CNC SHARK

[woodman2012]

Been reading all post, My question is should I buy one of these machines??? Im just not sure. I have never done any CNC work. but would like to learn. Is this a good machine to learn on????

[Eagle55]

I am relatively new to CNC myself although have a lot of computer and electronics background. I IS something you have to learn, but I was carving within 24 hours and although I learn things daily (some just exercises with the intent to learn new things), I feel comfortable to sit down with an idea and do a job. Haven't don't anything terribly challenging yet, but feel good about the machine and its capabilities and my ability to use them. I have had mine since a few days after Thanksgiving Day. The only question I had wasn't, 1)did I want one, or 2)could I learn it, but rather could I get something going to make it pay for itself and could I pay for it until it picked up the slack. Its a lot of money, and in my opinion a very good value for the money. I bought the Pro Plus HD machine and have felt many times that I might have been a little disappointed had I bought the lower end models, but I'm not real sure of that even. The forum here is a fantastic resource for getting help and advise by users that are many times very experienced and knowledgeable. Rarely will you have a problem that hasn't been had by others and dealt with successfully. My vote is: Jump in! LOL

Roger

[jeb2cav]

I wasn't able to find a machine that had the value of the Shark - there are better CNC machines out there (but they cost a lot more), and there are certainly occasional warts that various folks have run into with the Shark/Rockler/NWA - that frankly aren't acceptable and given my experience, I don't understand how it happened. However, I'm more than pleased with my Shark and experience thus far and may be purchasing a second one vice getting a 'more robust' one as it meets my needs.

Another input for you on usability/value is to take some time and go through the Show Off Your Projects section.

Lastly - in the end what you can create is mostly limited by the software that creates the project, and to a lesser degree the CNC machine you are sending it to. The good news in that regard is you can use a fully functional trial version of VCarve Pro and go through all of the tutorials available on the Vectric website to assist you in determining how 'successful' you might be - www.vectric.com. Assuming you find that you can learn how to do this, the rest of the evaluation would be a cost analysis and machine specifications for your intended use. The Shark does not work with metal (although there are some Shark users who do cut metal with theirs).