Milling Machine Advice - Looking at a used machine

Mr.Miz said:
I agree with you 100%, but I personally as a Hobbiest sometimes forget what my time is actually worth. Or even worse I assign my hobby time has having $0 per hour of worth. That simply isn't true. That "time, money, speed pick 2" thing isn't quite as cut and dry and everybody makes it out to be. At least not for me. I just really feel like the only advice I received over the internet was "buy used it's better quality and you get more value for your money" or "buy once cry once". That advice to be clear is correct. I never actually had somebody say to me " just buy and cheap new one, learn on it, and when it breaks or when you out grow it with projects then give it away and upgrade. The cost of a cheap new is actually the cost of education. " So I guess what I'm trying to do here is throw in a comment that I wish somebody would have said to me as I started. I had the money, but if you calculate what my odd job $ per hour worth is. I could have bought the cheap junk messed around with it, (and completed the same projects I have already done, for the same amount of time and still afforded to upgrade to the used equipment I have now. I'm really hoping that when I retire maybe there will be a shift in available time and I'll have to reset the whole calculation, but I've got a minimum of another 10 years before I can even look at retiring. I really hope my comments help the Original Poster. I'm not actually saying he should go one way or the other, but rather take a much harder look at what his needs really are.
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I can appreciate your point of view. But for me, I have gone this route too many times because I didn't want to spend or have the money to spend on what I really wanted and felt I didn't have the time to bring a used unit up to speed, or more over, I wanted to start using it right away.

But my lesson has been different than yours, I can tell you that over time, between not only the purchase of the Asian machines, tooling and everything else that goes with it, then having to play this again when I finally got the machine that I originally wanted, I ended up spending far more than if I had just purchased what I wanted to begin with. (I hate the term but it applies "Buy once, Cry once")

Not to mention that most often, not always, the machines I settled for did not do all I wanted it to, nor did it do it as well as I wanted or in some instances, as well as I needed to. This caused me so much frustration when a project was ruined that I kicked myself every single time I used it and eventually just stopped using it.

I do my hobby because I want to relax and enjoy building things. Being frustrated never helped me, it has a very bad effect on me to be frank. I expect quality work from me and my tools.

With regards to this machine, it does not appear to need to be torn down and gone through, like so many others I have seen. It appears, going by the photos, that it is in pretty good condition. The CL add also states that there is tooling available and the best situation is to work a package deal. Not sure what the situation is with the seller, but there is also a really nice Arbor Press in the background. Sounds to me like a package deal in the making one way or the other.

Everyone is different. We all have to make our decisions based on that.
 
Wow guys! So much response :)

I contacted the seller this morning and he had just sold it. Two kinds of people around here, the quick and the mill-less.

I need to read all of your responses as I know there is a ton of good information there. Thanks again guys!
 
"The quick and the mill-less...
I Love that comment
 
Jake P said:
Two kinds of people around here, the quick and the mill-less.
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That has to be one of the most profound statements I have ever read here on HM.
 
If you're not already using it, allow me to recommend Searchtempest.com. It will allow you to search multiple CL areas at once.
 
MrWhoopee said:
If you're not already using it, allow me to recommend Searchtempest.com. It will allow you to search multiple CL areas at once.
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A friend told me about that site a while ago, that's how I found it :)
 
I would like to thank you all again for the great responses! There is much to think about in this question of used vs. new, and the points made were all taken into consideration. I've certainly, in my years, gone back and forth with them all.

I think I've pretty much settled my mind on ordering an 833TV. In my situation I think it's the best compromise all around at this time.

Some day when I expand my shop space I may very well upgrade or add another mill, but for many years going forward I think this and the 1340GT will more than cover my wants.

I love living off the beaten path (if a town of 8,000+ is such a thing), but when it comes to purchasing things like this in the used market it becomes an issue. Life is about trade offs, unless you're filthy rich of course!
 
I have a J head Bridgeport with a 36" table. It fits neatly on an angle in otherwise unusable garage space. The mill was $3,600 and the VFD, DRO, and X axis power feed totaled about $2,000. Still much less than a comparably sized PM.
 

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