Hey guys I feel very special. It seems I have a special release version of the Shapeoko 3 XL. What makes it special you say? Well in all the pictures I see online of the Shapeoko 3, which includes all models, the spindle mount has it’s clamping machine screws on the right hand side. Mine came with screws on the left side, unless the pre-mounted company label is suppose to be upside down, in which case this might be even rarer like the 1918 24 cent US stamp with the inverted Jenny on it!! Do I hear $10,000?
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Installing the spindle carriage plate upside down is a fairly common assembly error — it results in a slight difference in spring tension, and the Z-axis being reversed, see:
http://docs.carbide3d.com/article/176-shapeoko-travel-direction-and-reversal
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Mine is exactly the same…either upside down logo or screws on the left. I have the S3. I don’t think Will understood what you were saying. Will, it’s the spindle mount…the block of aluminum that holds the router in place and not the plates it mounts into.
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OIC, that’s purely cosmetic.
My apologies, as my wife points out, I have no sense of humor, and I never get the joke, and when I try to tell a joke, it always falls flat our out-and-out offends.
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I often tell my wife when we’re at Walmart that she should see if they have any Sense of Humor on sale. She doesn’t find that funny. See what I mean?
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Mine came the same way. I noticed it was different from the instructions but it didn’t seem to make any difference so I went with it.
I also put my spindle in spun 180 degrees so my switch is on the left. It’s easier to get to the way I have my desk set up, so mine is upside down and backwards.
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Just trying to use the proper terminology, according to the Packing List the “Spindle Mount” is Qty 1 and used to hold the router. This equates to that big block of aluminum as point out already. In the pictures of the Shapeoko 3 the company name Carbide 3D label is positioned on this part and the clamping screws are on the right. These pre assembled X and Z Assembly arrived with this label already applied, so unless I wanted Carbide 3D to appear upside down, the screws on mine will be on the left side. Just an observation nothing more, sorry.
Will, I’m guessing tomorrow is not one of your favorite days.
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I just mostly unplug from the internet — though I will admit to having a guilty pleasure in checking out the Lee Valley tool offering for 1 April — they go the whole 9 yards, actually building a tool and making a video of it in use:
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=65357&cat=
(though that one became an actual product)
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Just for the record, I have the deepest respect for your contributions to this forum and all the help and guidance you bring to us users WillAdams sir!
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Me too. Thought it was actually a little odd that the sticker was already on it, because a “Carbide” sticker was in the kit too.
Perhaps you folk who took delivery of the upside-down logo unit actually received the Australian Export model! 
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Maybe this needs more investigation and engineering resolve. the router is spinning clockwise as looked upon from above. The centrifugal forces are thusly spinning clockwise. Should the retaining function of the router holding bolts be best case situated on the right side of the router mount (facing the router from in front) grabbing on the initial side of the counter acting force resisting the centrifugal force or best situated on the receiving side (left side of the router mount as seen facing the router from in front) where the centrifugal force mounts up with the retaining force of the retaining bolts pulling the router mount tight with centrifugal power. Since the word mount has appeared more in the left side discussion I felt it necessary to mount my router mount with the bolts on the left side of the mount resulting in holding power and grip strengrh acting with the centrifugal force pulling the mount tight in conjunction with the router holding bolts. So mine is as you have stated yours and I am in agreement with your statement. Also I noticed that the mounting holes in the backside of the mount are unidistant from either end and horizontally centered and it may be cosmetic which side of the router mount the router holding bolts ends up on. I have delayed the actual sticking on of the Carbide3d Label until such controversies are resolved even though the mounting location of the label is rectangular and either way accepts the sticking on of the “sticker”. I do love the machine and hopefully will be cutting with it tomorow and I will shy away a tab bit from the caffeine…
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