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I just hit the craigslist jackpot! Entire shop upgraded!

5K views 45 replies 34 participants last post by  Yonak 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I just had to share this with some fellow woodworkers. I believe I just hit the jackpot. Maybe I'm crazy and got ripped off but I just don't see it. If I did.. It's too late…It's still a huge upgrade. I answered an ad that was titled "Woodworking Shop for Sale…$2450.00" I thought surely I was going to open an ad to find someones rusted out woodworking shop of old craftsman tools or something but the first thing listed…

3hp Jet Table saw with 50" Fence…My interested peaked…Alot better than the Rigid Contractor Saw I am using
Grizzly 14" Bandsaw…Am I reading this right?...Beats my Craftsman 14" Bandsaw
Grizzly 6" Jointer….I must be dreaming…huge improvment over my porter cable benchtop jointer
Shop Fox 2 hp Cyclone system with all tubing…Okay whats the catch???...
Dewalt 12 1/2" Planer…I go back and check the price again, thinking I missed a 0 somewhere
Delta 18"-36" Open ended Drum sander … Okay this is clearly a joke or an extremely angry (soon to be ex) wife

Also some random jigs, gadgets and have a possible deal on some wood if someone buys the lot…Okay I finally found the problem…those dreaded words "Email if interested… can provide pictures on serious inquiries"

Okay it all makes sense now … but what if? Nah…but I am going to email just in case. I quickly get an email back with pictures. The tools are clearly used but all of them appear to be well maintained. No rust on the cast iron tops. The Grizzly band saw looks brand new. Cyclone system is a DIY shop made system using a shop fox motor but still better than the one I have now which is nothing. The wood is about 80-90 bd ft of Walnut, Cherry and Hard Maple. Now the going back and forth on the price..what we settle on is $2600.00 for everything, all the tools & wood and going by his word that he had some extra stuff "little things" that he would through in. I start adding everything up in my head… I think did I just bought a table saw & drum sander and get 2 truckloads worth of stuff for free???

It gets better

I arrive at the house 2 days later, money in hand waiting to see this stuff. Very nice guy comes out and meets me and proceeds to show me around everything. So everything is on mobile bases that I get to take too. I start figuring out a game plan on how to load the stuff how many trips and as we are talking I get the first of ..oh yeah you can take this… Incra 1000se Mitre Gauge…uhhhh sweet! Here are some Incra Tracks to build some jigs….Oh that oscilatting spindle sander underneath the drum sander, you can take that too (It's only a ryobi but okay) Take this moblie cart that I keep the planer on … here's 2 extra sets of blades for the jointer….here's 3 extra Timberwolf blades for the bandsaw..Ohhh speaking of which I have a resaw fence and riser blocks for the band saw you can have..Here's 4 table saw blades…here's a height gauge…here's an incra try square…here is a wixey digital angle gauge (already have one but hey why not 2?) You want this porter cable Dovetail jig? How about this Central Machinary Mortising Machine with an xyz axis vise? here is 3 sets of unopened pipe clamps… ohh I also have this grizzly tenoning jig, Here is a wheel marking gauge. a dial indicator, a digital dial indicator ohh and a 3 pcs grizzly set with a magnetic dial indicator and calipers. 2 70 mile round trips with a fully loaded 8' bed truck I have a completely packed garage full of tools, an aching back and a big smile on my face. Now to find something to do with all my old tools, rearrange my garage, setup the dust collection system, Add a 220 plug to my garage, take some pictures and start making some saw dust!!

The model numbers of the big equipment I got

Jet 3hp Left Tilting 10" Arbor saw JTAS-10XL-1w/50" Fence
Delta 31-255×18"-36" Open ended Drum Sander
Grizzly GO555×14" Bandsaw
DeWalt 734 Planer
Grizzly G1182Z 6" Jointer

Updated with a picture of the Table saw all cleaned up…You can see the bandsaw and jointer in the background. Hoping to have everything cleaned up and running tomorrow.
Wood Table Engineering Toolroom Machine tool
 

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#7 ·
HAHA… I will post the pictures as soon as I get everything set back up … right now it all looks like a jumbled mess in my garage.. I have about a 2' walk way to get through thats about it lol. I tried to start organizing it but I think this is going to call for moving everything into the driveway and starting from scratch.
 
#13 ·
just curious, did he happen to mention why he was selling his shop stuff. I had a friend once he's dead now (I think he drank himself into the ground)who went to the Virgin Islands to become a ship captain. He couldn't take a lot of his stuff. He left me with 14" Rockwell Band saw with base,12" floor model Rockwell disc sander, older jet drill press,and other misc tools. Not to mention a Pa system for a band with huge speakers, tents, bamboo fly rods, chicken necks for tying flies. Oh and then there was the 1957 Austin Healy Bug Eye Sprite (not in great shape). I still have everything except the Bug Eye, it went to a good home, some one who fixed it up. Now it makes the rounds at car shows. Sometimes these things just happen!!
 
#17 · (Edited by Moderator)
"...why he was selling his shop…?"

Just a guess, but he was old, tired, and wanting to be done with it. If he had no one who wanted it then what is left to be done? Fighting it out piece by piece isn't for everyone, and dang but isn't it refreshing to encounter one who didn't attempt to price like retail.

I'm imagining that the seller did this out of weariness as well as a lingering love for the hobby. There are pirates among us but also many who might literally give away unwanted treasures to the person who seems to value and appreciate our stuff. A young guy at work just married and getting started was overheard remarking that he was saving to buy a pocket hole jig. Got that? Saving to buy an item costing less than than the price of a TS blade. A couple of years ago Woodcraft had a freebie Kreg starter set if bought something else. Mine was unopened and gathering dust so the kid got it. The damn giveaway jig changed his life and he's happy experimenting and practicing. Cost me nothing to be a nice guy and it felt good to see this guy smile and move forward his capabilities. And so this might be a small part of the explanation behind why the entire shop came so cheap. It wasn't stolen, it was gifted.
 
#20 ·
After talking to the guy he used to work and instruct at Woodcraft in Ft. Myers. He got most of the equipment at next to nothing pricing through his contacts and the store. He said that he moves around buying houses, fixing them up and then flipping them. He used to be in a house with a 3 car garage but was currently in a house with a single car garage. He had also mentioned that he knew someone that had a big shop that would let him have all the shop time he wanted and that he was going to get a lathe and get into wood turning.
 
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