Is It Just Me

Anything and everything CNC-Shark-related

Moderators: ddw, al wolford, sbk, Bob, Kayvon

pungent333
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:34 pm

Re: Is It Just Me

Post by pungent333 »

I'm glad you made this post. I'm a very new owner of my HD4 as well as CNC in general. As I've started using it more, I've been coming to the forum. But seeing so little activity, I was beginning to wonder if maybe this piece of equipment wasn't well supported (especially when tied to the less-than-ideal organization of files and manuals on the NextWave site). There is so much to learn, it would be great to have good support, both from the company and a thriving community.
Brady
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BillK
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Re: Is It Just Me

Post by BillK »

Kayvon wrote:I'd love it if the Powers That Be gave moderator access to one of the regulars, even if only to eliminate spammers. I'm not sure who to reach out to about it, but I'd be willing to do it. Bill or Shark, you'd do great, too. Anyone who is here often enough to keep up with spammers and responsible enough not to moderate anyone else.
You know jeb2cav, Joe did a terrific job at this for many years. This forum was a real selling point for next wave. If Tim Owens or anyone at rockler is interested in keeping this forum going, I would be willing to help in some capacity, just contact me here. It was great to be part of beta testing and to work on the shark manual with Joe back a few years ago.
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bill z
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Location: Spring, Texas USA

Re: Is It Just Me

Post by bill z »

I decided on the Shark because of all of the post and interest on this forum. None of the other brands had active forums at that time. When you are buying something new for the first time, you want a source of accurate information to help you over learning curve and any unforeseen issues.

How much revenue did this forum actually generate through sales?

How much does an active and consistent forum moderator cost?

Do the math.

BillK
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Re: Is It Just Me

Post by BillK »

I went to visit the Next Wave Automation website about a week ago and discovered that they now have their own user forum. Maybe that's why this one is no longer supported as well as it once was. :o
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bill z
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Re: Is It Just Me

Post by bill z »

WOW! I thought this was theirs. They use to respond to questions asked about NWA.

sharkcutup
Posts: 408
Joined: Tue Mar 08, 2016 5:23 pm

Re: Is It Just Me

Post by sharkcutup »

If I am not mistaken this forum was for Rockler.com customers who had purchased Shark CNC machines produced by Next Wave Automation from them.

On the earlier Next Wave Automation Website it only had this forum (CNC Shark Forum) noted/advertised. Now with their newest website they have both this forum and their own forum. Customers/Users also have been attending the Vectric forum too for that is where the Vectric V-Carve Pro Software has originated that is sold with most CNC Shark machines. So in some respects it makes sense that this forum is loosing it users to some of the other active forums and it is unfortunate.

I had recently visited Next Wave Automation forum and I had noticed that just recently they are having the same trouble with non-user advertising of unrelated products on their forum. I will be watching to see just how long their moderators tackle the situation. To date the non-user advertising still exists on the forum.

Just some thoughts!!!

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jeb2cav
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Re: Is It Just Me

Post by jeb2cav »

For clarity - this forum is 'owned' and operated by Rockler. Historically they've had no presence, and NWA's presence has been limited as well. Myself - I've had some priorities change the last few years between the family and the day job, and frankly have not been here even weekly at times. It may be somewhat the changing of the times as well. Sales apparently continue to increase, so I don't think it is a lessening user base.

I do think the user base is still responsive to folks who ask questions, and so is valuable to a lot of folks. So I would say to new users or someone considering purchase, knowledge sharing remains strong if you take advantage of it. I've seen and received a wide range of useful information in the almost 9 years of participation. I wonder if some (not all) of the lack of 'new' posts is that many questions are in fact answered with a search. NWA has also dramatically increased the size of their support team over the last few years, and I wonder if that has resulted in less traffic on the forum.

NWA does have a separate forum, but it seems to have low participation as well. I agree that the VCarve and Aspire questions are readily serviced by a wider community (not just Shark users) on the Vectric forum.

As the newer Sharks are all using pendants, there is little opportunity for beta testing as some of us knew it 'back in the day'.

Yes, sometimes the spam is a PIA - but not sure in the end that it is that distracting - certainly not catastrophic in my opinion. Would it be better without it, yes.

sharkcutup
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Re: Is It Just Me

Post by sharkcutup »

Thank you jeb2cav for clarification/information!

I believe that pretty well sums up this thread! Thank you again jeb2cav!

And I would like to add that I am an owner of an earlier model of Shark CNC HD3 Pro and are not able to answer questions pertaining to the new pendant style HD4 Shark CNC machines. I will be happy to try to help with most other questions whether it may be machine, software, or anything pertaining to CNC operations!

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Kayvon
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Re: Is It Just Me

Post by Kayvon »

Joe, would it be feasible to grant limited moderator powers to a regular user of the forum to help combat spamming more frequently?

jeb2cav
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Re: Is It Just Me

Post by jeb2cav »

I've asked about this a few times the last 2 years - not much impetus to do this apparently. Part of the problem is technical in nature (somewhat dated technology so all on/all off), as well as corporate/lawyering in nature... In the meantime I'll try to check a little more often - you guys are welcome to ping me directly if it gets out of hand and nothing is happening about it.

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