Linear Motion comparison X-Carve vs Shapeoko 4Īlso, Carbide 3D has a number of videos showing you how to mill aluminum and steel with the Shapeoko.Īnother point to note is that, most of those videos by Carbide 3D are done using the Shapeoko 3, and Shapeoko 4 is a stiffer, better much upgraded version of the Shapeoko 3. CNCīelt Drive in X, Y, and Lead screw in Z-axis Overall, I'd say the Shapeoko 4 wins again due to the better belts and the leadscrew driven Z-axis. In Z-axis since the distance to be covered is much less than X and Y axes, you want it to be screw-driven rather than belt-driven.Īlthough a ball screw drive would have been better in the Z axis, a lead screw drive is better than a belt drive. Leadscrews are generally more accurate than belts however they can be a bit slower. However, Shapeoko 4 uses leadscrew drives in Z-axis. Just like the X-Carve, Shapeoko 4 also uses V wheels for moving the gantry.
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Backlash is likely to occur at high speeds in general.Īgain, X-Carve offers a belt upgrade but since we are reviewing the stock machines, I haven't considered that. However Shapeoko 4 uses a 15mm wide belt and that's much stiffer compared to the 6 mm belts on the X-Carve.Ī wider belt is much better at preventing backlash due to the extra stiffness. In the case of Shapeoko, belt drive is used for X and Y axes. X-Carve uses a belt drive for X, Y and Z axes. The rolling V-wheels ultimately move the gantry. The belts push against the V-Wheels, which roll inside the V-rails on the makerslide extrusion. This is called a belt drive and the belts on the X-Carve are 6mm wide (2GT belts). The higher cutting area, higher Z travel and higher gantry height make the Shapeoko 4 the clear winner in this section. With either machines you have the option of buying "Z-axis kits" which will further increase the Z travel. The higher clearance implies there's more space for working on thick stock and also more space for changing bits. That's almost an inch extra compared to the X-Carve. In the case of Shapeoko 4, the gantry height from the work bed is 90mm (3.5"). If you want more work area, Inventables also offers X-Carve Pro for businesses, which comes in 4'x2' and 4'x4 sizes. Note that you will need some depth for the bit, so you cannot engrave a piece that's 67mm thick on the X-Carve. So that's the maximum thickness of the piece that you can place on the bed. The height of the gantry from the bed is 67mm (2.64") on the X-Carve. Maximum thickness of piece that you can through-cut on the X-Carve is 1.25". Z travel is ½" more in Shapeoko 4 compared to X-Carve. While both these machines will need a relatively large work desk, the Shapeoko 4 has a 3" extra workable length in each of the axes. Ideally you want a higher cutting area to footprint ratio.