# Shark pro cnc router



## 818usedgoods (Sep 19, 2011)

Greetings,

I am new to this forum as(well as CNC routing) and hope you folks can assist me in my venture of being a happy CNC owner. I recently purchased a Shark Pro CNC machine via Rockler and have noticed a flaw in their design or possibly a flaw in my abilities to use it(lol). When I go to route my final project, my lettering seems to get less deep towards the end or right side of the machine. Anyone else have this issue or is it user error?


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## tonydude919 (Mar 24, 2010)

Is the board flat? Make sure your table surface is also flat.


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## 818usedgoods (Sep 19, 2011)

Thanks so much for the response Tonydude!

I almost gave up on this forum. I found after tedious measuring and leveling that the Shark Pro actually does have poor construction. Looks like the next step is to keep for for not so critical work or strip it down and rebuild. Thanks again for restoring my faith in this forum.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

D, sorry I didn't notice your post earlier.(I can't read them all) Did you buy your Shark at one of the stores or online? If there is a problem with the machine Rockler is very good with customer support.


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## normo (Sep 29, 2011)

hi, im thinking of buying a cnc router, are you happy with your choice? its no use asking a salesman as they all have the best machine ..cheers normo


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## DMSCNCRouters (Oct 5, 2011)

Lol, Normo! 

That's why testimonials speak for themselves. If someone is motivated enough to proactively go out on the web and make a post about a product they like, that's a huge vote of confidence. People will most definitely report what they don't like, but rarely spontaneously report what they do like.


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## gary penwright (Aug 19, 2010)

i have a carve wright with nothing but problems an i hear good comments on the shark . will be getting one next week. just got to figure out the software


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## 818usedgoods (Sep 19, 2011)

Welp! After realigning parts here and there, it seems to be better. The functionality of the Shark are nice and simple. I still don't feel comfortable with the 4k price tag. I am still gonna look into making a custom machine that is hopefully half the price and a bit bigger and see if I can't recoup some of my money. I would suggest hands on testing before shelling out that kind of money.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Gary, none of the CNC home machines are "easy" to use. They all require that you learn the software and make adjustments; cleaning is very important! Regular maintenance is key to getting good results. Carvewright/CompuCarve machines are the easiest to learn and there are many patterns available to make life easier. Before you shell out more money for a Shark start a thread describing the problems you are having with the Carvewright and lets see if we can solve them. LHR has a Company Rep on the forums: Connie works for LHR and is head of the CarveWright forums. BJ owns a machine and is a good sounding board for questions. I bought a CompuCarve to learn about them and am happy to offer my limited knowledge. Maybe we can save you some of your hard earned money.


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## lynnfrwd (May 25, 2011)

garypenwright said:


> i have a carve wright with nothing but problems an i hear good comments on the shark . will be getting one next week. just got to figure out the software


You've got one of the early original model "A" machines there, Mr. Penwright. The good news is almost all of our upgrades, most importantly the CarveTight Spindle, are available for the "A" and "B" version machines. 

We actually have a huge majority of the model A machines out there still carving away. It's rare that you can't fix it with just a parts purchase. Just like an old car, sometimes you gotta buy a new battery (which I had to buy yesterday morning for my old Cougar). As much as I would like a new car, a battery is a heck of a lot cheaper than me having to go buy a new car.


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## gary penwright (Aug 19, 2010)

ya i put all new parts motor controller etc not much of it is old. an new carvetight. i am thinking it a last supper was getting e05 303 error every time i ran it but my 6x 24 signs run with no problem. ran 5 signs yesterday. but have paid for the shark an will keep using the carvewright. i bought a spare carvewright off of ebay for parts. it had 303 error to. now with 2 machines the carvewright an shark pro hd i will do just fine if one breaks. the shark will cave anything stationary which i like.also. having the best of both worlds you can call it.


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## gary penwright (Aug 19, 2010)

ya i am cleaning machine every time i use it. its a big baby. my error may be from a last supper cause most everthing else runs okay. have completely rebuilt the machine by myself. it has been a good learning curve for me. i am 67 an retired. but i want to do lots of things with wood. so spend spend spend i go. oh an thanks for the responces


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## lynnfrwd (May 25, 2011)

garypenwright said:


> ya i put all new parts motor controller etc not much of it is old. an new carvetight. i am thinking it a last supper was getting e05 303 error every time i ran it but my 6x 24 signs run with no problem. ran 5 signs yesterday. but have paid for the shark an will keep using the carvewright. i bought a spare carvewright off of ebay for parts. it had 303 error to. now with 2 machines the carvewright an shark pro hd i will do just fine if one breaks. the shark will cave anything stationary which i like.also. having the best of both worlds you can call it.


Here are the possible causes of that Y-axis error (E05) as listed in our Troubleshooting Guide:

Causes include: obstacles blocking the movement of the cutting head, outdated firmware, faulty electrical circuit in the shop, and electrical short in the machine, a loose connector, a faulty power supply, or a cut motor that is not spinning.


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## gary penwright (Aug 19, 2010)

i know about them to an have replaced all that to. an have double checked all of that. probably spent money i did not have to. but good to have extra parts.


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## rick_G (Mar 26, 2011)

gary: you need to fly cut the tablebase to create uniform cuts


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Hi D,
Welcome to the Router Forums

I have a Shark Pro and the only problem I have had with the machine is operator error.
I've had the machine since Aug 2009 and have enjoyed using it. 
I use it for light production work and it does everything I tell it to, even the wrong things I enter into the computer. Like I said before, the only problem with the machine has been me.

Make sure the stand you have it on is level. Make sure the stand is stable. Make sure the bed is level with the stand. Put a bit in the router with out turning it on and run to the back corners, check for any differences. Run the bit to the front of the table, check at each side for differences.
When I did this it was within .015. After a few adjustments it was within .005. I was fine with this and started using the machine.
I do regular cleaning of the tubes and screws, check nuts and bolts, and check the level of the stand and machine bed.
You can route your spoil board after you get the adjustments done and this will give you a level surface to work off of.

If you have any other questions just ask and I will answer as soon as I can. I'm sure there are other members that could answer questions as well. A lot of running the Shark Pro is basic to most CNC machines.

I am using Aspire software by the way.

Hope this helps,
Work safe, have fun, cut some wood,
Mike


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## février (Feb 16, 2012)

anybody could tell me where is the Shark Pro CNC machine? in American?


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Hi Février,
Welcome to the Router Forums

The Shark Pro is sold by Rockler Woodworking and Hardware in the United States.

Here is a link so you can see what it looks like:

CNC Shark Pro Routing System with FREE Router! ($125 Value!) - Rockler Woodworking Tools


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## TedC (Feb 24, 2012)

*CNC table problems*

I don't know if you have fixed your problems yet but I will give you a little advice after using even $20K machines. The best thing you can do is take the bed surface you are working on, or better yet a scrap peice of MDF and attach it to the original bed surface with screws about every 6 or 8 inches in all directions (make sure you countersink the heads well below the surface. If you want you can run some dado's down the top surface spaced how you would like to fit some T-track. You will want to secure them down using t-nuts from the bottom side so you won't pull the screws out when clamping. Also make them sit below the surface of the new top. With that done you can now use your CNC with a large dia. router bit to surface the new top face so it will be parallel to the gantry holding your router. Now the two will be parallel with each other and your depths will remain the same when routing over the full surface. 

Hope this helps

Ted C.


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## Bradleytavares (Feb 25, 2012)

818usedgoods said:


> Greetings,
> 
> I am new to this forum as(well as CNC routing) and hope you folks can assist me in my venture of being a happy CNC owner. I recently purchased a Shark Pro CNC machine via Rockler and have noticed a flaw in their design or possibly a flaw in my abilities to use it(lol). When I go to route my final project, my lettering seems to get less deep towards the end or right side of the machine. Anyone else have this issue or is it user error?


I've had a Carve Wright for going on four years and truly enjoy it. Older machines, series A and series B are upgradable to series C for about $400 and well worth it. I'm purchasing a second machine next week. Good thing about the CW machine is that they offer a scanning probe to scan and recreate objects as well as deep (STL) carves. Contact me if you'd like more information.


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## Bradleytavares (Feb 25, 2012)

the Carve Wright bemands vacuum cleaning often and throughout a project, depending on the length of time of the carve. To help yourself purchase an updraft dust collector through the Carve Wright home page. Reasonably priced and realy works (sucks, ha, ha!) Contact me for more information. Enjoy the CW


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## Mark92065 (Apr 30, 2012)

Yes that is a problem with my shark pro. The gantry is not sufficent to cary the load.
It is a good machine for the woodworker not worried about a few problems.
A bit over priced for the money.
Looking for a bit more accuracy then try the shop-bot.


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## Bradleytavares (Feb 25, 2012)

The CarveWright carving machine is a quality product. The version "C" (newest) has proven to be cost effective and a true value in it's field. As always, you can purchase other products but cost doesn't necessarally indicate value. Often the software has a severe learning curve. The CW's software is available as a free download for demonstration purposes. Try it, you'll like it!


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## gary penwright (Aug 19, 2010)

since i rebuilt my cw i have carved everything without a hiccup. changed every thing to the c version


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## marecat3 (Nov 30, 2010)

I work with a Stinger, which I love. With all CNC machines they need to be level. The table tops need to be flat. When I get a piece of wood that is not quite even I use the design program and go to material setup and set the gap above the model down just a slight bit this does work when cutting a carved piece. When I do v-carve I look for the flattest piece I can find.


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## Bradleytavares (Feb 25, 2012)

Go Carvewright version C. To get the best results from your earlier version machines, A-B, send your machine into the factory for a complete tune up and upgrade to carvetight chuck, new rubber ribbed belts and O ring on the brass wheel. Often they offer special pricing for this. Most, if not, all problems will go away since the vibration from the QC chuck will be gone as well as the noise level is significently reduced. While it's on their bench they'll check Z truck, motors, computer, other, contact you and suggest any repairs that will make your machine the best it can be. Sent my A machine in Dec. 2010, put many hours on it since and it's still working as well today as when it returned from the upgrade. CW is a great value. I use it to compliment many projects coming out of the shop. Possiabilities are endless, carving's placed on raised panel doors and face frames are just the start.


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