Craigslist adventures

[Ian Funk]

I only got into woodworking about a year ago when my dad bought some low end tools. I started out by just making odds and ends things for family and friends. Since then I have caught the woodworking bug, seriously... some nights I lose sleep over thinking what I can build in my shop. The past few months I turned into a raccoon scavenging craigslist for any deals I could find. Recently I picked up a delta 36-l31x unisaw for about $800. Its been lightly used and looks almost brand new. Overall I think it was a pretty good deal, definitely worth it for me. Anybody else have any luck with craigslist?

[Victor Robinson]

Pretty regional I think. Lots of great Craigslist scores to be had, but in my area, it's extremely slim pickings. Tons of junk, and if something decent comes on, the price is usually pretty high. I haven't ever been on the receiving end of a good CL deal, but have sold a fair amount (that I think were good deals).

[Jesse Busenitz]

Yup, keep your eyes open and you'll find some sweet deals! I outfitted my shop mostly off of CL..... Also just letting friends and family know what you're looking for and stuff shows up in the weirdest places. Just today I stopped at my bank to get cash for a 3phs convertor on CL and stopped by an old brick building across the street that use to house a hardware store the my grandparents owned. I saw the owner there and stopped in as I had never seen the inside. We got to looking around and there was cool stuff all over. Some nice WW machinery, but nothing that I really needed except a Walker Turner drill press for 25$. Had a older Delta 13" planer and 14" bandsaw, basically brand new Jet cabinet saw but they weren't steals so I left them.

[Matt Day]

You're definitely new here ;-)
Lots of CL scores and it's pretty regular that people post their gloats. It's "required" to post a picture to prove it, or it didn't happen. But mainly bc we all like some good tool p0rn.

[Mike Heidrick]

I am a big fan of CL. Save a fist full of cash, COMMIT immediately, and be ready to drive.

[Andrew Hughes]

Here's my Craig's list find I bought the saw for 250. I put about 7 or 8 hundred in it its not a perfect restoration still some parts missing, but it's a wood ripping beast,It spins a 12inch blade powerd by a 2hp Dayton motor.

[Jesse Busenitz]

Andrew, that's a neat saw. I've never seen one with the extended table/miter slots.

[Paul McGaha]

I like Craigslist too. We use it some. We bought a freezer off craigslist a couple of years ago. It was a Kenmore, a one owner, maybe 2 or 3 years old. We got it for about half the price of a new one and it's done fine. We're thinking it will last for several more years.

I live in a suburb of Washington DC. We have a very good craigslist here. I would think this area would be pretty strong in disposable income, So lots of nice things show up on craigslist here.

PHM

[Steve Peterson]

The best bargains on CL are usually snapped up within minutes. The 2nd guy to call gets added to a list in case the first guy doesn't show up. So the best bargains are gone quickly. The over=priced Harbor Freight junk gets re-posted every week with no nibbles. It makes it look like there are no bargains, when the reality is that the bargains just move quickly.

Steve

[Dan Masshardt]

Does seem regional but I've gotten many good and great deals over time.

Gotta get in quick for the best stuff though.

My buddy gave me a good tip. If it's dirt cheap offer more than asking price. That can move you up the list.

[Brian Henderson]

Locally, Craigslist rarely has any worthwhile tools at all, even cheap crap. I've looked now and then, I don't really need anything but you never know, but I have never seen anything worth buying from there. Some people swear by it, I've found it useless.

[Matt Day]

Brian,
As Steve said, good deals move quickly so if you don't check it often, you might not see the good stuff.
Where do you live?

[Brian Henderson]

Brian,
As Steve said, good deals move quickly so if you don't check it often, you might not see the good stuff.
Where do you live?

Southern California. It isn't like I need anything, I have a full shop, but I do look from time to time and have never seen anything that I'd even be remotely interested in. I went looking for bandsaws or jointers or the like and came up pretty much empty. It isn't that there are no good tools, often it's that there are no tools at all. I just went looking for 14" bandsaws, thinking they'd be common, and found only 2 since the beginning of the month. Woodworking just isn't a thing around here, I guess.

[John Conklin]

I've had good luck on Craigslist, both buying and selling. I think many times good, quality tools go so quickly that many never see them and think that there's never anything worthwhile.

My crowning glory of deals was 500 board feet of ambrosia maple for a $100. A guy with trim shop bought a huge amount to do a huge custom house and wanted the leftovers out of his pole barn. I was more than happy to help.

319769

[Cary Falk]

I use CL less and less. There aren't that many deals around here and lot of the people are flakes. That being said lately I found a Grizzly 8" jointer for $450 and a 3hp 2bagger DC for $200 that are going into my friends shop. I bought a Porter Cable 690 router for $30 this weekend.

[Matthew Hills]

Nice score on the lumber.
Were you checking a number of the craigslist sections, or how did you happen to stumble across that?

I've got standing RSS searches for a couple of items to help sift through the dross, but the people who check constantly have an edge. And those who have pickup/trailer/hoist with them at all times...

Matt

[John Conklin]

Nice score on the lumber.
Were you checking a number of the craigslist sections, or how did you happen to stumble across that?

I generally use an app on my phone, but picked that up before I had a smartphone. For lumber I search under 'materials'.

[Belton Garvin]

Hampton Roads, Virginia is large enough that there are good finds on CL...along with all the Harbor Freight junk. They usually go quick, so you have to be a pretty regular browser to keep up. I originally outfitted my whole shop off CL. Craftsman cast iron table saw with mobile stand and 2 dado blades - $125. Jet 14" 1HP closed cabinet band saw with mobile stand- $200, Rigid 13" planer with stand- $100, Old iron Craftsman 6" joiner - $20, Brand new 16" Crafsman vs scroll saw - $100, Porter Cable 24" Omni-Jig - $300 (new in box), and a myriad of other smaller stuff. Was 10 minutes too late for a Powermatic 3520 Lathe - $1200(kicked myself for a long time over that one).

Used the table saw and scroll saw for about 8 years and just upgraded to a nice 3HP Steel city cabinet saw(New) and a Type 1 Dewalt 788 20" scroll saw with stand - $175 from a friend.

All my CL finds have paid for themselves and their replacement upgrades.

[Dale Murray]

I use an app with several craigslist searches saved, I use it to check areas within 150 miles of me. Also, when I travel someplace for a weekend I will look at listings in that area to see if there is anything I want.

Performax drum sander, stand, paper, and extension tables = $550
Furnace fan for shop air cleaner = $20 (maybe could have gotten for free if I checked around, whatever).
Powermatic 719A (technically used but more like New Old Stock condition) = $600
Manfrotto Tripod and 410 head ($400 retail) = $125
Pocket Wizards ($150ea retail) = $75ea
Canon 70-200 2.8L ($1799 new) = $1200

Loads of other stuff I cannot recall.
Ebay served me well, Sawstop Industrial 3hp, 52" table, mobile base (retail $4298) = $2750 on Ebay.

[Ian Funk]

I've been in the market for a Festool domino for some time now. Recently I found one, along with other Festool products, on CL! basically its a Domino DF 500, Rotex 150 sander, and a
Ct33 dust extractor. All for $900 what do you guys think?

[cody michael]

I bought all the main tools in my shop used off craigslist, I have over the years watched for deals on the particular items I needed to upgrade worst, most recently I bought a unisaw for 350$ I was pretty happy with that.

[Scott Britton]

I've gotten almost everything in my shop off of Craigslist. Grizzly 3HP Cabinet Saw = $300 : Grizzly 3HP Shaper = $250 : Grizzly Lunchbox Planer (almost brand new) = $50 : Delta 13" 2HP Planer (beautiful shape) = $150 : Delta DJ15 Jointer (beautiful shape) = $175. Many many more machines and tools at great prices. Yup......I'm a big big fan of Craigslist!

[David Spurr]

Every tool that n my shop came off of CL except my Jet dust collector which I bought new. Powermatic 66, Jet 15" planer, Delta 14" BS and DJ-20, Powermatic mortiser and a Yates American J-170 lathe. Had to make long drives for most of it and searched for months for some of it. Two years for the DJ-20. Six months for the lathe.