If it were me, and the Shapeoko3 XXL was available when I purchased my X-carve, I would have bought the Shapeoko. As mentioned before, they are essentially a upgraded X-carve out of the box. They run 9mm belts, larger pulleys, stronger extrusions, inboard and larger steppers, etc. For the money and time I’d probably just start with the Shapeoko at the moment. I’m sure Inventables next generation X-carve will be a proper competitor, but at the moment these machines are at different generations. As far as the Z-axis, the X-carve’s Z axis is the weakest part of the machine. It’s a pretty poor design from a rigidity standpoint. I would say both machines would benefit from a linear Z, so I would not let that be the deciding factor.
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