My first (online) machine tool auction!

[wildo]

Well that was fun!! A buddy of mine sent me a link to an online only machine tool auction in my city. I spotted a couple gems that I was really interested, and more stuff than I couldn't possibly afford that looked fun. I settled on 12 lots that I wanted to focus on. Naturally, with a few days left, the bidding prices were stupid low. Could I really walk away with a Gerstner tool box for $12? Well no... of course not. It cost me $60. On closing day- today- the prices went up and I singled out four of my 12 lots that I really wanted: tools that I actually needed and would use daily.

• In my first lot, I picked up some Starrett and General machinists jacks, a whole box full of small machinist clamps (those parallel clamp deals), and some punches- flat and transfer.
• Second lot was a Gerstner 7 drawer box with the dark red oak finish- my favorite.
• Third lot was labelled as "5C Collets" and had some specialty collets, a collet block (hex & square) and a collet stop. But also in the lot was a Bison 5C 3944 (5 1/4") collet chuck, sans backplate.
• And then the fourth and final lot for me was a Bison 6" 7868 Set-Tru 3 jaw WITH a D1-4 backplate and master/soft jaws! Scored the lot for $170!

In all, I spent $635 which is far more than I intended. But thinking about it, I needed to get a D1-4 backplate for my current Bison 6" set-tru chuck so that I can use it on the new PM lathe. The new backplate is $355 from MSC. So basically I got the backplate for at a $185 discount AND got a free Bison set-tru chuck with it! On top of that, for the spinning tops that I make, I really needed to step it up to a 5C collet chuck so that I can also do 5C work in the mill without losing precision. The Bison 5C collet chuck was going to cost me over $600 new anyway. So I still feel I'm walking away plenty ahead; I'm really excited!!

Just wanted to share my first tool auction. Man you can get sucked into those things and spend a LOT of money quickly, can't you... That was fun though.

 

[darkzero]

Nice score!

Wait, isn't your lathe a D1-4 though?

It always amazes me to see bent chuck key handles on small chucks. 15"+ 4-jaw chucks I can understand but not on a 6" chuck. Makes you wonder what they were doing. They must bell mouth the jaws very quickly.

 

[wildo]

Wait, isn't your lathe a D1-4 though?

It always amazes me to see bent chuck key handles on small chucks. 15"+ 4-jaw chucks I can understand but not on a 6" chuck. Makes you wonder what they were doing. They must bell mouth the jaws very quickly.

Yes. Edited- good catch. And yes, that's probably true about those jaws! I guess the good thing is that they are slave jaws and easily replaced. It did blow my mind to see the key bent like that... people who don't have to pay for it have zero respect!

 

[darkzero]

When bell mouthed the masters would be affected too, they'll get loose in the slots. No matter even if they are, it's set up with soft jaws anyways. Still a great score regardless.

 

[wildo]

That's good to know! I'm still a newbie at a lot of this and have much to learn. If anything, I was thinking that I'd put the bison chuck from this auction onto my SB when I sell it, and mount my newer bison chuck that I bought new onto the D1-4 backplate. That might sweeten the sale of the SB, and I'm still ahead.

 

[savarin]

Good score. My first thought was the same, a lot of force was applied to that chuck key but then I thought maybe it was made that way as it looks the same either side.

 

[wildo]

Good score. My first thought was the same, a lot of force was applied to that chuck key but then I thought maybe it was made that way as it looks the same either side.

That’s a fair point! It does look pretty uniform.

 

[Flyinfool]

Normally the handle on a chuck key is pressed in, no need to bend it for retention. I can not think of any logical reason for the factory to have done that. That thing is bent in the direction for loosening. Unless it is free to spin in there in which case the bends could be from loosening or tightening and the bends would keep the handle from falling out and getting lost.

Just a WAG here. Maybe there was a bad spot on the scroll that caused it to lock up under load and someone used double cheater pipes to break it loose. Hence two similar bends???????

 

[darkzero]

Haha, didn't even noticed the direction it was bent. It might not be the original key. Looks like it has a set screw for holding the handle. If yes then that's not an original Bison key. Bison keys are staked in from the rear.

 

[wildo]

Well mystery solved. The key itself may be original, but the handle part certainly is not. The chuck backplate *is* a D1-4 mount and fits perfectly to the lathe spindle. The scroll feels old and greasy, but smooth until the last 20% (widest) opening. And bonus, I knew it had soft jaws on it, but it also came with standard inside/outside bison branded jaws!

Speaking of bonus... it did NOT look like the collet chuck had a backplate on it, and technically it doesn’t. However, I did come with the D1-4 pins installed and it also mounts perfectly to the lathe! So I don’t even need to spend the $300 for a backplate for it. As far as I’m concerned, that pushed it from an “ok” buy to a “great” buy!

The toolbox leather is a bit beat up (no shocker there) but it still looks fantastic in my shop.













...and finally, in the box of clamps I found this thing. There is no maker’s mark, but it does appear that most all the surfaces have been scraped. I’m guessing it’s some kind of balancing jig? Or maybe a grinding jig? Does anyone know?

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