[Begat]

Given that you wanted to make columns, you really did have a limited choice--and that still is true now. And for most of us who are "self-capitalized," tradeoffs are everywhere. There is so much software to learn to make things, it's hard to imagine tackling the basic idea of first learning the mechanics and software to decide to make a CNC. No one has ever made a car I liked or a house I really wanted, and that covers everything from design to quality. (I think I knew better than to test drive certain cars or to even look at certain houses, but I have never liked anything in my price range!!!)

When I make enough money, I will swap out the racks for a unitary rack rather than three parts that get out of alignment when the temperature changes. But at 12K, I am to get into the game of making short columns for mantles, bed posts, table legs, etc.

If I had the time to learn more, I would make a machine that is similar to yours--an eight or nine foot cnc to make columns. I cannot afford Legacy's eight footers, and I don't have the time and heart-burning desire to do what you've done. But when I see the price that quality columns go for, I wish I had it.

Until later,

Begat

[mrmfwilson]

I purchased a Arty 36 at the end of August with a router setup. I changed my mind and requested a H2O spindle instead around the end of September. I finally received the machine at the end of December. The computer was supposed to be set up and tested with the machine. They have a special Mach screen and some changes to the macros that they use with their Mach screen. NONE of this was done. It looked like they copied a less than complete version of Mach to the computer without the modifications that they use. After I reloaded the latest version of Mach and the Smooth Stepper Driver I discovered that the Y-axis did not work. After looking at the connectors on the drivers I discovered a loose connection. That got the Y-Axis working. The Arty.XML file for the Mach setup was not in the Mach directory. I was able to copy one from the backup directory. I had to calibrate the X and Y axis. When I started cutting some simple flat circles, the machine had severe backlash on the Y axis. They tried to trouble shoot the problem over the phone after trying to convince me that it wasn't backlash. I took about a week until I requested a new motor. It took 2 weeks to get the new motor. So far 3 weeks dead after waiting almost 4 months to get the machine. Can you say frustrated with a capital F? Took the Y-Axis motor off and discovered a loose gear. No Loctite at all on the set screws for the motor gears. Tightened the set screw and it worked great. Also the water pump was not turning on when the spindle started. They want me to take a wire and touch it to another wire to see if that fixes the pump problem. I haven't tried that yet. I just bypassed the relay and run the pump constantly. I also found many screws that were not tight around the machine.
My ***** is that they did not deliver a working machine as they advertised. There production processes are flawed or non-existent. I asked for test records of the machine and they didn't have any. Not even a check list.
I think they have designed a good machine but do not have good production or engineering practices.
They do not answer emails promptly or not at all. They do answer the phone most of the time. I was told by a technician on the phone that he would not help me because I "rubbed him the wrong way" after he did not call me back twice. I got to talk to Andy then. One of the owners. He was somewhat helpful although I finally had to request the new motor. Better trouble shooting would have made the process easier.
If you call with a question, most likely you will get to talk to one of the owners as they have all the knowledge. Not a good support model. I think they have less than 20 employees. Don't expect any good customer service because they don't have any.
Their website needs help. There is some good information there but it is hard to find. They don't have a FAQ and the forum is not used much. They do offer online classes that are pretty good. Unfortunately they do not record them fully to access later. Most of the projects need special bits for ornamental milling. The turning looks like you can only use their proprietary software to turn profiles. I haven't used it much. The Mach turning may work also, I don't know. The Conversational Cam program comes with some very basic processes for turning. You have to buy other modules at around $100 a pop.
All in all I am not satisfied with the company in general. I think the machine is well designed but not produced well. It does work as they advertise once you get it set up. I think that if I was to do this over I would try and build a small machine for about half the cost and not worry about the turning. Build a CNC lathe long enough to do the profile turnings if you need them.

[Begat]

Hello,

If turning is why you bought the Arty 36, you have to appreciate conversational cam. In fact, if turning table legs and balusters are primarily what you want to do, you can pay the relatively cheap price of $200 for the program and make barley twist, rope twist, etc. without having to take a class!!! I was literally making table legs in a couple of days after setting up the machine. You can make fluted legs that are tapered, etc. And the price for the contour module was $50 for owners. So for $250 of an investment, you can make legs with contours. To do this on other machines with turning attachments you have to carve the table leg and that sometimes takes hours, not twenty minutes. Until you've made four table legs in just over an hour, you won't quite see the beauty of conversation cam and legacy's machine.

Without doubt, conversational cam is the cheapest most useful program that I have bought, and I own three vectric products, artcam express, and a couple more whose names I've forgotten. And I paid more for them than conversational cam.

Legacy is overextended and they need to work on quality control (a checklist is in order!!!) and shipping arrangements. That's clear. But you now have the machine and once you've worked through the problems it will begin to pay off. I have nothing against sheet good machines, but the world is round rather than flat.

Begat

[Begat]

Yes, I understand you completely.

[mrmfwilson]

As I said. I haven't done any turning yet. I have Conversational Cam. I have set up some jobs in it. I was told by Legacy that I could by the contour module for $100. I will buy it I'm sure. Because I will have to. I think basic contour module should be part of the base package. All you can do with the basic package is use profile bits to cut spindles. BTW I tried to use the rotational axis yesterday and found that it is way off. X and Z axis 0 off in space... Once again not set up. I will have to make a phone call to get it set up because there is no info on their website or in the manual on how to set up and calibrate the rotational axis. Stuff like that should be in the manual or readily accessible on the web site. Too much support is done by telephone calls. IMHO a waste of time for them and me. I'm sure once I get everything worked out, the machine will work as advertised. As I said, the machine is designed well, the production and manufacturing engineering needs to be better as well as the support.

[mfriedel]

This is useful as I have been evaluating buying a Legacy Artisan vs a Techno CNC router and upgrading it to handle turning activities. Is there any additional information regarding support and machine quality that you can provide from a Legacy perspective?

[mrmfwilson]

Update after using the machine for a few months.
After using the machine for a few months I have discovered some problems. First, the repeat ability of the machine is not good. I can take a drawing of a part with curves and flip it so that both parts are in the same drawing. Cut both out of the same piece of wood and they do not match. I have checked the x, y and z axis many times for accuracy. Recently the linear bearings (that were glued into place???) are rotating on the shafts and crashing against the shaft supports. So far they don't have a good answer to fix it. The bearings were also moving out of the blocks because they were not secured with the proper retaining clips.
- They use a Delrin piece to as a guide for the far end piece of metal that presses into the end of the material on the horizontal axis. The screws that hold the Delrin in place were stripped and came loose. Bad design. The mount should be metal with a Delrin or Teflon bearing.
- Every screw on the machine has to be checked constantly because they do not have proper lock washers on them and vibrate loose.

Needless to say, all of this has caused me problems and lost production. I would think twice before buying a machine form them.

So far (after 8 months of trying to use the machine) my opinion is... poor design practices and extremely poor customer service.

Mike

[victorofga]

i know its an old topic..

i dont want any positive or negative comment on this company..

recently someone told me he just cant get in touch with manufacturer of a very praised good brand..

my suggestion was him, call them and say to the answer machine you are in the need some new control or a new spindle..
hang phone back and call them 3 or 4 min later.. the time they cool off of hip-hip -horay :-)

guess what, before company was called daily 10 times.. always busy or no pickup phone.. this time phone immeditaely worked.. unfortunately i have no picture about their face:-) when they were informed some warranty need to be solved :-)

[naurul]

Can anyone help me with Legacy's screenset file for Mach3?

Thank you.

[ger21]

What kind of help do you need?

[naurul]

I just need the file.

[ger21]

I don't think it's available except from Legacy.

[SparksStudios]

So, is Legacy still having problems with their machines? or have they improved to the point that no one feels the need to write an complaint on here anymore? I ask because I'm looking to buy.

[Frosted Images]

So, is Legacy still having problems with their machines? or have they improved to the point that no one feels the need to write an complaint on here anymore? I ask because I'm looking to buy.

I am looking to purchase the Maverick but legacy couldn't ell me any info about the motors or controllers...cutting speed and rapid speeds. Then they charge $2500 for a water cooled Chinese spindle that cost $500 total. Mach 3 is double the price also. After addressing through email, I never received another response. Nice machine, though.

[L2LCreations]

So, is Legacy still having problems with their machines? or have they improved to the point that no one feels the need to write an complaint on here anymore? I ask because I'm looking to buy.

I have bought 2 machines from Legacy in the past 2 years after a few years of reviewing many machines and manufacturers.
The machines came on time as promised by Legacy, with 8 week delivery on the first and 6 weeks on the second. Both machines have operated right out of the box and post sales support has been excellent.
They conduct online weekly training sessions for continued support on using their machines.

Contact me if you have specific questions on my experiences with Legacy CNC Woodworking



FYI - the orginal post of this thread was refering to Legacy Laser not Legacy CNc Woodworking, refer to the thread from James McGrew 'cannet636' on 11-11-2009, 07:37 AM

http://www.legacywoodworking.com/

this is leagacy cnc and mills, they have been around a while, there original non cnc mills are consudered an industry standard if they are struggleing with the cnc and economy then my prayers are with them.

cnc is not always easy nor is it for everyone i have seen machines sold to people who had no computer experience and have no clue what they are getting into, this can lead to disater for all involved

the original leagacy is a fine piece of equipment

this may be who you are refering to,

http://www.legacylasers.com/Laserengravers.html

chinese lasers but they have a forum !! don't know about lasers but will approach that next year

jim

[L2LCreations]

I am looking to purchase the Maverick but legacy couldn't ell me any info about the motors or controllers...cutting speed and rapid speeds. Then they charge $2500 for a water cooled Chinese spindle that cost $500 total. Mach 3 is double the price also. After addressing through email, I never received another response. Nice machine, though.

We have a Maverick and it is running everyday, its a great machine.
I don't understand where you came up with a $2500 charge for the watercooled spindle or Mach3 being double the price, neither was the case in our purchase.
Software is software so you could purchase Mach3 directly from Newfangled Solutions ~ CNC Software Home of Mach3 then when you receive a machine from Legacy they would supply the configuration files.

I have had excellent support for all my Legacy CNC Machines over the past few years nothing has been a critical issue except for a rail open bearing that failed which was not Legacy's issue as bearings wear out. One of things I like about Legacy Support is that open support tickets do not go into a black hole like some of the other manufacturers I have dealt with were you have to keep on them for a response/resolution.

Legacy offers 2 days of training at their facility with the purchase of a machine, we sent 2 members 2 weeks prior to the first machine arriving so when it hit the door we were producing product.

Legacy also offers continued lifetime training online every week (Monday for Beginners, Thursday for Projects) - Lifetime Training Class Schedule - Legacy CNC Woodworking
This year they have also started CNC Workshops/Retreats all over the country - past retreats have been in; Portland OR, Bristol (Kenosha) WI, Houston TX, Phoenix AZ, Sacramento CA, Springville UT, Denver CO
The next one will be in Danville KY July 29-30th

Feel free to contact me regarding our experiences with Legacy CNC Woodworking

Terry

[rolaugh]

I live in Utah, home of Legacy Wood Working, makers of a 5 axis cnc machine for wood. I've been by the plant on many occassions and they are booming because of the product they build. I own their built from the ground up Artisan CNC and it rocks. No other machine I know of can turn and do flat work in one machine. I also owned their old style CNC adapted to fit their older mill. I wasn't happy with the quality it produced. They cleaned up all of their issues with their new Artisan models though.

I have been to the plant for Legacy in Utah. They make a fine machine and offer training as well. I picked up a machine there and they provided training before we picked it up. Great bunch of people and fantastic machines!
I'm trying to figure out how to get one of their Maverick machine as I type...

[rolaugh]

Legacy seems to be going out of business, not answering, or sending callbacks
to it's customer. Even Jon, when 5 years ago seemed to be a straight shooter, became a lier.

This NOT Legacy in Utah...