The X-Carve is a popular open source 3D carving machine, capable of producing parts out of wood, plastic and soft metal with automation and precision. It is essentially a standard hand-held router with 3-axis computer-controlled motion.

The kit came in a huge box of intricate parts and fairly clear instructions. Building it was good fun.

Initial tests have been successful. The only problem I’ve found is the noise made by the router. In future I will probably upgrade to a quieter spindle.