cabinet making equipment

[bradcas]

I have a hard to answer question. THe complex where I am working at had a carpenter shop. they closed it many years ago and locked down the tools (table saws, band sawa, lathes, sanders, etc) all top quality. well they want the room and want to get rid of the tools. Since they have not been turned on in years, they are rusty and full of dirt.

what would be a fair price for them?? what percentage of the new price would you offer to them, knowing I have to rent a box truck to move the shop. Probally clean and replace kives/blades/belts.

The tools were bought in the late 90's and 2003.

I will try to troll around craiglist and ebay but some of them I wont find a price for.

thanks

[MarkMc]

A fair price is what you're willing to pay, and they are willing to accept, and that could be too much or too little.

W/o being able to assess the condition[s] it's impossible to say. How much is a $5k table saw worth if you need to put 2, or 22, hours in to putting it back in to service plus the costs of transporting it, and perhaps parts? Are you contemplating the whole lot, or pick and choose? What is your need basis?

[Kent Brobeck]

I have a hard to answer question. THe complex where I am working at had a carpenter shop. they closed it many years ago and locked down the tools (table saws, band sawa, lathes, sanders, etc) all top quality. well they want the room and want to get rid of the tools. Since they have not been turned on in years, they are rusty and full of dirt.

what would be a fair price for them?? what percentage of the new price would you offer to them, knowing I have to rent a box truck to move the shop. Probally clean and replace kives/blades/belts.

The tools were bought in the late 90's and 2003.

I will try to troll around craiglist and ebay but some of them I wont find a price for.

thanks

I'd like to see brands and model numbers but that stuff is probably pre chicom junk. If that's the case it has some value. What's in there?

[bradcas]

I can take as little or all of the tools. As far as brands, they bought all the stuff from the local woodcraft store about 12 years ago. It is all delta or jet. just from my investigation, it appears to be higher end in each line. But what worries me, is that there is surface rust everywhere, table tops, planer heads, etc. I dont want to have to spend a lot of time or $$ fixing and oiling the tools.

thanks
brad

[Joe Adams]

The surface rust will come right off with a R.O. sander. No need to use anything too aggressive. I've used worn out 150 grit pads to clean them up. Treat it with Boeshield afterwards and you should be good to go.

Use a shop vac to remove most of the dust and blow the rest off with compressed air. Wipe everything down with denatured alcohol to remove surface grime.

Depending on the condition, I wouldn't pay more than 50% of new and would try to get them for considerably less. Remember, the prices for these tools was much lower 12 years ago and in most cases today's newer models have improved features.

[Lavrans]

Surface rust is easy. So long as there wasn't a big rain-event in the shop it will all come off with sandpaper. You can also get the 3M pads for most RO sanders- very nice as it won't clog as fast.

That's low end equipment for a cabinet shop. Avoid any of the Grizzly from that era. Anything else, yea, I like Joe's assessment. Since you're also having to move and clean, I wouldn't go over 50% of original price, which would be about 30% of today's prices.

[calvert]

Although the stuff sounds like it is all of the 110/220 volt variety better double check the electrical requirements.

Something else that happened to me last year would make me do a little more checking ....and that is, I purchased a Powermatic #66 tablesaw about 14 years ago and from a shop that used it very little; the saw was used by me lightly for 4 years before I put it to the side and did not use it for 8 years. I took it to a jobsite where I knew we would be for a few years and after using it for a week, the saw stopped operating. I took the motor to a shop and told the owner the situation regarding the limited use and to my surprise, he said that not using the motor for an extended period of time could result in a premature shortening of it's projected lifespan.

A new motor, (Baldor), was in the $ 700.00+ range, a rebuild was about half that. I opted for the rebuild based on the fact that I was told the new Baldor motors of that class were made in Mexico and not holding up to the quality Baldor once displayed. Who knows.....I am not an EE and can't speak to the validity of his assessment of why the motor failed. Maybe someone here can speak with authority on the issue of non-use resulting in failure. Might be worth asking a shop in your area if this is a valid bargaining chip in your favor.

I have done well buying used machines at private sales and auctions. Last year I purchased an Italian sliding table saw that was sold for $ 4,800.00 in 1977 to the prior owner. I paid $150.00 at his auction. There is a lot of good equipment available, just a matter of searching for it. I would not expect everything to work problem free but to negotiate the best deal, I would buy the entire stock.

As far as removing rust, sanding as described above works fine but I have also used WD40 and a razor scraper.

[glass1]

I recently bought a rockwell 12/14 table saw and a makita 15 5/8" planer for $1400. Both units where used in a one man shop. They came in plug it condition no rust. The planer came with 2 sets of blades and required only a small adjustment to the feed rollers. The table saw came with 2 motors one single phase and one three phase. I plugged them in and off they went.

[Hoover]

Use evapo-rust to deal with the rust. Non toxic, won't harm the paint, works great. It is one of the few quality things harbor frieght carries, other sources have it too.

For the price? Depends on specifics but I would say 20-30% of new prices. Used to me are 50% off new, these need some work so dicount accordingly.

[JAlvis]

CHEAP....really CHEAP.

Personally I hate working on tools and have limited time thats better spent working on projects that make me money. If you have the choice to work WITH tools to make money or work ON tools to save money which would you rather do?

Those brands are LOW end in the cabinet business. I can find Powermatic and Jet tools in great condition from hobby shops for 50% off new. By the sounds of the tools your describing I would be going for 20% of new.