[mpientka]

SETUP & PROBLEMS. My Shark Pro was delivered on-time in 2 heavy boxes via UPS. Non-dedicated packaging was used, but the machine was well protected with styrofoam sheets and peanuts. No components were missing. The bottom plate on the base was bowed 5/16" high in the middle. While that looks bad it doesn't affect the table flatness. The single-sheet assembly instruction was text-only but kept referencing a photo of how to attach the gantry to the base so the XY-axis orientations were correct. I ended up referencing at the Shark Pro photo on Rockler's website. The gantry attaches to the base with 12 torx bolts; plan on having a friend to help. The bolt fit is snug which made vertical alignment fairly straightforward. With the base removed, the Bosch Colt Trim Router (purchased separately) slid snuggly into the Z-axis clamp. The Controler & Power Supply were prewired and the XYZ-axis connectors were labeled. No schematic was included, so I photoed all the connections for future reference and noticed the Line & Neutral connections were reversed on the Power Supply. I contacted Rockler who quickly responded that this Power Supply is insensitive to polarity and would not damage anything once energized. On the Controller enclosure, the hole for the USB connector was misaligned 1/16" so I had to fiddle somewhat to get the USB cable to mate. My new laptop runs Windows Vista, so from Next Wave Automation I downloaded the Windows Vista drivers, Control Program, and NET Framework patch. After 20 minutes of fiddling the Shark still wouldn't communicate with my laptop. With nothing to lose, I downloaded the Control Program for Windows XP instead and the Shark Controller immediately responded. Using the Jog command, I moved the router around the table to check for flatness with a feeler gauge. I noted one corner of the table was 3/32" high and the opposite corner was 1/32" low. VCarve Pro 4.6 loaded uneventfully and gives you the option of license transfer from Next Wave Automation to yourself. Download the Shark G-code post-processor from Next Wave Automation into the appropriate VCarve program directory. Slowly I stepped through VCarve's "Bullshead" demo instructions and created my first G-code file. I clamped a some scrap wood to the table, installed a V-bit in the router, and was CNC'ing sawdust within 3 hours of opening the shipping boxes.

my full 2-page product review is located at:
http://www.original-approach.com/html/reviews.html

[todd71]

Are you selling these or something? Just curious seeing how you have the exact same post on wood web http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forum...pl?read=602337 Got any pictures of your work?

[mpientka]

No, I don't sell these, I'm just another user. Originally I created the review for a consumer woodworking magazine (I won't name names) who liked the article outline I submitted but later decided not to pursue a finished article on this subject. Good eyes, yes, I've posted my review to a couple related websites so at least someone somewhere can find a useful bit of info. Attached is a plaque I made last month for my brother's wedding; I made the names removeable as a joke.

[todd71]

I made the names removeable as a joke.

Good one:cheers:

[DoctorLucky]

I'm a new owner of a CNC Shark Pro, too. I've had mine about 2 weeks.

I won't go through the song and dance of unpacking and setting up, except to comment that my machine seemed entirely undamaged, and my MDF table was about 1/16" high in the centre. And the process was straightforward if, like me, you've been mulling over this purchase forever, and have read everything available on the web about it -- so I knew that Rockler had an additional help sheet, etc.

I've replaced the table with a sheet of 18mm Baltic birch ply, which is much flatter than the MDF. I'm in the process of adding clamp slots and threaded inserts to assist with holding the work, since I'm not going to be buying a vacuum hold-down anytime soon. As an aside - I just *love* the meta-ness of using the Shark to modify itself I cut the new table 2" longer, since the old table ended distressingly flush with the solid ends of the Shark, denying me the opportunity to clamp work down at the table edge.

I've discovered that my view of router bit selection at my local stores has shifted dramatically - if it isn't an end mill, I'm not interested! What's with all these wiggly-profile bits?!

I bought my Shark in-store at the local Rockler, and I was somewhat disappointed at the bit selection. I think it would be good if they could have sold me a 1/8" ballnose and 1/8" end mill (1/4" shank) in addition to the V-bit and 1/4" end mill they had.

I've since made contact with a local-ish CNC bit supplier (Discount-Tools of Huntington Beach -- Google 'em if you like) who has most things I need. The bits there are reasonably-priced... most that I need are less than $10.

I'm utterly new to CNC work, but very experienced around computers. I set to work making a few cuts, and progressing through the demos from the various pieces of Vectric trial software. I made a part file for a cribbage board (with the skunk line in the wrong place - duh!) and cut that, after which I resolved to never profile-cut Jatoba again - the feed rates are kind of low.

I've now done a few small custom boxes out of 1/8" hardboard, a router bit holder (easiest project... ever) and played with v-carving logos and images into hardboard. And the whole table-replacement project. I've also routed a replacement lens for a Nerf gun's laser sight out of plexiglass, just for fun. I've accidentally routed a groove along one of my aluminum clamps when I forgot that the the program re-zeros and then moves to the start of the file.

I've also built a largish table and a 3' cube dust enclosure, since it makes a lot of dust.

I've made lots of rookie mistakes, too, but I'm having a much higher hit percentage now that I understand the relationships between feed rates, RPMs, and cut depths.

Oh - the Vectric V-Carve 4.6 software is excellent at what it does. Cut 3D looks pretty useful, but I've only got the trial of that - I have cut a two-sided bowl using that (top/bottom) with success. (7 hours, mind you).

For bits, my current selection is:

1/4" shank:
1/4" end mill
1/8" end mill, (long cutter)
1/8" tapered ballnose (super for carving relief like Vector Art 3D sample files)
60 degree V-Bit
90 degree V-bit
90 degree chamfer bit (like a V... but called a chamfer)

I got a 1/8" (and 3/16") adapter from MLCS ($4 each), and use the following bits with 1/8" shanks:
1/8" end mill (stubby)
1/8" roundover (no taper)
1/16" ballnose (haven't used yet)
0.050" end mill

For all these, I generally got as few flutes as possible.

My workhorse bits are: 1/4" end mill, 1/8" taper ballnose, .050" end mill, 60 degree V-bit. I have spares of these so I don't get downtime when I eventually screw up and fry/snap one.

About the .050" end mill - this is a fantastic bit for a lot of applications! Although I have to use the 1/8" collet adapter with it, I haven't noticed any runout issues. It cuts like a laser. It's so tiny that I don't get heating issues with it, even at higher RPMs. It cuts quite fast at .05 and .075 pass depth in hardboard and poplar. Now it's only slightly smaller than 1/16... but since it's decimal, I don't get stuck typing 0.0625 or 0.03125 or other endless series of numbers. Small point, but it is a plus. The biggest plus, though, is that it nearly eliminates the radius on inside corners when I'm profile or pocket cutting. When I'm cutting 1/8" hardboard, for instance, it leaves a 1/40" inside radius, and the material is soft enough that I can assemble my slot-in-tab constructions without any further finishing work. The cutter is only .15" long, so for thicker materials you might need something taller.

I've had very good luck doing 3-d relief models (like the 3d vector art with Vectric's machinist) using the 1/8" ballnose. It's a big bit, about 3" OAL, and expensive at $30, but with 10% stepover it does an exceptionally pretty job.

As for the Bosch Colt that I use with the Shark - it's a great workhorse. My chief complaint is that it doesn't go slow enough. Guess I need a spindle for that, but budget... budget. The product literature claims something like 16k-35k RPMS. It's almost always set at "1" for me. I haven't figured out a clever way to verify the speed, yet, but unless I'm using a tiny bit, higher speeds tend to get hot. Normally I try to work so that immediately after finishing a cut, the bit is no more than hot to the touch - ie, not uncomfortable to handle. Hotter than that, and I reduce cut depth and try to increase feed rate.

The Shark seems to be as precise as they claim - it's good to a mil or two at moderate feed rates, and gets sloppy to the tune of ~.005 to ~.010 if you max the feedrate and just wail away at things, or try to cut .25" deep at a time in Jatoba with a 1/4" end mill. Fortunately there's a dynamic feedrate slider on the controller app, so if you are wayyy too fast, you can dial it back without recompiling the file.

Now, one interesting thing I've noticed - and I'd love to hear if other Shark owners have seen this - is that there's an anomaly in feed rates. It seems like the first move after a feed rate change (like going from plunge to horizontal) is at the wrong speed. Examining the GCode file seems to confirm this - the Fxx commands are given after the G01 commands in each set. The post-processor seems to confirm this.

Now, I'm new to CNC, but one of the GCode tutorials I've seen sometimes issues G01 commands like:
G01 X0.00 Y0.00 Z0.00 F20
or suchlike... and I know whitespace isn't supposed to matter. So could the Shark controller be misinterpreting the feedrate changes as being separate commands when they're intended as a single item? Or is it just backwards?

Anyway, I'd love to hear from other Shark owners... be nice to know that there are more than two of us out here!

[Victor Martin]

I got a cnc shark with a 12 by 26 table.I downloaded all the software and loaded bobcad.We cant get it to communicate.The control modules have no memory card and theres a 25 pin port that fits a printer port but I purchased the hardware to plumb it out to work for usb.Why dont my xp computer recognise it?My windows 2000 computers will not recognise it either when plugged in the 25 pin port .Any recommendations?Rockler in Ohio and Mn dont seem to give enough support and help when I call and email them.Victor

[DoctorLucky]

I got a cnc shark with a 12 by 26 table.I downloaded all the software and loaded bobcad.We cant get it to communicate.The control modules have no memory card and theres a 25 pin port that fits a printer port but I purchased the hardware to plumb it out to work for usb.Why dont my xp computer recognise it?My windows 2000 computers will not recognise it either when plugged in the 25 pin port .Any recommendations?Rockler in Ohio and Mn dont seem to give enough support and help when I call and email them.Victor

When did you buy the machine? And is it second-hand?

My Shark (I have the larger table, but that shouldn't affect the control hardware) came with two electronics boxes. One was clearly a power supply, and had a 110v AC plug and came wired to the control box.

The control box connects to each of the three axes - it came attached to the X and Z axes, and I needed to plug in the Y, but that was clearly labeled, and was a 4-pin connector.

Apart from that, the control box had a USB port (the largeish u-shaped type) and a slot for an SD card. The system came with a 1GB sd card.

There's no 25-pin port on mine. It *sounds* like you've got an older system with a parallel port. If that's the case, it might predate Rockler's sales of the system. Talk to Next Wave Automation, the manufacturer. They're at nextwaveautomation.com.

Good luck!

[Victor Martin]

Since that i got the shark running.It took about a week of tech work but It works with mach 3 and Bobcad.It works well for simple lettering and I learned how to do pocketing with bobcad.The Main problem I have is that the y axis will tend to skip when I rapid traverse it across the board.When it skips it will tend to move the zero origin position as well with it.This causes the project to not turn out correctly.I wonder should I change something in the settings or is it because of the motor drive not working correctly or what?
Victor

[cabnet636]

this is called stalling or "loosing steps" and can be several things from config settings to binding. i am not well versed in mach three but there are other shark users, ther are several on vectric's forum

jim

[4DThinker]

I've had my Shark Pro for about three days now. Only two problems. My Colt router body doesn't tighten in the mount. I can rotate it by hand or when changing bits with it in place. I also notice the table wasn't in plane with the XY of the router path.

I've contacted Rockler to see what they'll suggest to do about the loose router. I'm thinking I could shim the table to level it with the router. I'll just have to find some thin shim material. Thinking I could make some with the Shark.

I've cut a few things so far, and am impressed with the accuracy. Currently wondering what I'll need to do more 3D carving with the Shark. Vcarve doesn't appear to do it. All ideas appreciated.

4D

[cabnet636]

vector art 3d provides some free sample 3d files and the software to toolpath it, should you decide to carve more you can purchase files and tool path them then import them to vcvarve pro and make signs, add lettering text etc.

have you been to vectrics forum?

http://www.vectric.com/forum/

the training videos are on vectrics website and vector art 3d's forum is at the bottom of the forums

jim

[4DThinker]

vector art 3d provides some free sample 3d files and the software to toolpath it, should you decide to carve more you can purchase files and tool path them then import them to vcvarve pro and make signs, add lettering text etc. jim

Thanks, Jim. I went ahead and bought Cut3D, and found a tool add-on for Sketch-Up (Free) that will export SKP to 3D DXF files that Cut3D can import. I'm going to run a few tests with it all today. I'm sort of thinking Cut3D should have been part of VCarve from the start, but I guess they have to make their money somehow.

[cabnet636]

i have all of thier software and now use aspire for everything, the software was always in components as many would purchase cut 3d only. looks like you are gonna have some fun now!

here is a file i had james make for me of our church, i ran it for the second time this week and am still amazed at the detail

jim

[4DThinker]

Here is a file I had James make for me of our church. I ran it for the second time this week and am still amazed at the detail. Jim

Beautiful work, Jim. Although I might turn my Shark into a money maker eventually, I bought it mainly so I could save my furniture design students some money on the work they are currently sending out to local CNC shops. They do the occasional inlay, pattern work, and repetitive parts for small furniture. I'm hoping to help them do a little 3D carving for chair seats, and use the Shark to make patterns/templates/jigs for our university shop. Our budget hasn't allowed any CNC investment to this point, and so I bought the Shark hoping to make it so obviously worthwhile that the boss will insist we buy a larger ShopBot out of guilt. The strategy has worked in the past.

[electronplumber]

Hello all! My CNC Shark arrived yesterday, and so far, I am very pleased with it. I have a lot of indirect CNC experience (i.e. my Dad had a couple of Bridgeport CNC mills when I was a kid, and I helped manage a lab with a K2CNC), but I still consider myself a newbie to all of this. So I will have a few basic questions for the local wizards. But first a few comments:

When the lab I was at received its K2CNC (probably about 5 years ago), I remember it was quite the undertaking to get the thing working. At the time, we were considering purchasing a Techno machine, but our talented machinist assured me that he could make the K2 machine dance for a fraction of the cost. He did, but it sure looked like a lot of effort. (It was weeks to the first cuts, and months to years of tweaking.) That machine was much more of a kit than a complete system. I don't know if that's still how they are, but it made me leery of purchasing a personal CNC router that wasn't a complete system.

By comparison, the CNC Shark was absolutely turnkey. I slapped in the 12 bolts, connected the router, loaded the software, and I was making sawdust in no time. (Probably less than an hour if you don't count the time I spent looking at the VCarve tutorials.) The first test cuts look awesome. I haven't checked flatness yet, but by eyeball, the table looks pretty good. (Ironically, the base does not - it's visibly warped. But I don't think that hurts anything.)

My main excuse for buying the machine is to help out with building animatronic shows. (We volunteer in the local schools teaching kids how to do this. You can check out our website at http://AnimatronicsWorkshop.com if you're curious.) This involves a modest amount of woodworking (sometimes polycarbonate) for the tabletop set pieces, as well as ton of crafting 1/16" aluminum brackets. So here are some newbie questions:

1. Is there a good reference somewhere for what type of mill to use for different materials? McMaster's site gives a little info, but not nearly enough. I really like the idea of a tiny end mill to do laser cut-like machining. (I use the laser cutter at work frequently. I can't wait for these to get cheap...) Can I use the same bits for wood, polycarbonate and Al? Where's a good place to buy these?

2. What's the best way to deal with dust collection? For my experiments, I stood over it with a shop vac, and it still made a bit of a mess. The local Rockler store has a cabinet around their demo unit, and they just have the vac suck on one side. I was thinking I'd build something like that. But I've also seen the little clamp on vacuum brush things, and that just seems like it would work better, presuming it didn't add too much drag to the mechanism. Is there such a thing available for the Shark?

Anyhow, thanks in advance for any advice!

[tomw99]

what's the best software to run with the Shark Pro? Anyone had experience with BobCad-CAM v23 or BobART v23?

[electronplumber]

Since you asked, I use a combination of V-Carve and SolveSpace (available at solvespace.com)

SolveSpace was written by a friend of mine, and it's what I use when I am designing functional parts (vs. decorative parts like signs). It is a parametric 3-D CAD program, but I am only using it for 2-D stuff right now, and it works great for that. It is not a CAM program. I bring the 2-D results into V-Carve to generate G-code.

If you've used programs like ProEngineer, you already understand the power of parametric CAD. If you haven't, I can tell you that it is very cool. Let's say you wanted to draw two boxes, each .7" square, .25" apart, with the top right corner of the first box centered on the origin. In V-Carve, you would do a bit of math before sitting down, and then carefully draw everything where it needs to be. In SolveSpace, you draw a couple of boxes and then add constraints - i.e. you just dimension the drawing, and SolveSpace automatically does all the math to make everything work. (That assumes it's possible. If it's not, it will complain that you've over-constrained the system.)

Okay, that might not sound like a huge win. But it's when you need to change something that it really pays off. For example, let's say you now decide the boxes need to be .71", but keep everything else the same. In SolveSpace, you change one dimension, and it automatically adjusts everything to work. In V-Carve, you would have to manually readjust everything.

There's a little bit of a learning curve, but my 11 year-old was able to start using it effectively after about 30 minutes of watching the tutorials. He certainly wasn't an expert (neither am I), but he got enough to use start making things. I'd say it was about the same amount of effort to start using this as to start using V-Carve.

There is a free trial version. I highly recommend trying it out...

Again, SolveSpace was written by a friend of mine who gets his kicks writing computational geometry programs in his spare time. There's nothing in this for me other than pointing out a really cool tool...

[tomw99]

Thanks for the tip - I will look at solvespace.

[cabnet636]

bob cad cam = rob rad ram got me for my bucks!!

jim mcgrew

[electronplumber]

Since I spent a bunch of time searching in vain for a solution to dust collection on the CNC Shark, I thought I would share what I ended up with. I made a simple plywood plate that attaches to the four protruding bolts on the router mount. This holds a shop vac hose in front of the router. (I upgraded my vac's filter to a HEPA model in an attempt to cut down on the dust.) To seal it, I stapled clear, flexible plastic sheeting around the edge, and cut fringes into it to make it more brush like. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good. The hose mounting is just a friction fit, and it does fall out if I forget to push it in tightly. I also end up baby-sitting the vac hose on larger pieces to make sure it doesn't apply too much force to the mount as it moves around. At some point, I want to put together some sort of hose holder to prevent this problem.

This design does tends to have a problem running into clamps, so I had to fix that as well. I ended up putting in a new, larger piece of MDF, milling it flat with the largest mortising bit I could find, and mounted T-track around the edge. The I took some angle Aluminum, cut a hole and mounted it to the T-Track with short bolts. This gives a nice, low-profile clamping solution. The track is mounted just far enough away from the work area so that it is not possible for a tool to hit it. Of course, this means I need a bit of extra material for mounting. When that's not possible, I can always go back to the original clamps, but I have to be careful not to run into them.

The next little project is to get a good zeroing solution. I've got something in the works that I'll post if it turns out well.

I've included a couple of pictures I grabbed with my phone...