Valuing second hand tools (e.g. micro lathe)

[Davi]

selling some of my old modelling tools to fund new camera purchase - but no idea how to price them really. I've got a proxxon lathe that whilst relatively old has had a fairly easy life, was around £900 new... haven't found any yet to compare prices with! Anyone in the trade that knows their value?

[freecar]

Having always maintained an interest in lathes and mills since my college days, I would say that your lathe in good condition could be worth £6-700! Micro lathes are hard to come by and hold their money very well. Most new ones today are made in china and have plastic parts inside for weakness!

what features does your lathe have?

What kind of tool post?

How do you level the tool? (thread or shims?)

How many speeds and how are they adjusted?

Screw cutting? Metric and imperial?

Powered feed? Across and along the job?

How long is the bed? gap bed?

Largest diameter it can turn?

Answer those and we'll have a better idea!

[G20]

Bet you weren't expecting that as a first reply.

[dilbert]

If you want to get an idea of second hand values, check out the following;

www.gandmtools.co.uk

I'd say £2-300 max.

[freecar]

dilbert said:

If you want to get an idea of second hand values, check out the following;

www.gandmtools.co.uk

I'd say £2-300 max.

The page you linked had no micro/model lathes which goes to show how hard to come by they can be.

Looking online for the make, there are a few models available and they seem pretty good, if it's the bigger one, You'd probably get £500 for it!

[Davi]

Blimey! Mine is a PD 210 e - which you'll struggle to find much info on, but I have been told it is almost identical other than some minor amendments (and is in fact the predecessor to) the PD 230e - this one:

http://www.proxxon-direct.com/acatalog/lathe_pd_23...

It's in pretty good nick really, nice and tight, paint is a bit marked in places but even that isn't too bad and nothing that couldn't be rescued.

Funny you should mention the chinese stuff - I bought this specifically because I'd tried a couple of the £300-£400 ones, and they were just utter crap, totally useless. This is in a different league.

[SeeFive]

Based on what my dad used to say, I'd be looking to pay up to a 1/3 of original price for used tools, assuming that they were in good condition and not too old - and given the manufacturer was not a Chinese hobby brand.

Having said that, my workshop was kitted out in new machinery bought over time. I've never bought a second hand tool that I can remember other than a manufacturer refurbished and would-be-very-expensive-new, heavy duty router. A mate of mine sold a nice Kity table saw and a good Axminster 6" jointer and got very good money for it on ebay - probably 60% of new price.

One thing is for sure, you will not get more than you advertise it for, so don't be too pessimistic unless you need a quick sale.

Good luck.

[rfisher]

freecar said:

Mmmmmmmmmmmm lathes.

Now that I've looked at the link - I'm adding a micro lathe to my list of midlife crisis toys.

[Davi]

rfisher said:

freecar said:

Mmmmmmmmmmmm lathes.

Now that I've looked at the link - I'm adding a micro lathe to my list of midlife crisis toys.

I know where there is a nice one going you can have

Have to admit, I really don't want to sell it, or the mill, or the Hegner scroll saw times are tight though and I really would like to take my photography to the next level.

[DrMekon]

That looks lovely. However, as being unskilled, there's one thing better than a lathe, and that's a skilled neighbour with a lathe.

No, I am not selling mine (ex aircraft engineer, has double height workshoop in his garden, restores 60's motocross bikes as a hobby).

[dilbert]

freecar said:

dilbert said:

If you want to get an idea of second hand values, check out the following;

www.gandmtools.co.uk

I'd say £2-300 max.

The page you linked had no micro/model lathes which goes to show how hard to come by they can be.

Looking online for the make, there are a few models available and they seem pretty good, if it's the bigger one, You'd probably get £500 for it!

Perhaps, but they do sell stuff like Schaublin (Anglo Swiss), and they're pretty much the Rolls Royce of small lathes for modelling and watch making. For a nice second hand Schaublin, you're talking perhaps £4000, and new it would have been something like 10K.

All I'd say is that for most model making work the Myford is the de-facto standard. A Myford will always fetch good money unless it's in a really bad state. The Myford new would have been something like 4K and nice second hand would be about £1000.

If you want to maximise the money you get, I'd go for e-bay.

Edited by dilbert on Friday 6th August 14:33

[The Black Flash]

dilbert said:

All I'd say is that for most model making work the Myford is the de-facto standard. A Myford will always fetch good money unless it's in a really bad state. The Myford new would have been something like 4K and nice second hand would be about £1000.

When I was looking last year, they were a touch less than that - 6-800 for a Myford 7 seemed to be pretty standard.

[dilbert]

The Black Flash said:

dilbert said:

All I'd say is that for most model making work the Myford is the de-facto standard. A Myford will always fetch good money unless it's in a really bad state. The Myford new would have been something like 4K and nice second hand would be about £1000.

When I was looking last year, they were a touch less than that - 6-800 for a Myford 7 seemed to be pretty standard.

There's a lot of scope for variability. Certainly an ML7 would be around that. The Super7 is around 1K the Super7B is about 1500, and the Super 7B Long bed 2K. With the 7 the accessories dictate a lot too. Certainly you want to get a faceplate, but you really want to be looking to get a decent Burnerd 3 and 4 jaw in the deal. I think the faceplate is about £50, but nice chucks ought to add 150-200. Also the stand. A decent stand, on it's own is £90-120.

Things like the vertical slide and the dividing head are purely optional.

Edited by dilbert on Friday 6th August 16:31

[Davi]

Dad has an immaculate super7b with most everything going except the dividing head-beautiful bit of kit! (I won't upset you by saying how cheaply he got it!)

Not much good for what I wanted the lathe for though, waaaay to big!

[dilbert]

Davi said:

Dad has an immaculate super7b with most everything going except the dividing head-beautiful bit of kit! (I won't upset you by saying how cheaply he got it!)

Not much good for what I wanted the lathe for though, waaaay to big!

My own Super7, it's not in the best of condition, but it's quite reasonable.
I got that for £400.

I'm not talking about the "quiet market", I'm talking about the "open market".

[freecar]

If you've got the room for a floorstanding model, then there are plenty of quality machines available for little money. I just wish I had the space for a large one!

Put your little one on ebay and you could be surprised what you get!

[Davi]

aye, onto ebay it goes over the weekend! Fingers crossed someone out there isn't feeling the pinch in the wallet quite so badly

[Nickyboy]

I'd suggest eBay, as long as you stipulate collection and cash on collection you shouldn't have any problems other then the final value fee.

I've just sold 3 things on behalf of my brother, a used biscuit jointer that sold for £10 more than it costs new A planer/thicknesser that sold for £40 less than the new price despite being 5 years old and a huge radio controlled boat in a bad state that needed stripping down and completely rebuilding sold for £35 less than it would have cost new with all parts

Its a funny old world

[wrinx]

The Black Flash said:

dilbert said:

All I'd say is that for most model making work the Myford is the de-facto standard. A Myford will always fetch good money unless it's in a really bad state. The Myford new would have been something like 4K and nice second hand would be about £1000.

When I was looking last year, they were a touch less than that - 6-800 for a Myford 7 seemed to be pretty standard.

You're right, I bought mine early last year for around £600 iirc, better ones (nicer paint!) were going for £800-1000...but this year they seem to have gone up a bit more from what I've seen. Very good little lathe imho

wrinx

[Riff Raff]

wrinx said:

The Black Flash said:

dilbert said:

All I'd say is that for most model making work the Myford is the de-facto standard. A Myford will always fetch good money unless it's in a really bad state. The Myford new would have been something like 4K and nice second hand would be about £1000.

When I was looking last year, they were a touch less than that - 6-800 for a Myford 7 seemed to be pretty standard.

You're right, I bought mine early last year for around £600 iirc, better ones (nicer paint!) were going for £800-1000...but this year they seem to have gone up a bit more from what I've seen. Very good little lathe imho

wrinx

TThis is going right off topic, but the problem with the Myfords you see on eBay is that you don't really know what you've bought until you get it home and start to make chips with it. I speak from experience. I bought a cheap and cheerful one that was, not to put to fine a point on it, scrap. The bed had been regound way past Myford's recommended maximum at some point in its life.

I ended up scrapping it, and to avoid making the same mistake again, I bought a re-built Super 7 from Myford themselves. It was expensive, but I know it's straight, and if I can't turn parallel on it, it's my fault and not the machine. Here's a gratuitous shot of it just after I installed it. It has now been upgraded with a Newton Tesla VFD 3 phase motor and Inverter, which transforms the lathe.

Anybody want a single phase Myford motor and switchgear?