Shapeoko HDM
The heavy-duty Shapeoko: a short, stout gantry built for aluminum, with spindle, VFD and chiller included.
The most serious aluminum machine you can still call a hobby router.
The HDM is what happens when you design a Shapeoko around aluminum instead of plywood. The bed is smaller, the gantry is shorter and much stiffer, and you get a real 1.5 kW water-cooled spindle with its VFD and chiller in the box — which is a lot of the hidden cost of other machines.
It asks more of your shop: a spindle circuit, a couple of outlets, and a chiller to keep topped up. For wood alone it’s overkill. If you want to make aluminum parts that look like they came from a shop, though, this is where I’d start looking.
— Will
What I like
- Spindle, VFD and chiller all included
- Stiffest frame in the Shapeoko family
- Carbide support and training
What I'd watch for
- Smaller bed than cheaper routers
- Chiller adds maintenance
- Needs extra circuits for the spindle
| Work area (X × Y × Z) | 690 × 610 × 145 mm 27.2 × 24.0 × 5.7 in |
|---|---|
| Spindle | 1.5 kW water-cooled VFD spindle up to 24,000 rpm |
| Drive | Ball screw |
| Linear motion | Linear rails |
| Frame | Heavy aluminum extrusion |
| Enclosure | No |
| Tool changer | Manual |
|---|---|
| Controller | Carbide Motion |
| Software | Carbide Create + Carbide Motion |
| Metal | Aluminum, comfortably |
| Footprint | 42 × 38 in |
| Released | 2021 |
Still confirming with Carbide 3D: linear rail size.