Although it's a little lonely 2 car garage with 3 cars in it, it's full of awesome machinery.... My pride is the Southbend 10K I got for my x-mas present. Next on my wish list is a knee mill. Where do you guys have luck finding these? I want some sort of a Bridgeport M head or such (love the 40's machines) but somewhat close to Abq. In no way is this intended to be a classified ad; I'm merely asking where to look? I've tried Ebay local search, Craigslist, local auction houses (actually going thursday but the machines they have I learned on in school, literally... ack!) tried local papers. Am I crazy? What would a good used Knee mill go for? Thanks! <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
You can get a decent used Bridgeport for $1000-$1200 but you have to look for a long time. I paid $1000 for mine. Unfortunately, it didn't have any tooling, that's what kills you. I've always had good luck finding machinery, but I've worked in industrial plants for years and that helps. Look into any local plants that have a maintenance shop. Once in a blue moon, they'll upgrade to a new mill or something. CL is good, as is eBay. Your problem is that you want to stay local. I'm sorry, but NM isn't exactly known for it's manufacturing. Where there is manufacturing, there are machine shops to support it. Call the local shops, i've bought a few things from some before. Depends on if they are upgrading and if they are hurting. Most machinists are packrats when it comes to tools and never get rid of nothing unless they're hurting. Personally, I'd travel for the right deal. I once bought an old Niagra mechanical shear for cheap on eBay in Iowa. I live in central Texas. That is a long ass drive. Made it there with a buddy in one day and hauled it back the next. With diesel and all I have $1600 in it. At one time, I couldve probably got most of my $ back scrapping it because it ways over 6000 lbs. Lol. However, it's in good shape and perfect for my needs. If I were you, I'd look at least in el paso and Phoenix, too. Driving a few hundred miles to get a good mill is a no brainer. Finding all the pieces to the puzzle is tough and it takes a few years. I've been looking for a good Chicago dries and krumpf 4 foot 12 gauge box and pan brake for years and stil haven't found a decent one for the right price and when I do, I'm broke. Lol. Ain't that always the case? Lol.
What's wrong with the machines you learned on in school? Especially if you like old iron? Schools are a great place to find old stuff, especially if it was purchased new by the school as they really do not get all that much use. The stuff I used in high school were clapped out WWII vets donated by local industry. They won the war but deserved a medal for self sacrifice. There were a couple of exceptions, a South Bend 10" and Cinncy 2MH I would take in a heartbeat. The cost of a knee mill usually varies a lot. Home shop guys are in love with Bridgeports. They are a middling good type of mill, but go for top prices. A clapped out Bridgeport will most often bring more than a mid life vertical Cinncy, Tree, Gorton or Index, all of which are better mills. A buddy bought a terrific Index combination vertical/hortizontal from a dealer for $3,500. It still meets new machines specs. You just have to get past the shitty two tone paint job. Poorly reconditioned B'ports were priced at $2,000 and up. Mostly up. The "M" B'ports are a lighter machine and not as poplular, I'd guess you could get a nice one for about 1/2 that. A very good place to find used machinery is factorys that did their own machine repair work. They have about every kind of basic machine tool there is, but are used only occasionally. As a result, they can be ancient and still be in top shape, unlike machines from machine shops. They use the equipement hard, every day. Bill
Sammy g, You can also go to the chip makers social group and ask around on there. Somebody might know someone with one for sale.
Here in Indy, the local paper has an entire page every Sunday devoted to auctions. Almost every week there is a listing for some machine shop or fab shop going out of business (bankruptcy, foreclosure, owner retiring, etc.) and auctioning its equipment. The biggest drawback to this method is the time it takes waiting for your item to come up plus not knowing if it'll go for your price.
You can check the INDUSTRIAL MACHINE TRADER a weekly mag I get and you can also try the machinery dealers in your area. In Ohio.....There are more than most AREAS. kEEP SEARCHING ...and good luck
I'am a machinist by trade and I have found some really good machines at my local scrap yard. They sell it by the pound. People takes old machines there. My have to clean them up or put a motor on it. It is still cheaper than buying a new one.
Here in the Tampa area they have the "Tampa Machinery Auction". Usually it's fleet vehicles, dozers, track hoes, and a few regular cars and trucks, but I've seen shop machinery for sale there also. If you can't find anything local in the trade mags or papers, try calling around to the police departments, phone companies, electric companies, etc., to see where they sell off their old equipment. Alot of the auction companies deal with shop and commercial business items too. If you have storage units in your area, they usually have once a month auctions for the siezed units that someone quit paying for. I've bought entire units full of stuff for 20-30 dollars. Some owners will open the door for viewing, but no picking through until the auction is over. Sometimes there's a bunch of junk you have to get rid of, but I've also found alot of tools buried under that junk. A big Craftsman roll around toolbox full of tools, grinders, band saws, welding equipment, etc. I take the junk to the dump for $10.00, and donate the clothes and household goods to the Goodwill store.
http://www.hgrindustrialsurplus.com/ this place is by me in cleveland. not sure how far that is for you. this place is huge i mean HUGE!!!! and 1/2 the stuff is not on the site. thats where i plan to get my mill and lathe.
I'll second that! Anyone near OHIO needs to drop by HGR once. I've drug more than my fair share of machines and tooling out of there. Every week it's different.
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