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A Good Day at the Auction

I should have sold everything in my garage on ebay before going to this auction. I saw a Clausing Colchester 13" lathe with a long bed and tooling go for $400. SB 16's were going for $200. A guy bought about four milling and grinding machines just to take the handles off of them. Drill presses, nice old three phase reasonable size, were selling for $10 to $30. I bought a Van Norman #12 with a bunch of tooling for $50 and a Nichols Horizontal Mill with a pristine vertical head attachment and spline for $50. I got a

1/2 ton electric chain hoist and trolley for $30, a blower for $5, a bunch of miscellaneous items for cheap money, a Dumore toolpost grinder was the most expensive item at $100. All of the machines were in production about three months ago. They showed normal wear but no signs of undue rust or inattention. A bunch of Rivett second operation type speed lathes went for $50 to $100 each. I could go on.....I must build a bigger garage.
Reply to
ATP
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Where? Just so I don't get ill I would love to have gotton the Van Norman.

Reply to
Wayne

Bayport, Long Island. Most of the Van Normans were purchased by a local scrap dealer so they are probably still available cheap.

Reply to
ATP

That is a bit cheaper than stuff goes for around here in my experience. (Puget Sound, Seattle, The Wet Side of Washington State.)

Lane

Reply to
lane

I don't know if it was typical, this was the first strictly machinery auction I've been to, I used to go to construction equipment auctions. Turnout was light. Koster Industries runs a pretty straight up auction. They were auctioning off items one at a time by request. The dealers kept pushing for aggregate bids but the hobbyists were accommodated.

Reply to
ATP

I agree, Lane. For some reason there seems to be an epidemic of "auction fever" around this area. Over and over I see chinese measuring instruments sell at auction for more than you can purchase them new. Equipment appears to go for around what one would find in a standard private sale. Rare to find something that goes "cheap" unless it weighs

20,000 pounds and would cost a couple of grand to move.

So, Is the problem that the rain makes people used to looking for "indoor" stuff to do like hanging around auctions and paying too much for bad coffee? :)

Koz (who th>

Reply to
Koz

Any Idea on the name of the dealer? I live up near Danbury CT not to far from you.

Reply to
Wayne

Is your email address good?

Reply to
ATP

Which auction house put this on?

Reply to
Eide

I'd be surprised if there are many (any?) shops left in western WA with that much old HSM-class iron. I haven't seen an auction like that since 1995. Not so much a question of price, as a total lack of machinery in that class (Nichols, Van Norman, Clausing). Plenty of worn out newer, and larger tools.

Bob

Reply to
Toolbert

Koster Industries. I like the way they ran the auction. They were willing to sell the machines individually if you asked.

Reply to
ATP
020500080702010509000204

the problem is you are too close to California . wrt to Starbucks, i _agree_! they really do prove that you cannot underestimate the sophistication of the American consumer.

Reply to
Loren Coe

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