Best Websites for Used Woodworking Machinery Sales in 2020?

[Devin Brenan]

Hello all from California. Hope you're all doing well in these tough times.

So aside from local options like Craigslist, where do you all like to shop/scout for used machinery? I've been looking for an old-iron jointer and planer for a while now. Almost pulled the trigger on a used Northfield 12" HD Jointer and their 25" Planer...but I hesitated and then...they were gone. Looking for something in a working state that I could use in my shop (single phase, 100 amp sub panel) and possibly 'upgrade' it to a helical head in the future. I don't think I have the skill, tools, or patience for in-depth machinery restoration, but I don't mind doing basic tasks and paying a pro to fix the rest. Anyway, I find myself checking three sites often. In no particular order:

Vintage Machinery site Really cool site that I use for reference, pictures, and their classifieds

EBAY (of course)

IRS Auctions Auction site, shops closing/liquidating, etc.


I'll also occasionally check:

360DegreeMachinery Reseller of used machinery, often with videos


Any other sites out there that you all use?


Cheers,

Devin

[Mark Bolton]

#3 in your first list is the most solid provided you are willing to bid on equipment blind. Finding anything local in our area is pretty much a futile effort and I wouldnt personally but much at all off ebay.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Also in Cali. I’ve gotten some good deals on hand tools on eBay, but as Mark noted, wouldn’t trust eBay for any power tool unless seller offered free returns (very unlikely). I think Craigslist is the best option for used stationary tools, simply because of the local angle.

[Mike Walsh]

try the machinery exchange on woodweb.com

[Devin Brenan]

try the machinery exchange on woodweb.com

Nice. A couple of the machines listed there also pointed to an ebay posting too, but I found some unique postings on there as well. Appreciate it. Have a good rest of your Sunday.

[Neil Gaskin]

Woodweb is good as mentioned.

Ive bought one pc of equipment from 360 machinery. I’d recommend them.

[William Hodge]

Keep in touch with your local machinery dealers. They often list their inventory online.

SearchTempest is pretty good, too.

I just bid in an IRS auction. It was a long wait for one local to me to come up.

[Andrew Hughes]

Craigslist here in So cal is pretty good for used Woodworking machines. Consider Inspecting the machine before you buy it. For a jointer bring a straight edge and check the tables for flat.
If your going to be serious with woodworking your going to wear many hats. Electrician, Mechanic,designer,builder etc.
When something breaks your gonna want it fixed yesterday. Might as well get to know your machines inside and out.
Try misspelling words on CL to nab those hidden gems.
Good Luck

[Jamie Buxton]

You might get some useful leads if you'd say where you are. "Cali" is a pretty big place. Fill out your profile, and your location will appear in the upper right of your posts

On the San Francisco Craigslist there is a listing for a old-iron 12" jointer which looks to be in good shape. Only $1475.

[Darcy Warner]

Depends on what you want to spend and if you can deal with stuff being delivered to your shop or not. I ship freight to CA often.

[Devin Brenan]

Woodweb is good as mentioned.

Ive bought one pc of equipment from 360 machinery. I’d recommend them.

Thanks for the reference on 360, like their videos.

[Devin Brenan]

Keep in touch with your local machinery dealers. They often list their inventory online.

SearchTempest is pretty good, too.

I just bid in an IRS auction. It was a long wait for one local to me to come up.

Hey, just tried SearchTempest and it searches through various areas of Craigslist ads....EXCELLENT. Many thanks.

[Devin Brenan]

Craigslist here in So cal is pretty good for used Woodworking machines. Consider Inspecting the machine before you buy it. For a jointer bring a straight edge and check the tables for flat.
If your going to be serious with woodworking your going to wear many hats. Electrician, Mechanic,designer,builder etc.
When something breaks your gonna want it fixed yesterday. Might as well get to know your machines inside and out.
Try misspelling words on CL to nab those hidden gems.
Good Luck

Thanks for the reply, yea if at all possible i'd make a little mini-vacation out of a trip to where ever the machine is located and check it out. If it was a jointer, I have a 48" starrett and a feeler gauge set...not sure if that would work for checking parallelism though across the tables of a big jointer...probably need something longer. Anyway, if it was too far away, and I still really wanted it, I'd pay someone local to go check it out.

And I suppose I'm about as serious as a hobbyist can be...my 9 to 5 job...errr make that 6 to 6 usually...gets in the way . I build/play in my shop for fun, and I'm hesitant to take on a whole other universe that is machinery repair. Worried I'd end up working on my machine(s) every weekend instead of using them to build things, but who knows, I might enjoy tinkering with the machines too. Good excuse to get more tools.

[Devin Brenan]

You might get some useful leads if you'd say where you are. "Cali" is a pretty big place. Fill out your profile, and your location will appear in the upper right of your posts

On the San Francisco Craigslist there is a listing for a old-iron 12" jointer which looks to be in good shape. Only $1475.

You say true things. Yea I suppose I should put in my location. SanFran is pretty far (I'm in the Palmdale/Lancaster area)...but that is a good price if tables are flat/parallel. American three-toed, and man those beds look...seasoned. If it wasn't for this whole global health pandemic thing, I might take a drive up there. I'd have to get a VFD (only have single phase) or replace the motor with a 5HP single phase. If it's still around when the quarantine is over, may be worth an extended weekend trip.

[Devin Brenan]

Depends on what you want to spend and if you can deal with stuff being delivered to your shop or not. I ship freight to CA often.

I would spend up to 5K depending on the size and condition for a 12 to 16 inch old-iron jointer....but to be honest....I'm very close to just 'giving up' on my old-iron jointer hunt and just buying a Grizzly 16". It already has the two things that I need/want most---5HP single phase and a spiral head without having to mod it. My buddy had one when I lived back in Missouri, and I couldn't find anything wrong with it...it irritated me. Everything worked great and the tables were flat and parallel...I was expecting to be underwhelmed and was pleasantly surprised. I know it won't last as long as a quality used old-iron, but it has all the features I want, would require no tinkering... it's tempting...and on sale for a little over 5k right now too. Then again, I'd be rolling the dice on being a causality of Taiwanese mass production. How much would it suck if that 1700 lbs monster got here in its giant auto-sized container and something was completely jacked right out of the crate? Oh, I'd be furious and would blame myself. And then many hours of my life would be wasted on the phone with someone that doesn't care about my feelings. Still can't make up my mind.

I don't mind having a good-find freighted if I can have someone else check it out remotely per instructions. In my current shop, I have a good setup for receiving freight if needed. Large concrete pad in front of the shop, and you can back a 53' trailer or a large flatbed right onto the pad and then easy access through one of the garage doors. To unload from a flatbed or trailer, I have a manual-hydraulic pallet stacker with a 98" lift, 42" forks, rated for 2200 lbs...bought from Northern Tool. Thing is amazing. Just got done with a move not too long ago, and most of my shop was loaded/unloaded with that. Only needed to rent a forklift or a flatbed towtruck to get that monster in and out of the the moving truck . Out of curiosity, why do you ship freight often? In what capacity? Job/work? I've seen your name somewhere before, just can't place it...youtube video maybe.

EDIT....yep, looked you up on youtube, on purpose this time. When I was looking for a used Northfield a year or so ago, I came across your video demoing the Northfield 16". So from the looks of the cavernous shop, you do this for a living? Millwork and/or machinery restoration? Is that Yates jointer from the February 2020 video available? Does it have any similar friends? Regarding my previous 5K remark, I would pay more for a professionally-restored and modified jointer like that Yates. That thing is beautiful. If you don't mind me asking, how much time went into that restore and how much was the custom helical head (just the part)?