i have been importing things for 30+ years (for business) and there has always been VAT on the shipping as well as the goods. They don’t always separate them and tend to just give the total they are assessing the VAT on.
VAT is a fact of life, just factor it in to the budget and be happy.
If you bought the unit from a UK distributor, there would still be VAT on it PLUS their markup for importing it, stocking it and re-shipping it to you.
We’ve had some folks ask about printing the manual — here’s a link to a PDF version of the current instructions which should print well:
That’s nice. Why wouldn’t Carbide include a troubleshooting matrix with their understanding of the high-frequency issues thus far??? I would expect the company and its customers would benefit from doing so.
Please let me know your e-mail address in a PM and I’ll try to check w/ the rest of the team on what is happening with your ticket.
Another easy mounting option I like to use is laying painters tape across the holes and rubbing with pencil and then putting the tape directly on the wall. 
I love that it’s May and this thread is still alive and kicking!
I ordered my 5 pro a few days ago. Now the hardest part, the waiting! I plan to use it for aluminum and wood so hopefully with the help of this forum I can make some interesting projects. Can’t wait to get it and get to cutting! My shapeoko 3 xxl with the z plus has been flawless the 2.5 years that I’ve had it, which is why I came back to carbide 3d when it was time for an upgrade.
The SO3 is a great machine. If you dont have room for it it will sell easily on craigslist or other market places.
Today I sent an email to my woodworkers club about a Nova Lathe I wanted to sell. It sold in about 15 minutes. Weeee. If it did not sell to a club member I was going to list it on craigslist. The thing about craigslist is your Shapeoko wont sell in 15 minutes. Price it with a little wiggle room and with in a month the first person that actually comes and looks at it will likely buy it. The thing about craigslist is people expect wiggle room so give yourself some room to negotiate. People like to think they go over on you about price.
Interesting. I have a Nova DVR lathe with extras that I have been considering selling. I was into lathe work at one point but have not used this one in many years and just don’t know if I would ever get back to it.
I did buy my Pro XXL from Craig’s list BTW and it was only list for 45 minutes when I nabbed it. 
That is great that you got it early. I live in a more rural area and the market of people that want a CNC is much less than if I lived in a big city. I have bought and sold a lot of woodworking equipment over the years. My strategy is to hold firm for at least a month and I have always sold whatever it was for the asking price. I do research what the equipment is worth and the general woodworking equipment is wider than the CNC market. However I always sell my stuff and get out of my shop.
The DVR lathe is a great lathe and you should be able to sell it and regain some of your investment.
I sold my Nova 16-44 for $1800.00 and reclaimed the space. I recently got a 20" Grizzly planner and it takes up a tremendous amount of floor space. My Nova was collecting dust because I have a Jet 12-21 Variable Speed lathe that really fits my needs better. I have been doing woodworking for 45+ years and occasionally you have to evaluate our shop layout and equipment and recycle some equipment.
I will attach the PDF for the lathe to give you an idea what your DVR might be worth. The DVR is basically a 16-44 with the DVR motor drive.
nova_16-24_lathe.pdf (505.3 KB)
I know the lathe talk is off subject but it is related to being able to sell your SO3.
After I got my SO5 put together I thought a lot about what I would do with my SO3 … in the end I decided to convert my SO3 to a 4/5 axis router. Currently rebuilding it in that direction. To generate tool paths, I bought the DeskProto Multi-Axis (Hobby version) CAM program from the UK. This ought to be fun … 
SMW Fixture Plates almost available! If someone has invested in their plates for other Shapeoko machines, I’d be interested to hear if it was worth the cost.
The s5 pro has arrived! Hoping to get the table built tomorrow and start playing by the end of the weekend!
Well, it took me several days to get it done, but the s5 is finally put together! I haven’t cut anything yet, but my initial impressions are:
It’s larger in person than I expected but that isn’t a bad thing!
It’s beefy and heavy because of this. It isn’t the easiest thing to lift, even with 2 people.
And it’s loud! I was shocked at how loud this thing is. Definitely much louder than my s3 xxl. An enclosure is next to build to cut down on the noise.
It went together fairly straightforward. I was missing 1 mdf slat but C3D customer support overnighted it to me. Then I realized the Makita router I had planned on using didn’t have a long enough cord. Ordering a C3D router put me back another 2 days. No big deal and support to this point has been great, just as it was 3 years ago when I got my s3.
Did you make those custom cabinets?
I will note that some folks use a Makita by running the power cord for it up to the ceiling along the vacuum hose.
I did, for my SO3 originally. The base cabinet and torsion box are original, the top box is new.
I’m curious about the “loud” comment, what specifically was louder on the S5 than the S3? I assume the router is the same volume, so was it the electronics, the ball screws, the rail movement?
The motion system is more rigid, so the motor noise goes through the machine. In our prior machines, the belts were kind of a buffer for the noise. It’s not a thing you hear with the spindle/router/vacuum on.
