Elite users?

[sstrand]

New here. Received my machine yesterday. I went with the AR8.
Axiom neglected to send me any hardware for assembly, which is just baffling…
But curious to see how users like their machines.

Been perusing the forums for awhile and looking forward.

Also what’s the deal with the Monport Laser guy in every thread.

Thanks
-John

[eagle55]

Hi John,
Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of nice guys, a lot of knowledgeable guy and a few guys who are knowledgeable and nice. LOL
The monoport "guy" from all appearances is likely a bot that, I'm not really sure what the goal or purpose of it is. The link that is contained in it's post don't go anywhere. I think there is such thing as a Monoport laser but I know nothing about it and at this point I would probably never consider learning anything about it. I have block it every way I could figure out how to and I think the messages of his post have stopped, at least for me. I would have thought that a moderator somewhere would have deleted his account by now. When it first started it literally had a streak going and was posting those ridiculous ad at the rate of about 60 and hour. There were two major wave of them that I saw happen before I started blocking any knowledge of his activity.
Anyway, back to the point. I have the AR8 Pro V5 that I bought about 3 years ago although I didn't set it up and start using it until about a year ago. It has been great. Not without little minor problems a couple of times. One axis stopped moving, Axiom tech helped diagnose the problem as a stepper motor driver and had one on the way the same or next day. My other issue was that the coolant tank started leaking. I patched it up and it took a while to get a new one sent out ( they were changing the model of pump, because of that problem, and had not gotten any of the new version in yet. I was able to patch up mine so the wait wasn't a killer. Tech support has been right there every time for me. Not all report that same level of satisfaction, but I don't know how they went about it so I can't say anything about their experiences. I come from a NextWave Automation Shark HD (the original version about 12 years ago) and learned how to live with all its problems and was successful in making a lot of quality projects, but decided I had paid my dues and deserved something better. After a year of usage, I feel I made a good decision. What kind of stuff do you plan on using it for? I have done some practical things with mine and have now started following the craft fair scene and still trying to find my place in the scheme of things. Your post title is Elite users. I didn't know the Elite came in an AR8 form. For some reason I thought it had different model numbers. Hope you get your hardware pack soon. I put mine together and let it intimidate me for about a year and a half before I ever turned it on the first time. Again, welcome to the forum. Oh... and I live in West Tennessee.

[sstrand]

Thanks and good info.
Was just curious how guys are liking their machines after having them for awhile. I was a little thrown off by the hardware debacle. Also I have a blemish on the paint and apparently someone just blasted it with some spray paint or something to try and hide it. Which is odd. Minor issues I guess..
I’ll be using it for light production. I also do a lot of welding and metal fab in addition to woodworking. I was a little tired of outsourcing CNC work so it made sense to pick one up finally. I have a background in CNC milling but this is my first router.
Curious if yourself or any others have faced or milled holes in aluminum with your machines. I’ve heard they’re capable, but the idea of not even using a mist coolant seems a little unorthodox..
My hardware should finally be here tomorrow so looking forward to getting it dialed in.
Located in Oxnard CA.
Thanks for the Bot Guy clarification.

[eagle55]

I think you will be well pleased with the AR8, at least I have been even with a couple of issues. The issues that you are having, I'm not sure are start up issues as much as quality control issues, like haven't heard of before. From my experience it is very "unlike" my experience and initial impression. I don't know if it could be an situation where it was a "Friday" machine (which I would hope not) where the final assembly and packing was done on a Friday and everyone was ready and primed to get off work regardless of what work was left to do. Another thing is that I think they have changed owner and that maybe the parent company that now owns Jet may have bought them. Sometimes when owners change so does tech support and quality. But again, having dealt with tech support as recently as a couple of months ago, some of the key people are still in place and the support was top notch. Somethings you learn to live with, but it would be hard to live with a physical blemish on a brand new machine.
Regarding cutting metal, I think it has the ability to cut aluminum and brass or copper, but I think from what I have heard, and seen first hand, you have to know what to buy in terms of alloys. I don't know enough to advise you but I know some out there will. I tried to cut some aluminum face-plates (just v-groove engraving) and the carbide bit made a mess that appeared to melt and push the metal as opposed to cutting it. The same with a plate of brass. Both cases I am positive were issues of the wrong alloy. As for the aluminum, the same carbide bit cut a beautiful shallow channel in the bed of my Nextwave Automation Shark HD.. I think both of my "failures" had to be buying my material cheap from China instead of finding out what alloy I should get and buy it from a reputable metal distributor in that alloy.

[sstrand]

Thanks, and Interesting about your metal results.
I’ve really only done milling mainly on 6061 aluminum.
I wouldn’t imagine these machines would have too difficult of a time with that alloy as long as it’s not some crazy milling operation.

My wooden gates are about to fall off so I was going to weld up some frames out of that material and wanted to mill out the inserts for the mortise plate etc..
But first need to become more familiar with Vectric.
The machines all assembled, I’m just redoing my dust collection. My 2HP DC is obscenely loud so I’ve been attempting to soundproof a closet around it with mass loaded vinyl, green glue sealant, isolation clips etc.
If you can recommend any accessories you like for your machine let me know. I did purchase the low profile grey clamps from Axiom and they seem quality.
Have a good weekend.