Used woodworking tools: What they don't tell you

i’m gonna share some tips for buying used woodworking machinery while i’m on the hunt for a planer i’m looking for one of those 15-inch four-post planers the one with the motor on top because i think it’s going to fit in my tiny little shop i’ve been looking on the classifieds for a few weeks now and i finally came across something that i think might be worth checking out there’s not many photos but from what i can see it looks like it’s in really good shape and the motor specs seem to be what i want while i was checking out the classifieds i was taking note of various price ranges for the machine that i want this way i know what a fair price is for the machine so i won’t get ripped off did you rip that off if you can’t find enough examples in your initial search look outside your area and look at different classified ad platforms hi there this is scott walsh calling in regards to a 15-inch craftex planer when you’re looking for a new used tool it’s just as important to know what not to buy as it is what to buy i’ve made my fair share of bad machine purchases in the past when i’ve bought uncommon or otherwise unique machines i was definitely taking a gamble lesson learned pay attention to the machine design itself there is a reason why some machines like the unisa or the four post planer have been around for decades so here’s a tip when you can’t find the machine on google within 10 seconds of searching you’re definitely playing with fire the used market is flooded with what i like to call professional level machines these machines are typically imports that might be 10 to 30 years old for the serious hobbyist to the professional woodworker these are great machines however be weary of these machines coming out of industrial shops being used at an industrial production rate when the machine is not designed for this takes a considerable toll on them i thought i was saving by buying these types of machines but i learned the hard way how costly and time-consuming the repairs can be good afternoon scott speaking so are you still available tomorrow afternoon perfect okay thank you bye let’s talk briefly about a few motor specifications you should be aware of even before you start looking so you should be aware of what power you have available for the machine that you want if you don’t have access to 240 volts in your shop you only have 120 volts then you need to look out for a 120 volt machine or a machine that has dual voltage where you can wire it to 120 volts also need to be aware of how much current it draws that will be on the motor tag and if you have the available circuit with that current rating so when you’re looking out make sure you know what horsepower you can use not just what you want to use a specification on motors you need to look out for is the phase more industrial machines are going to be three for a rotary phase converter a rotary phase use either a vfd which is a variable frequency drive make sure you’re buying single phase machines oh mask thanks hello i’m good thanks would you be grace amazing so we just saw the planer unfortunately it wasn’t a planer for me the outfeed roller was totally chewed up it was also missing knives it was missing the gibbs for the knives i’m disappointed i didn’t get the machine but i don’t regret not getting it because i just didn’t want to get into fixing another machine right now so on to the next one the lesson is it’s okay to say no to the seller don’t feel bad if you had to drive for three frigging hours buying a machine is like a relationship if you’re unsure just move on when you’re going out to look at the machine you want to buy inspect the entire machine all the cast iron parts to see if anything is cracked if you have anything cast iron or anything else it’s cracked you just don’t want to go down that road yes it can be fixed you can weld cast iron but once you get into that stuff it stops becoming a good deal and you’re just going to eat up all of your time so avoid any cracked cast iron or anything that’s obviously malfunction because you just don’t want to waste your time with it there’s better deals to be had inspect everything make sure there’s nothing missing obviously might be things that you might not think is super crucial like a dust hood if the machine is 10 15 years old you might not be able to get a replacement hood once again it just becomes not as sweet of a deal if it’s missing parts that you actually want to replace make sure you hear the machine running and test out the machine with a piece of wood confirm that you’ll be able to do this before you see it all machines have bearings bearings can and will wear out after a while but it shouldn’t be a deterrent as they can be changed with little effort with the right know-how and tools you need to decide for yourself if you want to change bearings or not if you don’t then make sure to buy a machine that doesn’t sound like it’s been a few weeks since i looked at that one player that i didn’t like and i’ve stumbled upon something else in the classifieds it is a 16 inch auto planer with the motor on top and this one has a brand new motor on it it’s a three horsepower leeson motor with only 16 hours on it so it should be pretty good condition i already contacted the seller he said the outfeed roller was in good condition unlike the last one and it’s fairly local to me so i’m gonna go check it out [Music] so you’ve inspected the machine and you say to yourself yep it’s the one for me it ticks all the boxes you take note of any discrepancies between the machine and the listing you’ve come prepared with a rough idea of how much you think the machine is worth so now it’s time to make an offer if the seller is firm on the price there might be nothing you can do so you should respect the seller’s wishes but if the seller is open to talking use your observations for what parts the machine might need and the time it’ll take to get it back in working order for leverage to talk the price down [Music] [Applause] [Music] i ended up paying the asking price for the planer which was 800 because the machine was in great working order i also thought it was worth it because i looked at the price of the exact three horsepower motor brand new and it’s more expensive than the machine itself also the more powerful motor is super desirable for when i upgrade the cutter head speaking of which [Music] shear attack sent me a brand new spiral carbide insert cutter head for my planer full disclosure i did not pay out of pocket for the cutter head shear attack offers cutter heads for an enormous variety of planers and jointers and they ship directly from their head office in waterloo ontario if your machine is particularly unique shear tech also offers custom cutter heads that are made to order wink wink nudge nudge they even have shaper heads and router bits too shear tacks cutter heads feature indexable carbide inserts that stay sharp for basically an eternity but when they do go dull all you have to do is rotate them for a fresh new cutting edge experience and they have four cutting edges so that means it’ll stay sharp for four eternities and the fact that you never have to fuss around with aligning straight cutter head knives again is worth it by itself one thing i really like about shear tech’s cutter heads is the steep shear angle that leaves the cut super smooth with virtually no tear out even on curly maple i have an entire instructional installation video that i produced for shear tech and that’s available on their youtube channel links down below in the dooblydoo you can definitely save money by buying used machines but it can involve more of your time if all these tips sound overwhelming buy new bye …

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