Well it took closer to 11 months, but here is a video of me putting the LR3 into temporary storage. From fully functional to fully stowed away is only 3 minutes 30 seconds.
The wooden blocks you see at about the 1 minute mark have a slot routed on the inside so the side mounted belt doesn’t get crushed against the side of the table.
It was sent via Fedex Ground. It was originally scheduled to take 7 days, then it was updated to take only 4 days, then it was later updated to take 6 days (it arrived at the end of day 6)
I haven’t received an invoice yet for brokerage and taxes yet. But it is coming.
According to their fee schedule, I’m expecting (CDN $):
$11.40 Disbursement Fee
$21.25 Clearance Entry Fee
$16.50 Other Government Agency Fee (may not apply)
12% actual taxes (probably compounded to include the above fees, along with the actual value of the item)
It would have been cheaper to have it sent to my mail drop at the border, but after hearing a lot of horror stories recently, I’m trying to avoid interacting with US Border Agents and ICE as much as possible.
Wow you guys okay? In Germany I fought DHL for taking 6€ for doing the customs stuff for me and registered as a Selbstverzoller (so I’d have to pick it up myself from the customs office) so I didn’t have to pay it because I hate people taking money without asking… Looking at your fees, my 6€ are just fine… plus taxes, obviously… 
Yeah, me too. This time Fedex did tell me up front that I would have to pay some fees. They just didn’t specify how much they would be.
I once had an item arrive that cost more in brokerage fees than it did for the purchase, shipping and taxes combined. I was pretty choked about that.
Now, whenever possible, I either have the shipper use USPS/Canada Post (fees are about 30% of Fedex/UPS), or have it shipped to my US mailbox and walk it across the border ($4 CDN per package, usually no taxes if it is less than $200 US). But the changes in attitude at the border have me avoiding that
It looks fantastic, but I’m afraid you are going to explain what air assist is for! 
On a laser engraver/cutter, a focused air blast along the laser beam is used (should be, some cheap engravers don’t have one) to blow smoke away and somewhat to burn the workpiece faster.
Ah thanks, I thought it was a reference to something in the poker table! 
Well, good poker players are sometimes referred to as “sharks”…
Well, I got my laser hooked up!!!
I had to modify and print a couple of 3D parts to make it work.
First up was to print another Mobile Base for @DougJoseph’s Kinematic (magnetic) Tool Holder. I modified the part so that it had hexagonal insets in three places to hold the nuts. I placed them to match the screw holes in the sliding base that came with the laser.
The sliding base is a great accessory. It allows you to set the Z axis in a location reasonably close to where you need it, then simply release the locking screws to allow the laser to drop to the exact height above the cutting surface that you want, using acrylic spacers that come with the laser.
Second print that I needed to modify was the SKR Controller Chassis. My original V1E supplied 24V 60W Power Supply was too small capacity to power both the controller and the laser. The new 240W unit was too big to fit between the strut braces like the original, so I modified the controller chassis to have the power supply fit underneath the controller PCB.
It took a few iterations to adjust the laser settings (power level, speed, overscan, etc.) to a point where it was darkening the wood enough, but wasn’t cutting too deep or burning in the darker areas.
These are a couple of ornaments that my wife wanted me to make so that she could hang them on a mobile type decoration.
The loon came out a bit light on this cut, the previous attempt was a bit darker, so I may need to tweak the settings a bit.
Congrats on the great progress!
Finally got an invoice from Fedex (had to call them 5 weeks after delivery, never did arrive before the latest postal strike).
As anticipated, actual taxes to the government on the original shipment were $9.89 CDN, and the fees that Fedex charged were $32.65 CDN (plus another $1.63 CDN in taxes on their fees). This on declared value of $82.40 CDN. So fees and taxes were >50% of the purchase price.
I did some research, and next time I can hopefully do a “self clearance”, where I pay the tax directly to CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency), and avoid the brokerage fees entirely.
If you are in Alberta you have other avenues to fight UPS https://youtu.be/gKju9a4lA5I?si=Prmcp7NwZyV4GiRF
https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/laws/stat/rsa-2000-c-c-26.3/latest/rsa-2000-c-c-26.3.html
Well, maybe the guy won his his case (I didn’t watch the whole thing), but he makes some spurious claims. UPS doesn’t charge any more than Fedex, so the main basis of his claim doesn’t hold a lot of water.
In the case of Fedex, they actually called me to ask who I wanted to clear the package. I didn’t want to take the time to research and hire another broker, who would probably charge a lot of money themselves, and hiring a third party broker would have added several days of delay in receiving the package. I didn’t consider the self-clearance option at the time, so I authorized them to do the brokerage.
I went to the Fedex website, and found the charges clearly posted (although it took a bit of searching). I knew the fees were coming, and I knew roughly how much they would be. I’m not overly happy about it, but my eyes were open going in.
In addition, most vendor’s shipping policies clearly state (for those who bother to read it) that the receiver will be liable for any duties, taxes, and fees for clearance at the international border.
That pretty much eliminates any basis for me to dispute the charges, so there isn’t really anything to “fight”.
I suspect if the guy in the video bothered to look, he would have found out the same information for UPS on their website, and if he compared it to Fedex, he would have found out that the fees are pretty similar. He also seemed to know going in that there would be fees if the shipper used UPS, so it’s not like the fees were really a “surprise”.
It’s too bad that Canada Post is on strike all the time, but in recent years they also are charging brokerage and disbursement fees, although usually less than Fedex or UPS. And they won’t release any packages until the taxes and fees are paid. At least Fedex delivered the package and then sent an invoice by mail (which, ironically, I couldn’t get right away, because Canada Post is on strike again).
Just to note, if there is nobody to pay CBSA the taxes owing, then you will never get the package. Clearing the package is not always a trivial exercise, as it requires filling out government paperwork, and requires a fairly detailed knowledge of HS Codes among other things.
I am getting a package sent from overseas in a few weeks, and even though the vendor will be sending it via Fedex (from India), I researched which HS codes will apply, and asked the vendor to mark the Fedex waybill with “Self Clearance”. Hopefully I’ll only have to pay the $4 tax this time, but it will require me travelling to my nearest CBSA office (about a 30 minute drive away) to fill out the paperwork and pay the taxes owing. For a lot of people, they would probably rather just pay the brokerage fee to save themselves the hassle.
Edit - images removed due to copyright concerns
Project officially finished!
Shuffle up and deal!
Project officially awesome.
Looks great! Impressive work!
That’s brilliant! Now cam I please see your plans for the rest of the room? 
Post it under “Things you’ve made” so it gets added to the gallery. 
Flawless, amazing work! You are not going to be able to keep a poker face when playing on that because you will be grinning ear to ear.
So is the felt a custom order? Completely Awesome!
