i've watched a bunch of beginner reviews
for the Makeare Carver Vera Air most of
them start off simple then 5 minutes in
it's like you've accidentally enrolled
in an engineering degree so when I say
I'm a beginner I mean it before this
machine turned up I didn't even know
what CNC stood for so if you're
wondering whether this device can really
turn sheets blocks or cylinders of wood
and metal into signs art or functional
parts at home this machine is a machine
that can do those things seriously
though this isn't just another quick
demo of the default project i wanted to
see what this thing could actually do in
the real world so if you fancy watching
the advanced version of a monkey
learning to use a typewriter or just
want a laugh here's what it's really
like for a complete beginner using their
first CNC hi I'm Ross the aforementioned
monkey and this is Fauxhammer Videos
come with me now as we dive into the
world of computer numerical control
which for the record is basically 3D
printing in reverse with wood and metal
now I usually review 3D printers mostly
resin occasionally an FDM machine if I'm
feeling reckless but when Maker randomly
got in touch and offered me the Carvera
Air for review I thought sure I could
use a pallet cleanser and also I like
free stuff honestly I don't even care if
this video flops because I got a free
CNC machine out of it but if you're a
beginner like me or an experienced user
curious how approachable this machine is
from scratch stick around i typically do
reviews a bit differently to most i'm
not a fan of reading out the specs you
can easily find on websites i'd rather
tell you what these things are actually
like to use the important bits I have
learned that I need to share is that
this is the Carva Air the baby sibling
to the larger Carva both of them are
desktop CNC machines rather than the
massive rooms sized ones you'd find in
most industrial workshops this is the
kind of CNC you could actually use in
the average regular home if you've got
space for a workshop now the larger
Carva would give you a 36x 24x4 cm work
area whereas this Air drops that
slightly to 30x 20x3 cm aside from that
the missing automated tool changer plus
a couple of other bits I'll get on to
later this is still a beast of a machine
especially at almost a third the price
of its older brother something to be
aware of up front this thing is weighty
and since I'm feeling slightly shamed by
some commenters for not solo lifting the
42 kilo H2D in that review here I lifted
the 52 kilos of the Carva Air and its
accessories and add-on modules so I can
do it but honestly don't lift this on
your own unless you work out and know
you can manual handling safety and all
lookswise I think this is solid
definitely more of an industrial machine
which is what I think it should look
like it suits the style it's got a big
plastic front cover with a liftoff and
slide back mechanism now it looks great
with the light on absolutely gorgeous at
night and you get excellent visibility
whilst it's running and it keeps things
safer that said the cover does feel a
bit clunky compared to what you'd see on
modern 3D printers and because of the
way it opens you will need decent
overhead clearance and that can limit
where you actually place the unit and
there's also no obvious way to
disconnect this front and use it like a
removable face plate again that's
something I'm pointing out because we've
seen it done on resin printers and I
have to add one minor annoyance those
branded sticker panels down each side
after about 5 weeks one of them started
peeling might have been heat might have
been poor adhesive either way the sharp
corner has now stabbed me a few times
most of the ports on this machine are
around the back you've got your power
socket rocker switch a USBC cable for
plugging into a PC a USBA port labeled
charging that didn't charge anything I
tried to connect to it and an emergency
stop connector and one labeled EXT and
I've got no idea what that does on the
back left corner there is a port that
lines up with the removable dust shoe
inside the chamber and that's where you
can plug in a shopv the bigger Carba
does have a built-in dust collection bin
but honestly I actually prefer this
setup i think a VA's more versatile
because you can actually use it to clean
out the chamber too which is something I
found oddly satisfying when I got to
using the machine i did have to print
out an adapter on my Bamboo H2D to get
it hooked up and if you're looking for a
vac I honestly recommend this DeWalt
Stealth Sonic because it's so quiet the
actual airflow makes more noise than the
vacuum's motor so it's not going to make
your ears bleed i will drop a link in
the description but if you're going to
use it you have to promise not to tell
my wife I know how to use a vacuum
cleaner next to that port is the air
inlet for a compressor and this blows
air in at the tool head to cool the bit
and blast debris out the way when you're
carving it's mainly used for metal and I
didn't do any metal carving with this i
just didn't have time you'll see why
we'll get to it i still did fun stuff
now you also get this mounting arm that
lets you attach a phone or tablet off
the right hand side or lefthand side of
the machine as a controller now in
theory it's great in practice it was a
nightmare to set up which was mostly
down to Wi-Fi issues honestly I had such
a nightmare setting this up and it all
came down to Wi-Fi the user guide
recommends starting with a wired
connection and what I'm going to say now
in hindsight is yeah I should have
followed that advice you might get lucky
i didn't it took me half a day to get
this thing wirelessly talking to my
desktop PC i had to use laptops and
phones and various things and at one
point it locked itself up and just
wouldn't unlock it only came back to
life after I took the back off and
unplugged several red cables and I have
no idea why that worked but it did and I
never would have figured this out on my
own so total credit goes to Matthew from
the Make Era Facebook group who
commented on someone else's post with
the exact fix so seriously drop a thanks
to Matthew in the comments he's shown
here why community support really
matters not all heroes wear capes so
yeah I will call out that despite it
having Wi-Fi this is only 2.4 GHz which
is noticeably slow when transferring
files and there's no Ethernet and again
due to issues or annoyances I'll come on
to later it's pretty clear to me that
this device was made with the idea of
having a dedicated computer attached at
all times i did try the iPhone out but
this conflicted with the notch on the
iPhone making several key options
completely inaccessible from one side or
the other now mechanically this thing is
mostly rock solid and it has to be to
move this much heavy hardware with
precision the frame is built like a tank
with thick piston-like bars and proper
ball screws driving the motion so it's a
bit of a shame that everything around
that solid core the covers the limit
switches even the USBC cable feels cheap
like three for a tenner on AliExpress
cheap and finally on the externals
there's the button on top which only
serves as a physical confirmation button
when the controller asks for input so
like you've changed a bit and it says
confirm to continue you can either press
it on screen or tap that button now out
of the box the Carver Air comes with a
ton of handy accessories and a small
selection of materials mainly to walk
you through the Makeer video demos that
I'll get on to later and then a couple
of spares in case you want to do your
own projects or they failed and you need
to have another go and you also get a
second box of bits extra tools collars
safety goggles the emergency stop button
a manual tool set and the phone or
tablet arm that I mentioned earlier
there's also a really decent little
toolbox included too with everything you
need to set up your stock which just to
clarify stock is the word for the thing
you're cutting be it wood plastic metal
whatever i'm not talking about oxo cubes
and it is a nice touch that all the
screws and fixings live in one tidy box
because you will be going back to it
often two tools worth calling out in
here is well first you've got the
spindle collet installer if you want to
change the bit shank size from Makea's
standard 1/8 in or 3 mm to the beefier/4
in or 6.35 mm you can do that make cell
collets in a range of sizes to match
sorry I may have gone a bit beyond
absolute beginner there turns out I have
learned a lot of things basically all
the Makeer bits have a standard diameter
by bit I mean drilly thing and you can
use this tool to swap out the tool
holder in the head to use bigger bits
from third parties hell now I've gone
condescending anyway cancel me the other
bit is the collar installer that lets
you add depth collars to third party
bits not just the ones make a cell so
they always sit at the right height in
the tool head once those collars are on
swapping bits is ridiculously easy you
just pull down the lever on the side of
the mill head and it kind of feels like
a fruit machine i get a weird amount of
joy from using it all it needs is a
casino jingle now the next important
feature is the wired probe this is
attached to the machine itself it lives
in a little plastic holster on the tool
head this thing is used to scan the
margins of your cutting area so you know
it's not going beyond the bounds but
more importantly this is used to detect
the height of your stock before a job
you see in 3D printing zero is usually
the bed or the bottom of the vat but
here your material height can change
from one job to the next so this tells
the machine where the starting location
actually is now you can skip this step
if you're using the same material over
and over and that saves a bit of time
but the more I've used it I've learned
just how versatile this tool is to use
there's one other thing that goes with
it there's also a tool setting button in
the back right corner of the bed and
this measures how long a bit is so then
the machine also knows exactly what
height to start cutting from and how
long the bit is so it understands when
the two parts touch now since this is
the first CNC machine I've ever used
I've never had to do this manually but
even as a beginner I can tell it would
be an absolute pain to have to measure
this manually every single time so these
extras probably do save a ton of time
and hassle probably possibly don't know
you tell me and there are two more tools
I'll quickly mention and I've left these
till last because these are optional
extras that you can either buy with the
machine as bundles or you can add them
later now first is the laser module on
the full-size Carver that's built in but
here it's a separate add-on which helps
keeps the price down a little if you
don't need it and then there's the tool
that I love and hate and mostly love the
fourth axis module this lets you spin
stock along the X-axis which is now
going to be known as the Axis and you
can carve it from different angles which
means instead of just working in X Y and
Zed you've now added rotation which is
your fourth axis we'll get more onto
this shortly that's all the hardware out
the way you know what you're getting
here but what's it actually like to use
especially if you've never touched a CNC
before well it's amazing infuriating and
deeply satisfying sometimes all at once
you see at the start I had no clue what
half of this stuff even was so I did
what anyone would do and I sorted all
the parts I didn't understand into one
file and the bits I did into another now
the included manuals help a bit giving
you an overview of the machine and its
software but not much about how to
actually operate it if you've got your
own projects in mind instead they nudge
you towards a set of demo projects the
same ones you've probably seen in half
of the YouTube videos out there and I've
got to be honest it's worth going
through a few of these just to cut your
teeth with CNC machining but I like I
expect with most users ended up living
on the Make Ear wiki with my new best
friend Jason who's featured in all of
the guide videos there's also Rolloff
and I hope I'm pronouncing that
correctly who's likely sick of me by now
after all the support requests I'd sent
trying to push this machine far beyond
its limits we'll we'll get to that now
having spent hours here I'll give you a
quick tip start with the getting started
section obviously and then go to the
how-tos for your particular machine the
Carbara or the Air then either try a few
of the demo projects which are
annoyingly buried at the bottom of the
Air's getting started page or you can
just dive balls deep with Jason's cam
tutorials and sorry for that visual
Jason it's just how I talk if you're new
you probably will find yourself spending
most of your time in those video cam
tutorials and that brings us to software
what the hell is a CAM yeah we need to
talk about CAD CAM and the controller so
CAD is where the design happens computer
AED design where 3D models are made
that's not included here it's completely
its own thing cam is where you convert
those into tool paths and machine
instructions so for 3D printer users
your slicer is a CAM software make a
controller is the actual interface for
the machine it's what runs the job and
moves the hardware again as a 3D printer
comparison this would be your UI or user
interface on these machines you run that
on a separate device like a phone tablet
or computer so yeah make cam is their
slicing software which unlocks
permanently when you connect it to your
machine with the serial number you will
spend most of your time here it's not
like modern 3D printing where you chuck
in a model and hit slice there are
dozens of workflows 2d cuts Vcarves 3D
profiling PCB routting laser engraving
and fourth axis turning across materials
like hardwood soft wood plastic carbon
fiber and soft metals like aluminium and
brass and you need to learn what the
best options for your tasks are and how
to go through all the different
workflows to achieve it now that might
sound like an overwhelming nightmare but
there's two reasons why it's not first
thankfully Make Cara have built-in tool
presets for speeds and feeds but
obviously only for their tools the
second thing we'll come on to shortly
first we need to talk about the ugly
part the software is messy it's not
unusable but definitely buggy in places
between the cam and the controller apps
yes they're separate you've got
mismatched controls awkward scaling
tools firmware updates that never finish
Wi-Fi dropouts strange pathing bugs with
the fourth axis and no early warning if
your job won't even fit on the machine
and that last one is infuriating why let
me go through the entire setup before
telling me it's impossible now I watched
all of the official videos and that took
me nearly 2 days honestly most of my
time using this machine wasn't carving
it was learning their CAM software and
honestly even now every time I hear
someone in the videos say intuitive cam
software it it makes me laugh and not in
a good way now either every other cam
app out there is a comparable fever
dream or may error have just never met a
UX designer now I could make a whole
video absolutely tearing this thing
apart i normally would with 3D printer
reviews but here I'm not going to
because I've got to be honest I get it
this is new a year ago they barely had
anything working six months ago they
only had 2D pathing and if this is the
start of a wave of desktop CNC adoption
then hopefully in 5 years from now we
might actually be where 3D printers are
now and that is exciting i've got to be
objective enough to look at this and go
"Yeah it's not as good as what I've seen
on modern 3D printing but CNC at home
isn't as big as 3D printing." This is an
acceptable start and from what I've read
online you can use third-party cam
software fusion 360 works but it's
prohibitively expensive for the home
hobbyist i have heard of a few free
options but I've honestly no idea where
to begin so if you're experienced please
jump in the comments and tell me and
other comment readers what's good out
there and why and despite the issues I
came across in the CAM software I think
where Mera deserves huge credit is
through its documentation the wiki is
absolutely packed with guides that
actually teach you how to use the
machine and apply it to your own ideas
it's not perfect i've still got no idea
what Max Depth actually does practically
despite seeing it mentioned in half of
the tutorials and videos but it's still
so much more than we get from pretty
much any 3D printer company and if
you're planning to join the Makeer
Facebook group to be part of the
community then this is a great baseline
so please do the community a favor and
check out the wiki guides first just so
we don't get people showing up asking
how to turn it on it took me years to
get comfortable with resin printers
because we had to figure out almost
everything ourselves with the Carva Air
I was up and running in no time
completely autonomously and already
carving things I actually wanted to make
so let's show some of them first off
after the sample pirate map engraved on
epoxy board that is one of the samples
that came out mint I moved on to make
some Final Fantasy emblems and these
were just cheap autogenerated relief
files from Etsy not proper 3D but the
results on soft wood actually look
really great it's nothing fancy but it
was proof that it could handle my own
models straight away now you are meant
to get a pre-cut and pre-drilled waste
board but I didn't so I had to hack one
out of the packing board from the box
lid it worked but only just and the mini
saws they include got to be honest utter
shite again AliExpress level quality of
tools the next thing I tried was a
pocket cut sign for my mate's wedding
card box he'd actually built this rustic
wooden crate and I carved a name plate
for the front i just used the Fusion 360
free version with some YouTube tutorials
exported a step file dropped it into the
cam and ran it super clean finish proper
etched look and I honestly probably
could have sold something like this on
Etsy if I was that guy it really felt
good to make something people actually
wanted this is a machine that could pay
for itself in short time but the thing I
really wanted to try because of my
affinity with 3D models was fourth axis
carving like full 3D models but in wood
just to prove it works and it does as
long as your model wraps around the
central axis the CAM software can handle
it what it doesn't do right now is true
fourth axis movement yet it rotates but
it currently locks the Y-axis so yeah my
Wolverine model ended up with its cowl
wings fused onto the skull but after
pestering Rough long enough they sent me
a proper fourth axis G-code as a preview
of what they've got upcoming in their
CAM software and I got a much better
result in both pine and oak but
unfortunately I broke the oak one on
cleanup and they even ran off a trench
crusade mini for me warning me that I
won't get good detail but honestly the
detail it blew me away yeah it's not
resin level but it's still far sharper
than FDM printers and again it's wood
and who doesn't love getting wood so as
a final showpiece I ran off a larger
Space Marine bust in individual parts
and this was just using the basic
fouraxis rotation for now and whilst it
needed a Dremel to clean it up it still
came out great and it gave me an excuse
to buy a new Dremel and then to finish
off I did have a quick go with the laser
module it mounts easily into the spindle
using the same fruit machine lever and
it runs fine but the safety of it is a
bit weak for example you only get
glasses rather than having shielding
built into the cover it works but it
feels more like a why not add-on than a
core feature but also why not i mean the
wiki shows a great example of projects
which are both mil and lasered on the
one device so that's pretty cool now
honestly in conclusion I think this
machine's brilliant now I've never used
any other desktop CNC so I can't tell
you if it's the best but as a complete
beginner this took me from clueless to
confidently carving my own projects in
just a few days make her let me figure
this out entirely under my own steam and
now I'm part of a buzzing community of
users who are actually excited to help
each other yes there's plenty to improve
but that just tells me this is going to
get better with time the software is
messy buggy and about as intuitive as an
IKEA instruction manual written in
windings but that's all fixable the
important stuff the hardware the
documentation more than anything the
workflow is already miles beyond what
I've seen other brands deliver i think
Maya could learn a lot from the 3D
printing community specifically the
brands and what they've done with the
slicers but I also think all of those
brands in the 3D printing community
could learn a hell of a lot if they
implement one iota of what Maya have
done here in their user guides honestly
I love this probably just because for
once I'm soaring up wood and doing manly
stuff not just winging about plastic toy
soldiers this is one of the coolest
tools I have ever had a play with and if
you're tempted to try one and this video
helped please hit the affiliate link
below before you buy it won't cost you
anything but it throws a few monies my
way and I'll chuck in any available
discount codes in the description too
when I have them and please let me know
in the comments if you want more CNC
content or if you've got other machines
I should try i've got a couple of laser
gadgets lined up and at some point I'll
get back to wargaming maybe i don't know
seriously if you found this helpful and
if you think I did good and or I should
do more like this i'm currently at a bit
of a crisis point in my channel where
I'm having to decide if I'm still a
wargaming channel or more of a general
makers tech reviewer either way I want
to say a massive thanks for watching
with extra love to our channel members
who are on screen now you absolute
legends if you want early access Discord
rolls or your name in the credits yeah
you know what to do until next time I
need a wood related uh quote i am Groot
Fauxhammer out
[Music]