An Entirely New Experience
RAVEN is the biggest leap forward in tech since our initial product release in 2006. RAVEN’s ease-of-use and reliability put it into an entirely different class than any previous model. Although the concept and some of the parts might look similar, this is unlike any other CarveWright CNC in many ways. Literally every sensor and component that caused issues with user operation have been removed and replaced with simpler maintenance free solutions. Combine that with the changes to the software and this system is an entirely new experience.
- No more head-pressure calibrations or alignment.
- No more low or high head-pressure related errors. (the built in scale tells you when you’re in place)
- No more clutch mechanism eliminating all breakable clutch parts. (it’s just a crank now)
- No more board tracking errors. (the Accutrack belt never slips)
- No more board sensor to get clogged with dust. (it’s totally eliminated)
- No more bit slap plate not responding. (it’s been eliminated)
- No more “please close cover” issues. (the cover switches are gone)
- No more check cut motor messages.
- No more changing cut motor brushes.
- No more “board not loaded” messages. (compression switches eliminated)
AccuTrack Feed-through
RAVEN has an upgraded feed-through system called AccuTrack. It uses a combination of built-in weight measurement to ensure perfect clamping pressure, our dual-traction conveyor to move material in and out of the machine, and a reusable tracking belt that locks in to ensure that operations are always accurate and completely repeatable.
- Built In Head-pressure Scales
Accutrack Belt and Tracking Sensor
AccuTrack Belt will come in 5 meter rolls (estimated MSRP $19.99)
- The tape comes in 30 meter rolls (estimated MSRP $6.99)
Brushless Spindle Motor
Raven’s air-cooled brushless spindle motor has a high power-to-weight ratio, which increases efficiency and reliability while offering a large operational speed range. With no brush and commutator, it also has significantly lower maintenance requirements.
- 675 watts of continuous output power (peak 1.25hp)
- Speed range from 3,000–22,000 rpm
- Dust-proof air cooling design
ServoSmart Motion Control
The Raven CNC’s ServoSmart2 controller is now positioned entirely in the keypad. It is much faster and with significantly more memory than the previous controller. It also now uses USB flash drives for its file transfer. Like the previous ServoSmart controller, It still supports five feedback loops where it gets realtime information supplied by the servos, tracking encoder, and now, the brushless spindle motor. Because of this feedback, it can carve significantly faster and more aggressively than any other comparable CNC system.
- Five feedback loops
- X-motor Encoder (belt-drive)
- Accutrack – Tracking Encoder
- Z-Motor Encoder (up and down)
- Y-Motor Encoder (left and right)
- Brushless Spindle Motor Controller
- Pre-calculated backlash
- Auto-corrected slipping
- Mabuchi servo motors
- 1296 encoder counts per revolution
- Backlit graphics LCD screen (2.5” x1.5”)
- Manual bit touch plate that replaces the board sensor and bit slap plate.
Software Changes
Compile Positioning
- There are no positioning questions at the machine.
- No stay under rollers question
- No scaling questions
- No board measurement issues
- All positioning decisions are made during upload.
- It tells you what size board to use.
- Allows you to define and save your jig settings.
Since there is no board sensor to detect edges and measure the project, we have moved much of the project setup decisions to the project compiling process. This process will allow you to define jigs and answer some positioning questions. It will even tell you exactly what the minimum size board you will need based on your design. There are no more stay-under-rollers or other positioning questions at the machine. All projects will index from the back keypad side corner and will automatically stay under rollers.
Bit Builder
- Add and define any new bit
- Configure any of your bit settings
- Share your custom bit settings
The Bit Builder will give users the ability to add new or custom configure existing bits. This will allow for ultimate control over all the speed, feed, and spindle settings for every bit. Custom bits can be stored globally in your system or are stored on a project level. This means if someone designs a project with a specific bit setting and they share that project, the bit setting will come automatically with the project. This will open the door to a huge number of operations not available to the CX and previous models.
Edit Cut Path Tabs
- Move tabs
- Add or Delete Tabs
- Change direction of cut
Designer 5, the creative software that will ship with every RAVEN, continues to add new features. The latest tool is called Edit Tabs and it allows users to add, delete, and move the tabs along their cut paths. It even indicates where the start point of the cut path is and allows you to change its direction.
See The Difference
Watch how the AccuTrack belt works and then see a quick project that covers RAVEN’s ability to change bit settings, the new positioning process during compile, and the simple no hassle project setup and the machine. This is truly a different experience than any CarveWright you’ve ever seen.