Anone notice lathe prices are rocketing?

[Bill Wyko]

I bought my JET 1442vs for $850.00 in 2006, here we are 5 years later and the same lathe is almost twice the price. I noticed this when I recently traded for another 1442vs. Anyone else have a price history like this for their lathe? Seems like a drastic price increase for such a short period of time.

[John Fabre]

In 2004, paid $600.00 for my Jet 1442, sold it for $800.00 in 2006. In 2006, paid $1500.00 for my Jet 1642 2hp, sold it for $1800.00 in 2010. Bought a Oneway after that and later in 2010 paid $220.00 for a unused Jet Mini with stand. Just missed a three year old Oneway 1224 for $1000.00.

[Harry Robinette]

Bill
It's not just lathes all woodworking machines prices have just sky rocketed in the last 5 to 7 years. Lathes have been one that it shows in more cause turning has grow so much in the last 8 to 10 years. The original Jet mini 10-14 was $199.00 when it came out it's now $499.99. and the lathe has NO changes. Everything is going up every day and there killing anyone with a hobby.My wife does Stain Glass and you talk about crazy prices I paid $599.99 for a glass saw thats only a 3" High by 8" throat with wet blade. I also have a small metal shop in my wood shop to work on tools.4 years ago I bought a mini-mill and end mills have more the doubled from most manufactures.
My retirement doesn't go up but everything else does. Sorry for the rant just a sour note with me.
Oh Ya I'm hearing some talk of a possible price raise coming in the late winter early spring again.

[Hayes Rutherford]

In 2004, paid $600.00 for my Jet 1442, sold it for $800.00 in 2006. In 2006, paid $1500.00 for my Jet 1642 2hp, sold it for $1800.00 in 2010. Bought a Oneway after that and later in 2010 paid $220.00 for a unused Jet Mini with stand. Just missed a three year old Oneway 1224 for $1000.00.

I always tell myself "it's o.k. to spend money on woodturning" and your figures show it's better to buy lathes than have money in the bank!!

[Gary Max]

have you folks noticed that the price of steel has went throught the ceiling. They are stealing AC units from Churches just to get the scrap metal.

[Ken Hill]

The price of everything is up and rising. Scrap steel is actually down a tad, but Gary is correct, people are stripping & stealing anything they can. Here, churches as well are being hit as well as any house listed as for sale. Prices should jump again now that its the "new year".....dont even look at your grocery bill. My chicken feed has gone from $9 to $16 per bag.....good thing I grow supplemental feed.


Sales will help, discount codes etc. Buy saavy thats for sure!

[Gary Max]

Heck Ken a jar of peanut butter is up 40% in the last 6 months. You are correct about everything jumping in price.

[Don McManus]

A couple years ago, the scrapyard guy told me that China is buying up all the scrap metals, by the boatload, literally. Apparently, copper, steel and aluminum are going to be going up for a while, or until they all have SUVs, like us Americans. He even mention that they were driving up prices of the rare earth metals(think magnets).

Last time that I sold some aluminum cans, $9 worth IIRC. I had to back in my Tacoma pickup so they could photograph my license plate at the scale. When I went to the cashier, they scanned my fingerprint, per city ordinance. For $9. There was also a sign that they wouldn't buy any wire, metal roofing, or other materials that appeared "new" (i.e. stolen), no A/C units from unlicensed individuals, no utility wire(telephone or electric power cable) and about a dozen other things people must be stealing.

On a more local note, I just bought a new house last year. It was a model home, foreclosed on when the builder went bankrupt. Both A/C units have the builders name spraypainted on them with a stencil logo. There is a small cedar fence built around the units, as well. Seems like the builder had some stolen from him too.

Th value of scrap seems to be a growing problem. I just hope they don't go after hardwoods next :)

[Gary Max]

Have you priced any 12/3 wire recently-----copper is jumping compared to gold. Think about the wiring for a lathe motor and the power cords. Someone gets to pay for the added cost.

[Steve Busey]

True that. With rising energy costs, the cost of steel production has soared. Someone told me about the camelcamelcamel.com website (I have no idea where they got that name...), where you can see a price history of a lot of products. For example, type "jet lathe" in the search window, pick your lathe and see what's happened over the past year. You can subscribe to updates on your product, so if a sale crops up, you'll get notified.

[Jim Burr]

I had the $$ for my 1642 for about 5 months before I bought it, but was hoping for a Black Friday sale. Saved enough on the lathe to get my Grizzly 0555. Price is up on both since then! It pays to shop around and wait for the right moment.

[Bill Wyko]

This is what starts the mind set that we should buy crap that is disposable VS quality that lasts. Unfortunately the crap ends up being more expensive in the end. In 2005 I bought a Plasma tv for $4500.00 it lasted 6 years. It's now cheaper to buy a new one for less than it takes to fix the old one. My old top of the line tube tv lasted 12 years and was true quality.

[David Hostetler]

Even us cheap boys are getting clobbered. My HF 34706 set me back $175.00 in early 2009. Current sale prices with the 20% coupon put it at $212.00. Not a ton more money, but hey, that's most of the way to the HSS chisel set!

[Jacob Muldowney]

This thread has made my day. Now I can tell the wife I better not wait on a larger lathe and larger bandsaw. If I wait I will have to pay more lol.

[Mike Cruz]

Price (to buy) scrap steel around here is 35 cents a pound...about 8-10 cents to sell. I picked up 263 lbs (to weigh down my lathe) today...cost me $97.

[David DeCristoforo]

No. But I did notice that they were spinning out of control...

[Jason Roehl]

No. But I did notice that they were spinning out of control...


I'll "rest" on my "headstock" of knowledge that there are many "way" to put that statement to "bed". Or am I just lathe to the party?

[Bob Bergstrom]

It is surprising that many stationary power tools on Craig's list are getting cheaper and cheaper. Especially big cabinet saws (shops upgrading to Sawstops). I have seen bandsaws, planers and jointers going down in price as people have to sell them because of the recession. Will be come to the day when the scrap price of iron is more than the cost of a neglected PM 90.

[BILL DONAHUE]

There are probably many reasons for the increase in lathe prices and one reason is certainly the drop in the value of the dollar. The U.S. Dollar Index which measures the value of the dollar versus a basket of foreign currencies has dropped in the last 10 years from anout 120 to 79. Since most lathes are made overseas, it takes more U.S. dollars to buy them. Tried to attach a chart showing the drop in the dollar but couldn't do it.

[Bill Wyko]

IMHO we should try to buy American when at all possible. I'm doing all I can to save for an American Beauty but I may end up having to get a Powermatic 3520B. I have been buying American turning tools though.