Clausing Vertical Mill up for auction in Atascadero, CA

I think that's the one that was on CL for months for $2500. It's got 23d to go and already $70. Crazy.
 
It seems like with these auctions there are always a couple of low bidders hoping to get something cheap. 777 auctions don't work like Ebay where you can put in your maximum bid and the site automatically bids for you up to your max. At 777 what you bid is your bid. The site doesn't bid for you.
 
Auctions just aren't my thing. When I get stuff off eBay it's Buy It Now or nothing. I was just commenting that it will go high if it's not going to close till the 01/11/20 and there's already bids on it. I thought it was overpriced at $2500 and it would seem there were others that thought the same as it just sat there. Meanwhile there were several Bridgports and clones for less than that around. It will be interesting to see what it goes for. If I remember it had a couple owies in the table....
 
I think that's the one that was on CL for months for $2500. It's got 23d to go and already $70. Crazy.

$2000-2500 is a pretty normal price for these when in good condition, I've seen several local ones list at $2500 with little to no tooling and the ads are gone in days. The seller I got my horizontal mill from was also selling an 8530, and it sold quickly at $2500. This one has the 4" column spacer which is desirable and a power feed which I think is aftermarket, it looks different than mine, and is mounted on the right instead of the left. Also possibly some tooling and spare parts. It also doesn't look to be in bad shape at first glance so really odd that it sat on CL for months at an asking price where I've seen others sell quickly.

Looking at the auction photos I notice the fine feed is missing, not just the hand wheel but much of the assembly as well. Also the course feed handle is hanging down as is the spindle so I suspect it has some significant spindle damage which of course would really knock the value down, particularly if the parts aren't in that waste basket of "tooling". The spindles on these mills are known to be vulnerable to ham handed operators. The table does have a few marks, worse that the ones I've seen at $2500 but still mostly cosmetic.

That it looks fairly decent but sat for a long time at a price where others have sold quickly makes me suspect the seller was firm on a "mint" machine price on a machine that needs some serious work.
 
I get that these are sought after machines like other classic names but like those other classic hobby names to me they are overpriced. Especially when I can buy a J or M head Bridgeport for $1500+/-. But that's just me.

Several years ago there was 8530 with collets, RT, all kinds of tooling in basically new condition on CL for $800. I could never the people to respond and it was on there for 4mo. I guess it broke me of jones'n for one.
 
I get that these are sought after machines like other classic names but like those other classic hobby names to me they are overpriced. Especially when I can buy a J or M head Bridgeport for $1500+/-. But that's just me.

Several years ago there was 8530 with collets, RT, all kinds of tooling in basically new condition on CL for $800. I could never the people to respond and it was on there for 4mo. I guess it broke me of jones'n for one.

If you have the space for a Bridgeport or even the various "2/3" size mills there are just so many more options available to you. A free Bridgeport is kind of worthless if it won't fit in the shop.
In my case a Bridgeport would have involved removing part of a wall to get it inside and then cutting a hole in the ceiling so the head could extend into the middle of the kitchen. Not surprisingly that idea did not survive contact with my normally supportive wife. :)

The much smaller Benchmaster and Atlas mills are maybe half the size but not much cheaper. These are the hidden costs to having a small shop.
 
If you have the space for a Bridgeport or even the various "2/3" size mills there are just so many more options available to you. A free Bridgeport is kind of worthless if it won't fit in the shop.
In my case a Bridgeport would have involved removing part of a wall to get it inside and then cutting a hole in the ceiling so the head could extend into the middle of the kitchen. Not surprisingly that idea did not survive contact with my normally supportive wife. :)

The much smaller Benchmaster and Atlas mills are maybe half the size but not much cheaper. These are the hidden costs to having a small shop.
Not just the shop space, but getting it moved and installed. One strong guy with a pickup can haul a Clausing 8520, take it off the base and hand truck it into a basement. Try that with a Bridgeport.

jack vines
 
I hear you guys. I work out of the typical 20x20 2 car garage. The added kink is a really steep driveway that angles toward the garage. It was a real trick to get my RF 30 in the garage mostly because of the driveway. But 700lbs of anything is not to be taken lightly. I had a chance at a Bridgeport clone Maxmill for $500 and while tempting the thought of moving and installing it made me decline. I know that makes me totally weird but so far my only problem with my old used and abused RF 30 is just that, that it's used and abused. The fact I only paid $400 for it and it's still being made and parts are no problem means until I start doing work that it can't handle everything else is but idle curiosity. Obviously YMMV.
 
Looks to be a sweet 8520 none the less.
@$750 at the time of this post.
 
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