Almost 2 months ago I wanted to order a Shapeoko 4 XL, after experimenting a year with a cheap 4030 from SainSmart I decided to upgrade to a better machine. After a lot of reading and watching YT videos I decided to order my Shapeoko 4 XL. That’s where the waiting began. No one seemed to have any stock in Europe, I contacted Shapeoko and they told me to order from their European partner RobotShop, so I did. After waiting around 2 months they promised me that there would be new stock in early October. Quite a long wait but hey, I wanted my 4 XL so I accepted. yesterday I got an email from RobotShop that my order has been postponed again and that they expected a new shipment early December, but no guarantee, it could also be later.
I cancelled my order today with RobotShop, I don’t want to wait that long anymore without any guarantee that it will be coming this time. Are supplies that bad with Shapeoko or is it just the European market or RobotShop? I am very disappointed and I’m going to look for another more reliable brand that can deliver a good CNC machine around the same price level.
I’m in France and got my first Shapeoko (SO3 at the time) directly from Carbide3D site. The shipping and taxes stung, but not more than going through a reseller, and it got here quickly.
A friend of mine got his SO3 XXL through Robotshop (about two years ago) and got it quickly too. Maybe Robotshop ran out of stock and are waiting to buy bulk (I have no info, just a guess).
If they did a poor job that’s too bad, maybe consider ordering direct from C3D, else have fun with another machine!
No luck, they can ship direct but additional costs add up to a 20% price increase. (import duties, taxes and shipping costs) I am looking in Belgium right now to get one…
Not a great answer but FWIW, there are local alternatives to Carbide 3D machines which might be easier to obtain. There was more discussion over in this thread.
The thing is, after a lot of consideration, watching and reading reviews etc. Shapeoko 4 XL was my choice. I haven’t found anything comparable so far. I’m trying to find one in surrounding countries like Belgium and Germany…
Did you do your research in German as well? Sorotec, ISEL and Stepcraft are all German companies, so you may not have come across them if you were only reading in English or Dutch (though I’d have thought the Dutch would be more inclined towards the local machines than the American ones).
Sorotec’s alternative to the Shapeoko 4 XL for example would probably be this. It looks more expensive than the Shapeoko 4 XL kit but it includes a router and toolprobe, it’s ballscrew driven instead of belt driven and it uses a controller that’s substantially nicer than Carbide Motion.
Stepcraft’s alternatives would be D-series or M-series. The former is a tad cheaper than the Shapeoko 4 XL, the latter a bit more expensive. The most interesting thing about the latter machine is that with an accessory, it can be mounted to floors and walls.
Anyhow, by all means, if you like the Shapeoko, go ahead but you said you hadn’t seen “anything comparable” and I think there are reasonable European alternatives.
(closing this thread as we seem to have properly covered the original question/comment now, and while there is a tolerance about discussing comparative value of various machines, I’d like to avoid future posts that would cross that line. If anyone needs to add anything to this thread let me know in a PM)