International purchasing

[Aussie-Jeeper]

Hi All..
Ive been looking around at CNC machines for a while now and have decided on the Shark Pro PLUS..
Are there any international users here on the forum that have purchased direct from Next wave?
Just wondering if it would be feasible to purchase and ship direct from Next wave to Brisbane Australia?
Thanks

[RhB_HJ]

Hi Andy,

I forget on which forum I read it, but one Aussie who ran into problems with the controller on a Shark was referred to the official agent/importer for OZ. But there is no dealer/importer list on the Next Wave site, I guess Tim will have the answer.

[Aussie-Jeeper]

Thanks HJ,

Unfortunately i cant afford the prices the AU dealer is selling the sharks for.. Their prices are near double the US pricing, and considering the AU dollar is at parity or better to the US dollar i don't see the economy of buying locally.

Thanks for your reply.

[Sharkman82]

Aussie-Jeeper, I was in the same mindset before purchasing my shark (standard 6 x 3) off a dealer in Perth. Although their is not a huge deal of support (1 guy with all the knowledge) and more expensive, i bit the bullet as nothing beats support or local warranty. I calculated buying direct from the states, running at 5% import on the shark plus all the other charges and I could have got the pro plus for the cost of my standard. If you do go with importing, make sure you get a 240v power supply (my shark came in a box marked "CNC shark - Aus 240v" or something) and get the router here.

[bentcreations]

I live in sydney and we just bought our shark pro plus from rockler in the states, considering you cant get them over here. We ended up paying close to 6 grand for ours by the end of it. International shipping was like $600 and the customs bill was about $950 including the GST component and delivery to our door. Anything worth over $1000 you have to pay GST on. When we got it there was a little damage on the base where someone had obviously dropped it but it didnt effect anything. I think we got lucky, considering some of the stories ive read about people in the states receiving theres with heaps of damage.
It was well worth the extra effort to get the pro plus. Its so much more professional than the 2 previous models and all you have to do to it when u get it is take the cover off the driver box and flick the switch over to 240v.

[Aussie-Jeeper]

Thanks for your reply "bentcreation"..

I attempted to have a Shark demo from the Au dealer... what a let down. The machine was not complete.. it had the router and some other fittings missing. All that the demo of the machine entailed was to "jog" it around a bit!. i don't think the AU dealer is serious about the shark at all.

The software demo was all that could be shown. However i have the trial version of the vetric software and have been playing with that for a couple of months. So that really didn't show me anything new.

I will be talking to an import company next week about the pros and cons of bringing one in.

Andy

[Sharkman82]

Bent creations, 6k is not bad considering its the pro plus. Mine worked out to be about $4.5k or $4.8k cant remember! The bed on the shark and shark pro is pretty ordinary so I've made a complete new one with a 16mm MDF board and a 9mm sacrificial board on top with veritas T-slot channel on all sides for hold down. Also the bosch router is great but upgrading to a spindle router would be a better option which I will be doing next week. So add $450 for a good bed and spindle motor to a shark/shark pro and your getting close to what you would pay for an international shark plus import...

[dggt6]

Hello Aussie-Jeeper & bentcreations,
Carba-Tec are the people selling the Sharks in Aus.

Aussie-Jeeper, a friend of mine works in a hardware store and tells me that he could not get the Bosch trimmer for a while and I remember reading that someone in The States was having trouble getting brushes for his. Maybe Bosch is /was out of stock? The aussie Bosch router is not the same model as the the US model. Variable speed in the US I think.

When I was looking at CNCs, I got very bored just looking at the machines work (or jog). It didn't show me anything. The machine works, I just needed to know how to control it. Like you I downloaded the demo software and learnt it "all" even before I had a machine! With the uses for the machine so varied I wouldn't even expect Tim Owens to be able to answer my questions let alone a salesman. My brother is a fitter and turner using CNCs and he wasn't much help either!
I did find this forum and others very useful, reading what other people have done and had trouble with was valuable.
There is a nice "user report" from a school in one of the Australian wood work magazines just out. Read it in a newsagents but cant remember which magazine.

I too found the cost of bringing one in myself was not going to save me a great deal and then there was the warranty issues etc etc.

Good luck with your purchases. I am sure you will have great fun with the Shark which ever way you purchase it.

Cheers
Doug

[bentcreations]

So Carbatec are now selling the shark pro plus in Australia. Problem solved.

[dggt6]

Whoops, I know they have have the Shark and the Shark Pro, don't know if they have the Plus.(yet?)
Do you think the Plus is worth it? I am not convinced about the table. I like keeping metal to a minimum where my programming may go astray. That goes for the table as well as the "clamps".
If the table is made up from bolted together extrusions, is it going to be really flat?
I suppose it will depend on what type of work you are doing and the best way to hold it.

Cheers
Doug