# Need Some Opinions On Value Of Mill



## tpic402 (Apr 1, 2016)

I have an old friend who would like to sell me his 1980   supermax yc stephead pulley mill with dro and power feed, condition is pretty good it has wear on ways, they appear not to be chromed.  Motor has bearing noise (small though) everything works fine. He wants me to set the price and I do not want to short change him.  I do know he paid $2500 in the 1980's and added enco power feed and a millright dro. The fellow is 83 and I want to treat him fair but I also like a good deal


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## ARKnack (Apr 1, 2016)

Boy, that is a tough one. I think I would shoot the ball back in his court and ask what he thinks is a fair price. For myself it all depends on how bad I want it. If I didn't need it I would be straight up and tell him that I really don't need it so it's only worth $xxx to me. You might do better on Craig's list. If I did want it, tooling would help determine the price, but again I would let him throw out a number.


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## David VanNorman (Apr 2, 2016)

I would think 1800 to 2000 would be in the ball park.  Just my two cents.


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## tpic402 (Apr 3, 2016)

Hey Mr. VanNorman your 2 cents, and ARKnack's 2 cents add up to .04.  Heck of a lot better than I started with. I just want to be fair I do not want bitter feelings Ya Know!.


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## mmcmdl (Apr 3, 2016)

David VanNorman said:


> I would think 1800 to 2000 would be in the ball park.  Just my two cents.



This sounds reasonable to me also . I sold a BP and an Enco last year both in VG condition simarly tooled for $2200 and $2600 . I thru in some tooling and all original documents with each machine . I'm sure the location also plays a role , but DVN's numbers seem appropriate . ( now you have .6 cents ) Good luck , hope you get it !


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## tpic402 (Apr 3, 2016)

Yes I got the mill had to give more than I wanted at $2500, by the time I bought a DRO and power feed for my index mill  I figure I am ahead.


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## David VanNorman (Apr 3, 2016)

You got the mill . You paid up for it and your happy. That works for me. Good luck.


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## jer (Aug 28, 2016)

I paid $3K for an 1984 similar to yours under similar conditions this month. It also had a set of collets, a 15" Bridgeport rotary table and a 6" Bridgeport vice. I thought I paid ALL it was worth, hopefully not too much.


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## David VanNorman (Aug 29, 2016)

Good luck. Make lots of chips.


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## timvercoe (Aug 30, 2016)

Location is so key in pricing.  My neck of the woods  I paid 3500 for my BP 15 yrs ago have amassed much in tooling I think my set up would fetch about 5000 now.  I've seen a lot of discussion on forms about how wimpy and Flexible BP style mills are,  I've got a KT 310 S15 also and it can sure take big cuts and remove lots of metal, but I don't feel that the machines are really comparable.  Different machines and they do different jobs well.  Any one have more than one hammer?  Different hammers?  Different jobs...............Talk about 2 cents, not sure that opinion is even worth that.  Tim


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## David VanNorman (Aug 30, 2016)

There is more to it than that . the room you have, how much money you might have , your life style , and perhaps what the little woman might let you devote  to your hobby. Just my two cents again.


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## Reeltor (Aug 30, 2016)

Anything, a machine, hunting equipment, a car, or a house is only worth what the Buyer is willing to pay.  Before I bought my Van Norman I answered several Craigslist ads and in a nice way I told the seller that "to me the mill is only worth this much".  Several months after I got my VN I received 2 calls from sellers asking if I still wanted their mill.  One was a Bridgeport and the other was an Wells Index.
Don't worry about what you paid, be happy that you have a pretty good mill and know that it works.  Go ahead and start making chips, have fun and be safe.


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## timvercoe (Sep 1, 2016)

David VanNorman said:


> There is more to it than that . the room you have, how much money you might have , your life style , and perhaps what the little woman might let you devote  to your hobby. Just my two cents again.



Your absolutely right!  Given a choice between a large ridged machine and a Bridgeport style machine, and being only limited to one I'd go for the Bridgeport.  Versatility is the key in my book.  Big machines can run big tooling, big tooling is more expensive.  A fixed head machine like a KT requires more fixtures and creativity to do unusual other than square perpendicular cuts.  I've hung large items of the side of the BP and rotated the turret to accomplish some repairs.  Cant think of a way to do that with the vertical KT.  A horizontal mill would accomplish the job, but now your talking another machine.  At this time can't think of a job that I've done on the KT that I could not have accomplished on the BP, just would have taken a lot more time on some of them.  A plunge cut with a 3 in shell end mill through a 2 in hole comes to mind.  The BP could not do that, but the hole could have been bored with a boring bar, just would take longer.    Tim


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## David VanNorman (Sep 2, 2016)

I've done some big pieces on a large KT but I could never have the room in my home shop. Enjoy.


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