I still see that shipping proofgrade material to Canada is prohibitive. Should I ask if there’s any plan to sort this out? Seems like most, including myself, stopped asking in 2019.
It is silly but I don’t think Canada’s policies have changed. The best answer I have seen is to have a friend (or perhaps a P.O.box, trans shipper etc.) receive it for you and try to make other arrangements from there.
There is also buying in bulk and so dividing the cost across many. I usually try to buy enough to defray the shipping cost.
I don’t think Canada’s policies have anything to do with it. I order a lot of stuff from various US companies and the shipping is reasonable and even sometimes free. Glowforge shipping charges are simply ridiculous.
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Not meant as a slight but this is the same dead end argument as last time. It’s Canada’s fault and you need to work around that. There’s more than one way to solve a problem, this is GF not wanting to solve it.
We have all the source materiel here, the expertise required and a customer base. Make it on this side of the border as GF or find partners that can meet the tolerances required and add them to the store.
I’d take an 80% solution to this over none. This easy access to compatible materiel was part of the sales pitch and it’s still an issue. Best bet ATM is to go to a competitor on the Canadian side that’s not incentivized to make it in our format and if I used that material I’m not covered by GF if something goes wrong.
It’s disappointing that we are still being sold an improved UI that isn’t necessary but the materiel we are on our own.
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Based on the recent changes with the UK, I would guess they are working on similar arrangements with other countries, including Canada. It would be silly for them NOT to, after all.
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Under normal conditions if you buy your stuff from Trotec there is no greater problem than they will not get you a new sheet of material if your machine goes haywire. Otherwise if you are using normal laser materials you will not be violating the warranty. If you are cutting PVC, not so much.
If there I would make friends with a shipper on this side of the border, and if indeed things could be shipped cheaper they would be in a place to do so.
Edit: I found this
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Not much we can do here about the methods GF uses to ship product north other than complain or boycott.
Just have it shipped to a U.S. address, and have the recipient (UPS?) ship it from there. I think one could open a UPS box and arrange to have everything that arrived re-shipped. It would be a monthly fee, but depending on how much you used it could be good or bad.
The primary thing is that folks are afraid if they use Trotec or other sources of wood they would lose the warranty for anything, and this is not so. As Glowforge has no control over any but their own product they insist on being able to decide if you were an idiot to use something that killed the machine on a case by case basis. I cannot believe I would not want to do the same thing in their shoes. Given that however I have seen them be generous in all but the most extreme circumstances. Many I would have felt less generous for the attitude of the complainer, and iffyness of the cause.
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Yeah there is no way I’m going to pay a monthly fee so I can order the odd thing from GF. It just kind of pains me to know I have over $450 in credits I can’t use. I can put them toward parts should I ever need any but they can’t be used for the shipping costs associated with any purchase. I mean come on, $89 shipping charge for a $15 lens tool? In what universe is that ok?
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SMH If I had $450 just sitting there and the only actual options were to spend $100 to use it or dump it in the trash, I would of course seek a different option but if it came down to that the decision would be an easy one.
Well I don’t plan on dumping anything in the trash. If I need a part I’ll order it. I won’t order proof grade material.
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^^^This
Shipping is not increased a lot by volume so spending the whole thing at once has shipping take a much smaller bite. That was my main thought. not really about what was bought. Going down the rabbit hole with someone from UPS might be worth the effort for someone from Canada, and posting the results back here even better.
I am not at the point of the blade in any case so just offering help 
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Eventually the squeaky wheel gets the oil 
They let that wheel grind to dust last time. They’ve shown there is no answer to questions they don’t like OR it’s a set position of “not our fault” and then nothing.
Lets see if it’s different this time.
I’m not holding my breath but eventually things may change? We can only hope I guess.
The 110% solution is to ignore proofgrade materials entirely and source materials local to you. Cheaper than proofgrade and no shipping at all.
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I don’t have the workshop or other tools to get it to the right format. 140lb cardstock is easy enough but other material cut to size ends-up costing more. At that I’ve found it less consistent than laser specific products. Trotek isn’t terrible but in awkward shapes.
What are you doing? Local Home Depot (or equivalent), pickup/van and then cut to size yourself?
What GF offers is worth it for people like me if you excluded the shipping. I really should ask Trotek if they could supply standard GF formats knowing there’s a customer base. Laser safe, more choice, reasonably priced. I’d use my machine more.
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I have a pro so can handle length, but when I find decent 4’x8’ plywood 5-19" panels x 48" leaves one inch to take up 4 cuts which is just about right. A little geometry and those powered hand saws could make quick work at whatever height you need without needing the space to toss about big sheets, or have a table saw. With the pro I just cut off what I need, and of all the special features I use it the most.
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There are literally hundreds of Etsy and equivalent sellers using the 12x20 format. There are sellers on Amazon.ca.
Yes it sucks that shipping to CA is so high - but it’s not like it’s not easy to get wood in the right sizes from the right side of that border!
Here’s a huge conversation about alternate suppliers - I bet you can get what you need.
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