Am I dumb or practical?

[Max Coller]

So I went to look at a Greenlee 226 mortiser found on CL last night, all fired up and with the asking price of $400 in crisp spending cabbage burning a hole in my pocket.

An hour and a half drive later, I see it's a good machine in decent shape, converted to 220 single-phase thanks to the belt-drive flexibility and a newish motor. No major rust, no play in the bearings, table depth adjustment doesn't have much backlash, foot pedal wasn't even worn. The seller's grandfather used this in his shop for making birdhouses on Saturday afternoons in winter, or something similar.

But. There isn't a table clamp, there isn't an x-y axis table adjustment, and there aren't any holddowns. No extra chisels. In fact, other than just being really, really cool, I didn't see too many advantages over my benchtop Delta other than increased chisel capacity and greater accuracy in the depth adjustment thanks to a handwheel. Another disadvantage is that it's a pig, and I'd need to move it twice in the next 12 months as we're in the process of getting ready to sell our house.

So I walked away.

And I'm kicking myself this morning.

Please feel free to affirm or kick as you see fit.

[Bruce Page]

Kick, kick...:) depending on how many mortises you do the Greenlee is a sweet machine. Particularly if you do angled mortises.

[Gary Benson]

Sounds to me like $400 was just the start to get this machine useable for you. I think you made the right choice.
Gary

[Ben Franz]

My $0.02 - don't beat yourself up over this one. Yes, it's a nice mortiser but in need of some added $$$ to make it fully functional. I got a Powermatic tilting table (719T IIRC) on a mobile base with 3 chisels for $500 last year. With the number of small shops going under, there are bargains to be found. Since you have a benchtop to use now, wait it out until the right deal pops up.

[Jacob Mac]

There is always another deal to be found. I would not sweat it. Especially since you already have a mortiser.

[Paul McGaha]

Max,

I think I would have walked away also.

When it comes to used tools what I'm looking for is the tool to be pretty much new condition, it's just been used a little.

Just my $.02.

PHM

[Buck Williams]

Just a related side note. The Greenlee brothers invented the hollow chisel mortising bit in 1874. Greenlee is now a big name in the electrical industry, making ship auger bits, tools and cutters for punching holes in metal, manual and hydraulic conduit benders and a ton of other tools.

From the owwm website http://www.owwm.com/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=403

[Max Coller]

Some might call it dedication. Others, obsession. Still others pure materialism. My beautiful, talented and sweet-smelling wife calls it "more crap to move." She's right, you know.

In any case, I finally found what I'm looking for, on CL tonight, definitely in my price range.

http://flagstaff.craigslist.org/tls/1880310381.html

So, after consulting Google maps, it looks like I turn right out of my driveway, go .3 miles, take another right for 1.1 miles, another right for approximately 1594 miles. To get there.

It probably has some bad windings in the motor anyway.

[Van Huskey]

I would not worry, there will be a better deal just around the corner or should I say CL web page.