Unisaw on CL......Thoughts?

[Justin Jump]

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/tls/2911370517.html

Thinking of offering $1000.....It's a little above my budget for just the saw, but if I can get it at that price.....

JJ in Pittsburgh

[Myk Rian]

Looks like a right tilt, if that doesn't bother you.

[Cary Falk]

No riving knife either. $1k would be a nice deal for a plun n play UNI. I wouldn't jump at $1400. I sold a fully restored 1970 UNI with moble base and 50" shop fox classic fence for $900 a couple of years ago. I don't know what prices are like in your area.

[Justin Jump]

tilt doesnt really bother me, not sure how much I'll use that feature....

looks like a riving knife in the top right picture with the guard though no? I can always add one....

[Cary Falk]

It's a splitter with a guard. Newer saws have a riving knife that rises and falls with the blade. I think they are nice to have. Some are perfectly fine with a splitter.

[Greg Peterson]

If right tilt and lack of a riving knife are not a concern, $1,400 or less is a fair price.

IMO, table saws without a riving knife are beginning to depreciate in the used market. With the introduction of the riving knife and left tilt, the design we all grew up with is showing its age. A $1,400 Uni today will be selling for well under a thousand in a few years. Eventually the motor and scrap value will exceed the value of the tool. The decline is just beginning.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Justin, riving knife-shmiving knife. I have one without and have never missed it. What would bother me more is the right tilt. Even if you never tilt the blade, the arbor nut is on the left side of the blade on a right tilting unisaw, That means if you ever have some sort of sliding crosscut appliance (like a Dubby (http://www.in-lineindustries.com/single_dubby.html)) you will never be able to use it in conjunction with a stacking dado set for cutting tenons because the extra width of the stack will me cutting into your crosscut jig, effectively reducing the width.

[Paul McGaha]

Looks nice and clean Justin. It's priced at about 50% of new current model, which for me anyway is in the ballpark.

Only thing it's really lacking is a riving knife but it does have a splitter.

Reallly nice mobile base.

I have one a lot like that one, except no mobile base and mine is some special platinum something. I think thats just the color of the paint.

Sure it would make you a good saw.

I couldnt tell if it's US made or not. Be nice if it was. I'd guess that it's not US made. If it was I would expect a little American Flag decal stating American made right on the front of it.

PHM

[Van Huskey]

looks like a riving knife in the top right picture with the guard though no? I can always add one....

As mentioned that is a splitter not a riving knife and although you can add a splitter to a TS you can't add a riving knife if the saw was not designed for one. You may want to make sure you are willing to give that up, some will, some won't.

Being a right tilt makes top money about 900-1,000 in my book but I am biased since I hate right tilt saws.

[Jim Andrew]

My Uni was purchased about Nov of 04, did not include the right hand CI table extension, but did include long rails and table board. No mobile base and paid about 1000. Not the special edition either, but left tilt, 3hp, bies fence, long rails. Can't imagine getting along without it. Added the shark guard, just wish I had a 5" dust connection to the cabinet.

[fRED mCnEILL]

I recently added a home made splitter to my General cabinet saw. I'm not sure I see the benefit of a riving knife over a splitter. For some operations I still would have to remove either one.
1000 bucks seems like a good deal.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Last week, here on CL, local box company sold their Uni for $200. But it did have a Uni fence instead of Bies.

[Bill Geibe]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think all Unisaws have been US made. They might not exactly be US owned any more, but they are still US made.

Bill

[Jeff Miller]

Justin, riving knife-shmiving knife. I have one without and have never missed it.


If you never had one how could you never miss it. I have a GO690 and I would not have it without a Riving Knife. Just my 2 cents:D



JEFF:)

[Rich Riddle]

I recently purchased that exact set-up for $1000 but traveled to North Carolina to purchase it. Mine had a few extras since the man was selling his entire shop after suffering a stroke. I got all the blades, all the jigs, and a full length attached folding outfeed table.

That said, I looked at plenty of them and many were junk. I am outside Cincinnati right now, so within your region. One local seller wants $1150 for an older Unisaw that needs restored. He has home-made wooden devises on his, the fence sags, the top has heavy rust, etc. It's junk.

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/tls/2902039829.html

The good Unisaw in our region is going for nearly double ($2200); but it's in great shape and is left tilt:

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/tls/2870867143.html

The reviews of the saw you are considering can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com/Delta-36-843-Unisaw-50-Inch-Biesemeyer/product-reviews/B00005Q7CT

It's a solid saw if you can get it for 1K or slightly higher. Good luck.

[Justin Jump]

Well the seller got back to me - he wants the asking of $1400, if he doesnt get it, he said he'll let me know, but won't go less than $1200.....

[Chris Rosenberger]

With the great condition that saw is in & all of the included accessories. $1,400 is a good price. $1,200 is a great price.

[Matt Meiser]

Looks like its in a home shop with light use. I think you'll be hard-pressed to find something that nice for that final price. Restoration is fun if you like that stuff, but the little stuff adds up pretty quick.

[Rich Riddle]

I agree with both Chris and Matt; buy it if you can afford it. Although I spent only $1000 last week on the same saw, when you count my fuel and hotel stay, it goes to nearly $1400. It's a fair deal when the new ones are about $2700 after rebate and with free home delivery. About 50% is where the figure seems fair and/or a good deal.

[Greg Peterson]

Justin - If this is the saw you want, buy it. As was mentioned, it appears this saw has been in a hobbyist shop and most likely has been spoiled by its owner. $1,400 is a reasonable and fair price.

Sometimes you get a great deal on some tooling, sometimes you don't. And then there are the tools you acquire that sit around and remind you how much of a mistake they are. I suspect most of us have one or more of these mistakes sitting around our shop. This Uni seems to strike the sweet spot. Get it.

[Joseph Tarantino]

justin... FWIW, every time i've missed "the tool of my dreams", shortly afterward, a better deal appeared. and great deal tools always perform better than ok deal tools. let that seller sit for a while. BTW, always make your offers time sensitive, like "this price is good until noon tomorrow". put a little pressure on the seller. if he calls back after noon, toss him a lower offer. there are always more tools out there. for $200 more than his current $1300 asking price, you can get a new grizzly or steel city cabinet saw with a guaranty.

[Kevin W Johnson]

Posting has been deleted by the author. Did you get it Justin?

[Justin Jump]

At Kevin....Nope, he sold it for $1300.......

At Joe.....That's usually my take on these situations, hence why I only offered $1000, by the way, look what popped up yesterday:

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/tls/2914108760.html

Thinking of offereing $1500 and going from there........

[Cary Falk]

Don't low ball too much. If I had somebody offer me 1/2 of my asking price, I wouldn't even respond. That being said, I have never seen a saw like that now do I know what it is worth. When I sell I usually ask slightly more than what I want out of it so there is some wiggle room. My stuff is usually reasonable and I don't need it gone yesterday.

[Jerome Hanby]

Don't low ball too much. If I had somebody offer me 1/2 of my asking price, I wouldn't even respond. That being said, I have never seen a saw like that now do I know what it is worth. When I sell I usually ask slightly more than what I want out of it so there is some wiggle room. My stuff is usually reasonable and I don't need it gone yesterday.

You may be missing out on some sales. I think everyone knows that any given item is going to have a "higher that would actually be accepted" price and is going to make a "lower than you would actually be willing to pay" offer and negotiation starts from there. When I make an offer (always contingent on my inspection of the item before completion) I expect a counter that will be more in the ball park of what the seller actually expects to get. From that point we're either close enough to warrant some dealing or I reply telling the seller to keep me in mind if the price drops. I'm not out to cut the pother guy's throat, but I typically have a certain amount of free cash to spend and if I can't get the item for what I can afford to pay, then it doesn't matter how good a deal it is. On the other side, I've been contacted by sellers weeks after we communicated when they were willing to sell for less. Doesn't mean the item wasn't worth what the original asking price, but sometimes the market just isn't right and you need the space more than the extra dollars.

All this works the other way too. I've seen lots of posts saying that some seller was insane posting xxxx for that much money. I've seen lots of those too and I still make offers based on what I'm willing to pay. The guy trying to sell his Shopsmith V setup for $2000 probably thinks that is a great deal since his dad paid over $3000 but in the end he's either going to keep it or sell it for about $500 because that's what the market price is for a tool that basically hasn't changed in decades and last forever. Half the tools in my shop I wouldn't have if I hadn't made offers. Most folks selling shop tools (at least around here) don't really know what they are or what they are worth. Kind of sad, but most of them are being cleared out by the kids after Dad has a stroke or passes a way and they just don't know what price to ask. I recently got a great deal on a Hegner scroll saw that had a huge asking price, i made my offer along with a note saying I'm sure they'll get better offers but just in case...and I got it for $300. as a little pay back, I helped them price the planer and band saw they were also selling and helped them take the right pictures to post. In this case it was a little funny, they knew the scroll saw had been expensive because their mother had always complained about how much he spent on it, but had no idea that the prices on the planer and bandsaw were much too low.

[Cary Falk]

You may be missing out on some sales. I think everyone knows that any given item is going to have a "higher that would actually be accepted" price and is going to make a "lower than you would actually be willing to pay" offer and negotiation starts from there. When I make an offer (always contingent on my inspection of the item before completion) I expect a counter that will be more in the ball park of what the seller actually expects to get. From that point we're either close enough to warrant some dealing or I reply telling the seller to keep me in mind if the price drops. I'm not out to cut the pother guy's throat, but I typically have a certain amount of free cash to spend and if I can't get the item for what I can afford to pay, then it doesn't matter how good a deal it is. On the other side, I've been contacted by sellers weeks after we communicated when they were willing to sell for less. Doesn't mean the item wasn't worth what the original asking price, but sometimes the market just isn't right and you need the space more than the extra dollars.

All this works the other way too. I've seen lots of posts saying that some seller was insane posting xxxx for that much money. I've seen lots of those too and I still make offers based on what I'm willing to pay. The guy trying to sell his Shopsmith V setup for $2000 probably thinks that is a great deal since his dad paid over $3000 but in the end he's either going to keep it or sell it for about $500 because that's what the market price is for a tool that basically hasn't changed in decades and last forever. Half the tools in my shop I wouldn't have if I hadn't made offers. Most folks selling shop tools (at least around here) don't really know what they are or what they are worth. Kind of sad, but most of them are being cleared out by the kids after Dad has a stroke or passes a way and they just don't know what price to ask. I recently got a great deal on a Hegner scroll saw that had a huge asking price, i made my offer along with a note saying I'm sure they'll get better offers but just in case...and I got it for $300. as a little pay back, I helped them price the planer and band saw they were also selling and helped them take the right pictures to post. In this case it was a little funny, they knew the scroll saw had been expensive because their mother had always complained about how much he spent on it, but had no idea that the prices on the planer and bandsaw were much too low.

You're right, I have missed selling stuff for way below market value because I couldn't wait more than 2 weeks to get it sold. I know what I am selling, what it is worth, and what the market will allow in my area. I price accordingly and don't need to come off the price more than 10%. CL is bad enough with all of the spamers and people who ask if you still have the item and are never heard from again. Now you have to deal with cheapskates. No thank you. I won't and have not been hurt by it. I also don't deal with people that ask more then full price on used items. They are just fishing for a sucker. Life is too short to have to deal with them. I hate CL more and more by the day. I use it less and less. Luckly my shop is pretty much complete. YMMV

[Paul McGaha]

I think craigslist is useful. Not that we use it a lot. I've only bought 1 tool from craigslist (a JET benchtop OSS). It was in good condition. It was priced fairly (a little under 50% of current pricing) and I agreed to the sales price. I met the guy and picked it up and payed him in cash per his request. There were no issues with the sale by the buyer or the seller.

As a seller I'll set a fair price and wont move much if any. As a buyer I would expect the seller to do the same. If the tool isnt fairly priced from the start I wont bother responding to the ad. 50% of current pricing on a used tool may not work for everyone on every tool but that is sort of the guideline I use.

I think re-sellers cause most of the problems on craigslist.

PHM