What a weekend...Saturday.

[Mike Cruz]

First of all, yeah, I'm writing about the weekend I had...and it is TUESDAY!

There was an auction in Harrisonburg, VA on Saturday the 1st. I had really been looking forward to it. It had 3 pieces of equipment that I was really interested in. And judging by the last auction I went to, I was hoping for decent deals, and brought the cash for all three. The auctioneer was kind enough to tell me that the equipment wouldn't be going until after lunch, which was very helpful because I had a 2 hour drive to get to it. It started at 9am, but I left my house at 8:30, so I could take my time and get there in plenty of time for the 3 tools I was interested in, but also see if there were any little things that peaked my interest, too.

Got there, took a look around and realized that, nope, there was nothing little I wanted, so, the wait began. However, a bright side to the day was that a fellow Creeker, Stephen Cherry (who I have not only met before, but he has helped me out quite a bit with my lathe...3 phase conversion and stuff) and I met up there. So, I got to pass the time with good company.

Well, around 1:30 or so, they got to the first piece of machinery. Not anything I was interested in, but I knew it would set the tone. An 16/32 or a 18/36 Delta surfacer...went for something like $750! (Just saw one in great condition today on CL for $400.) Then, the same guy wins a Grizzly 1.5hp shaper for like $625! You can buy it NEW for $550. Then the same guy wins a planer/moulder for something like $585. Okay, not a horrible price, but when I asked him what he got it for, he tells me, then basically asks me what it does!!!!!!!! I knew at this point that I wasn't going to get any deals and I should have just left, but I stuck around anyway.

One thing I saw there that I wasn't aware of before showing up was a 3 year old Oliver 10" jointer. Did some quick research (thanks Tony) and found out that it goes for $3500 new. Hey, if I could get that for what I could sell my DJ-20 with Byrd head...:rolleyes: No chance, it went for $1850.

So, on to the three things I went there for. First was a Grizzly edge sander. New= $600. In good condition, I would have spent up to $300. But it had a tracking problem. So, I bowed out around $240 and it went for $275 or $285. Next was a Bridgewood mortiser. New= $1,500. I could only afford $550, it went for $675 (and that didn't include the chisels, they went for well over $100). Lastly, the Delta 20" band saw, New=?, two have sold recently for about $800, a birdie told me that this one had vibration issues and was preeeeety old, I would have paid $400 (with the issue, $550 without), it went for $750.

I stayed for one more item...to see what it would go for. A 14 x 40 or 48 Holtzmann copy lathe. Minor issues, but looked nice. Went for $1500 something.

So, to sum it up, I spent 4 hours driving and 5 hours standing around to go home empty handed. The equipment was far from deals. They were CL prices at best. This stuff was all used in a cabinet shop, so not lightly used either. I'll just call it a learning experience.

If you want to see how Sunday turned out (much better), go to the Turner's Forum.

[Neil Brooks]

.... is like a box of chocolates ....

Sorry this one didn't work out. Maybe the next one will :)

[Van Huskey]

I hate those days, but like golf one good shot and you can't wait to go again.

[george wilson]

There are idiots who will go to auctions and buy stuff they know nothing about. I don't understand their mentality. some nut paid more than new for a very small sand blasting cabinet at one auction I attended.

Makes you wonder if they are shills,driving the prices up for the auction??

[Peter Quinn]

Well, that sucks. On the bright side you came home with a pocket full of cash. There will be a next time. Its always odd when peoples bidding habits seem to defy both logic and basic economics. I guess things are indeed worth what people are willing to pay though?

[Mike Cruz]

There were a couple of bright sides, and I'm sorry that I didn't emphasize them more. Again, that Steve was there, made it actually kinda fun. He picked up 4 things if I recall correctly. They weren't the things that most people are looking for, or you really had to know what it was.

Hey, what I DID miss, that I probably could have gotten but was caught off guard, was a Fein Multimaster. I saw the auctioneer's assistant (no nothing like the UFC girls) hold up the tool with the triangle sander on it. I actually STOPPED the bidding, to ask what brand it was. They said it was a Fein Sander. I bid up to $42.50 IIFC, then bowed out. I already have one, but thought if it was the actual tool, hey, I'd take it. But they said it was a sander, so I bowed out. Well, come to talking to the guy who won it, it is the multimaster...just with the sander attached. Ugh.

Also, there was another Creeker there, and I PMed him that I was going to be there, but he didn't get my PM until after he got back home. We passed like two ships in the night.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I've found that auctions really depend on who shows up. In our case, if the auction advertised lots of tools, lots of tool people will show up and thus the prices will be higher. If you go to an auction that didn't particularily advertise tools then there are less people to run up the price.

I recently attended an auction to bid (buy) one of two items. As money's real tight due to the Christamas season that would be the limit of my expenses. There was a portable and a hand held oscillscope. I checked the used prices ahead of time. I figured they would not be a popular item and come up after lunch, so I prepared myself for a long wait. Both came up within the first half hour! And sold for double the online used prices, almost 75% new! I was aiming for ~$150, both went for over $300 ($425 and 310 IIRC). Double surprise on me.

[Stephen Cherry]

I picked up a nice box with a disconnect, contactor, thermal overload, and a "vintage" allen bradley on/off switch for 10 bucks- I think that the overload is fried, but the box and disconnect are not cheap. I will buy this kind of thing every time. Also a miter gauge with eccentric clamp for 10-15 bucks (I'll buy something like that every time also), a Larry's clamp (no price disclosed, I will either use it or craigslist it).

And finally, I got a "Wadkin" sliding table, with mount, eccentric clamp, etc for the big sum of about 85 dollars. A big thanks to Mike for pointing that out. Right now the slide is clamped to the side of my shaper for evaluation.

All in all, this was a well run auction, plenty of stuff, and a few people who didn't do their homework. Mike doesn't need to complain- after his lathe deal he needs to get skunked a few times just to keep the entropy strait in the universe. (too much good stuff in one location could sprout a black hole, or a black eye from wifeypoo) It's always amazing how much good stuff you don't notice. Great burgers also.

[Mike Cruz]

Yeah, you got some good deals, Steve. And yeah, those burgers were pretty good, weren't they?

[Karl Brogger]

That's how auctions go. Most of the time I leave empty handed, others I've had to call the bank on the way home to tell them to cover a check because things had gone a little too well.

[Matt Meiser]

Sounds like most auctions I've been to. I don't even bother too much any more.

[Dave MacArthur]

Ok... I found this thread to be scarily interesting. Now I'm going to have to start looking at auction sites for a PM3520B...

[Stephen Cherry]

Ok... I found this thread to be scarily interesting. Now I'm going to have to start looking at auction sites for a PM3520B...

You're going to need to stock up on beef jerky, Doritos, and two liter mountain dew.

[Roger Bullock]

Auctions can be funny. I once seen a guy pay almost double the sticker price of an item that actually had the sticker price still on the box. On the flip side, I went to an auction that was not advertized correctly (seller had closed a hardware store) and walked away with a ton of small hand tools for pennies on the dollar.

[Mike Cruz]

Roger, I'm a deal finder. Maybe that was my problem. It was a tool auction, and now I know, a tool auction in a city isn't the best place to find a deal. It may be the place to get what you want, but not at a deal.

I got a bit spoiled by my last auction where I got my PM90 lathe for $300. It was in the middle of nowhere in a cornfield, with farm equipment, trucks and atvs. Apart from my PM90 going for $300, there were 2 Delta workhorse (14 and 16") RAS's that went for $100 each. In retrospect, I should have picked them both up, too. But I'm not a RAS guy, so I looked right past them...from a buyers perspective. I did look them over however, and thought they were in pretty nice shape. So, to see stuff go for so high, well, it was disappointing. But I know better now. Also, I was hoping that the turnout would be lower with it being Jan 1st and all. No such luck.

[Jim Leslie]

I once knew someone who sold woodworking machinery for a living; we talked about auctions and he said he never goes to them any more. He said the macho thing to "win" a bid and "beat" the other guy drives prices up to the point where it's cheaper to buy new!