[BobT]

For what it is worth, I was excited by the possibilities of this machine. After spending a few hours on their own Forum I changed my mind. The price is not all that high for me for a hi-tech toy (that is what it would be for me). But after seeing the level of disappointment in that Forum, I moved on. Try their Forum out and decide for yourself. It doesn't cost anything but a little time.
Bob

[RC Woodworks]

Originally Posted by BobT

For what it is worth, I was excited by the possibilities of this machine. After spending a few hours on their own Forum I changed my mind. The price is not all that high for me for a hi-tech toy (that is what it would be for me). But after seeing the level of disappointment in that Forum, I moved on. Try their Forum out and decide for yourself. It doesn't cost anything but a little time.
Bob

Bob, you nailed it! The CC is a high tec toy! I am one of the disgruntled owners or fool however you look at it! I too thought wow this is the answer to my CNC needs! I currently own and operate a custom hand routed redwood sign shop. www.rcwoodworksonline.com not an advertisement just showing you my site!

Anyway back to the CC my uncle who taught me the business has been using CNC machines(real ones!) for years and told me I am still running my shop like a caveman! I am a medically retired cop and recently had back surgery. So hand routing my signs have been draining me, so in the beginning of this year I bought and exchanged 3 machines believing a bad shipment of CC were made and I gave the CC another shot.

The 4th one was the same, I was convinced by another CW forum member to send it in for repair to LHR and I have lost count of how many times it been sent in for repair since! I had faith in LHR and did see they were trying to get this machine working so and this is where the fool comes in I bought another one! I go to fairs and make the signs on the spot and I am impressed with the ease of the software and the results the CC can make.

That's when it works I mentioned I recently had back surgery and both machines needed sent in for repair. This would be the first time sending the second machine in for repair. It had the common problem in most all of them Z axis stall which required a brand new Z motor and/ or truck.

I can't remember what I sent the first one in for? Both were broke during shipping and one beyond repair. The only way for this type of damage is from dropping it and UPS denied the claim and LHR will not repair it under warranty. Even though it was sent in for a warranty repair. I posted what happen on the CW forum and their laywer deleted the post with out reason. I called LHR and only found out it was their lawyer. So I posted what happen and I was given an infraction then banned for life! I never spoke anything bad about LHR or the machine so to this day I still don't know why?

That now brings me to the service of LHR top notch and very helpful. Most of the time though they want to send you the part and have you fix your own machine. With the help of a Tech supervisor I am having my machine repaired for a lower cost.

Sears offers a year warranty and that's it. Almost all the powers tools Sears sells they offer a service plan. Along with the one year LHR offers a 200 hour warranty and no extended warranty. No this is not 1 year and 200 hrs whatever occurs first. So with if you have as many problems as I had and your warranty is up. Sears has the CC on sale right now for less then $1600.00 With shipping an 80lb box both ways and a shop rate of $65.00 an hour plus the cost of parts I heard the average repair cost for one trip to be $300.00. So you might as well buy a new one and hope you get one of the few good ones. Or use it for 88 days and exchange it for a new one until LHR gets all the bugs out!

Rick

[RC Woodworks]

Originally Posted by BobT

For what it is worth, I was excited by the possibilities of this machine. After spending a few hours on their own Forum I changed my mind. The price is not all that high for me for a hi-tech toy (that is what it would be for me). But after seeing the level of disappointment in that Forum, I moved on. Try their Forum out and decide for yourself. It doesn't cost anything but a little time.
Bob

Bob you nail it right on the head! I own 2 Compucarve machines when they work they make fantastic signs! I bought 2 because I had high hopes LHR would work out all the bugs. So while one was in for repair I would have one working CC. That was the plan anyway!

I travel to fairs and make the signs at the fairs, so the light weight of the CC was idea for me! My last fair I took both my CC's and a good thing I did!
Both machines went down, but I was able to use them to the end.


The first CC I kept was in March after exchanging 3 prior to it. As I said I had high hopes for the machine. So I let another CW forum member convince me to send it to Texas for repair. Since then I have needed to send this CC in for repair over 5 times I have lost count. The thing is for the same issues.

As I said both machines went down so before having back surgery I sent in both CC's Another reason I bought the CNC I am a medically retired cop so my back couldn't handle the hand routing.

Back to the CC's when I sent in both machines for a axis error and the crank for the up and down movement. Both were damaged during shipping, LHR instructs you to ship the machine in the original box. The first call was to tell me my newest CC cover was broke during shipping. It was a $15.00 repair so I didn't worry about it. Then the I called to tell me my other machine was broke beyond repair and the only way to break it in this way is to drop it. They asked me if I dropped it? I told them of course not, then the shipper must have. Of course the shipper denied the claim blaming me for not packing it correctly. LHR will not cover it under warranty, even though it was sent in for warranty repair.

I posted what happen on the CW forum and for unknown reasons the LHR lawyer removed the post. I called LHR to find out why? I only found out it was the lawyer. So I posted what happen and that post was removed then I received an infraction, then I was banned for life! I still don't know why this all happened?

Why did I write all this? Everytime I call LHR to repair my machines I received nothing but professionalism. LHR is repairing my broken machine for a very good price. I really don't know why Sears put the Craftsman name on this machine. The will not repair the machine nor do they offer an extended warranty like they do for almost all their power tools. They offer a 90 days exchange or refund and a one year warranty. LHR offers a 200 hr of use warranty. That sounds like a lot but as slow as the machine is those hours creep up quickly! I need to mention the 1 year from Sears and the 200 hrs. form LHR is what ever occurs first.

So this is a well thought out machine, but not thought out well!

Rick