86)" in the folder name.

Cut 3D Post Processor on Disk Location (64bit)

If your question is more on the actual steps and workflow, please give this thread a look - http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=382.

Let us know if this answered your question or not. If it didn't, I'd ask you to start a new thread on this topic as the title of this one doesn't relate much to this question. It'll be easier for others to find and use the lessons learned in the future.

[mcharles]

So...my mistake...I thought Cut 3D was a modeling program...it isn't is it. Sorry all and thanks for the help so far...Mark