Gosh that's cheap

Blooming heck

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Charles

Reply to
Charles Ping
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Somebody's done well there.

Mark Rand RTFM

Reply to
Mark Rand

On or around Mon, 23 Oct 2006 13:21:22 +0100, Mark Rand enlightened us thusly:

You get some bargains like that, especially larger machines which are tricky to move and handle. 1.2 tons is not that bad, but some of them are several toms and that involves things like a big hiab lorry, and suitable access to and from.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

Yes, looks like a very usable machine for a tenner.

Until the vendor tells them that it's in a basement.......

Charles

Reply to
Charles Ping

On or around Mon, 23 Oct 2006 14:49:54 +0100, Charles Ping enlightened us thusly:

teehee.

I think if they didn't metion such a drawback in the listing I'd not be buying.

Mind, if it's all running and sound, it'd be worth hiring the kit to get it out.

My Student cost me 360 quid, and I thought that was a bargain.

Reply to
Austin Shackles

I just heard today that several Harrison L5 9" and 11" lathes from a school were being dumped in a skip. The site had to be cleared to let the demolishers in. The dealer I know was called on Friday afternoon and told the deadline to get them shifted was today at 2:00. Not much time to organise taking them out. What a waste.

Archie

Reply to
Archie

Assuming that it's a state school they're wasting my money there.....

Charles

Reply to
Charles Ping

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 13:21:22 +0100, Mark Rand wrote, in impeccable English,..

For a moment there I thought you might have meant this

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Ray

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Ray

Apparently this is happening regularly around the country, my Boxford and several other machines were taken being thrown out when a school workshop was cleared by builders so the staff just took them home, only to sell them on eBay of course. Greg

Reply to
Greg

I thought these had all been cleared out years ago. Certainly North of the Border we were clearing the school Tech Classes in the early 90's. The equipment was being sold by some Authorities to private tender (no Dealers allowed... so bids were all from the public), ... others such as Edinburgh just wanted rid of the lot in one deal so sold them (almost) for nothing to a dealer, who then applied his full retail prices.

Central Regional Council operated the private sealed tenders method. I seem to remember that you could only bid for two items at most, (to make sure everyone got a fair chance), and it was up to the 'Education Department's Technical Advisor' to determine which bid got which kit. (If you offered tuppence you were allocated a worse machine than the person who offered =A3100). You could state your preferences, but not the specific machine. I wanted metric kit where possible, and got what I regard as the best lathe bargain at the time. I got a late metric Harrison with light. coolant, Norton box, 3 and 4 jaws, travelling and fixed steadies, quick change tool holder, and a box of cutting tools, that had come from a secondary school, for =A380 in 1991. My wife still moans to this day that it cost me =A390 to hire the 7.5tonner (the only thing I could get with a heavy enough taillift) to get it home. Because 'my' Harrison was metric (and the old teacher at the High School wasn't) it had been hardly (if ever) used .. no nibbles out of the saddle, and absolutely pristine. A colleague got a fully equipped (fully as in .. it came with the dedicated tool-cabinet full of equipment/tools/accessories) Bridgeport miller for =A3120.

We were all delighted with the way it was handled. Certainly a model the schools could do with following now... rather than just dumping the things. My faithful Harrison has travelled from Scotland to East Anglia and back to Lancashire with me over the years.

Ian

Reply to
ticktock

Ian, I wish that the Local Authorities where I was at the time had been so "enlightened". The reason I got for them not accepting my bid was that they would only sell to registered dealers as they thought they would be liable if I hurt myself with it. Proving that I was better qualified (in engineering terms) than some dealers to install/operate the equipment cut no ice at all. "Sorry that's our policy". When I heard stories later of things going straight in the skips I assumed that they had decided that would reduce their (H&S advised theoretical) "risk" even further. If I put a business head on though I suppose that the small returns they get for these machines if they run a sale doesn't pay for many administrative hours. Whats the betting that the "bean counters" have had a say as well.

Seems an awfull waste to me but then again I've never been in the right place at the right time either. Also strikes me that someone like yourself who uses and enjoys the machine for years is very much in the minority as a lot seem to go back on the market (at a much inflated price) very quickly. Personally I have no problem with these assets going cheaply to people who will enjoy them but don't see a lot of diference between dealers and some private individuals who just want to turn them into cash. Of course it could just be sour grapes on my behalf.

Best regards

Keith

Reply to
jontom_1uk

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