CNC Shark Forum

ejcasey3 wrote:Tim,

So given the new Rockler, can we expect a new NWA HD 3 this Fall? Looks like significant improvements over the HD 2.

Any word on the 4th axis?

Thanks.

Ed

Has anyone gotten a reply about the 4th axis? Seems like it was put out a year ago. I see Tim or others come in and reply about new items for sale but when that question is asked, it seems that it is ignored and never gets a response.

I have a feeling that there may not be a 4th axis. You're right. When the question is asked, no matter where or when in a post, there is never a reply. I believe asking is futile.

rsetina wrote:I have a feeling that there may not be a 4th axis. You're right. When the question is asked, no matter where or when in a post, there is never a reply. I believe asking is futile.

Tim had said (in another thread here) that a 4th axis information update would be given at the end of May. It is now 4 months late. The product is going on 3 to 4 years late depending on what original date you choose as the promised launch date. If there was good news, you would have heard it.

Some folks choose to buy the Shark based on the future availability of what Tim mentions. I know it is difficult not to talk about things in development, but if these things do not become available, it is not fair to the consumer. Homing switches had a promised delivery date when the touch plate was introduced, it is still not a reality . Now we have a water cooled spindle to ad to this, being mentioned as a future possibility. Will this be a Chinese spindle or a US made item?

Personally, given the track record, I would base my buying decisions on what is here now, not what is promised for a future date. In the case of the 4th axis the availability dates came and went, month by month, over and over, for over 3 years with the 4th axis.

To new top is availible from nvw in aluminum color for $300. Has anyone mounted a water cooled spindle to the shark pro plus.
Thanks
Curt

cws wrote:To new top is availible from nvw in aluminum color for $300.
Thanks
Curt

Wow! That's pricey! That buys a lot of scarf board.

Thanks for posting.I never got the chance to call yet.

I think the concept of the NWA product line is a good one. Tim and company have put a CNC into a lot of folks hands that would not have otherwise afforded one. Myself included. Even with all the showstopper issues and heartburn I went thru to finally make good parts, I would buy one again.

"given the track record"

It seems to me, looking thru the knothole in the fence, the software development and testing at NWA tends to be Crisis Based, not timely, thoroughly designed/written/tested releases. Either internally, or externally tested.

Software is something I know something about. If the original version was built for X Y Z axis only, after achieving cruising altitude and a fair amount of customers using various versions, it may be almost impossible to modify it for that 4th Axis. I believe that is the case.

Imho, it would be best to start with a fresh design and the software architecture for that design to accommodate four axis. Based on the plethora of releases for v2.0? A fresh rewrite would be a nightmare for the developers and testers at NWA. Not to mention the consumers. I believe Tim has not allocated the appropriate level of staff/skills for the ideas he/they come up with. Just look back on all the fixes and issues in v2.0 alone. Just the fiasco of "Registration" was aggravating enough. Is it not questionable in the past to have had such a complicated scheme to register their software that can only be used with their hardware? Why is Registration necessary at all?

For my use, v1.5.23i has been largely rock solid. If demand warrants, I will continue developing my own translation code based on this thread. And continue to use v1.5.

http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3410

I agree with rungemach. Don't buy based on promises.

Jon

I believe the USB sharks are based on the NCPOD controller by OEMTECH. The controller initially was designed for 6 axis, with multiple inputs and outputs.
It could be run from Mach 3 or a basic control panel. I am guessing that NWA has been enhancing the features of the basic control panel as they moved away from Mach3.

more info here...
http://ncpod.oemtech.com/

and here...
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/commercia ... earch.html

For example, the "go to zero, zero, zero move at job start" may be a part of the device code itself and not part of the control panel, and therefore cant be easily changed if you only are coding control panels.

The new shark controllers seem to be a single board (with the driver devices on it as well, and some of the input/output features and the 5th and 6th axis may not be physically available on that board as the were when the original NCPOD board was used.

Hope this info is helpful..

Bob

rungemach

Thanks for kind reply and info.

I was discussing only the software that NWA developes themselves. Any software has design limitations. That is what I was trying to illustrate in my post.

The 0, 0, 0 at the beginning of the scripts, is placed in there by NWA from the Controller Software not the actual Control Box. I view the Control Box as something that does what it is told without a whole lot of extraneous results.
.

Update on the 4th axis

http://www.cncsharktalk.com/viewtopic.p ... 017#p22017
Thanks

Tim

Can I upgrade my Shark HD2.0 to match the New Rockler 60th Anniversary Edition Shark?