There are soooo many brands out there. You are asking a nearly impossible question. My experience has been that whatever brand is on offer is nearly irrelevant. You are asking for a “good” machine and don’t want to spend much. That is fine, but you have to give somewhere on your criteria. In the “low cost” & “good” you are going to be looking at used machines and it is unlikely you are going get much variety at one time. The more you pick and choose criteria, the more $ you are going to need to pay. What I have found is that I get one option and I have 2 choices: buy it or don’t buy it.
There are some great deals out there, but they probably will not look very nice (otherwise they will be gone long before you get there).
I encourage you to think about what you want in a machine. What do you have to have. What are “show stopper” issues (weight, size, power requirements). Also, learn about the features that typically come on machines (work envelop, spindle types, speeds, accessories, feeds, swivels, tooling). Also, get your “ducks in a row” – have a good bit of money on hand, have you transport & load/unload plans worked out, know where you are going to put it, get your plans in place to power it. You have to be patient and able to move fast.
When I got my Cinci Toolmaster the guy had been trying to sell it for a year - then he wanted it gone in a couple days.
Some strategies I have used are:
- Look for something that is a bit rusty and real dirty (makes the price better). Actually rust and grime are your friend.
- Look for a 3 phase machine (price is better and generally at least a commercial, if not industrial, machine.
- Don’t sweat the voltage (because you have already figured out how you’ll power it.) An odd voltage makes the price better (and usually the machine better).
- Get a machine a bit larger than what you think you need (the work envelop gets eaten up fast). Also, the cute little machines are more sought after (and generally not as capable)
- Don’t worry about a few knobs and levers broken (obviously don’t touch it if there is major damage). There is no such thing as a perfect machine. If anything is broken, the price comes down dramatically.
- I don’t touch CNC machines – that is my show stopper. Unsupported software, failed electronics etc. can render the machine inoperable. A 30, 40, 50 …. year old manual machine can almost always be repaired. If CNC / electronics is your thing then you’ll make a different conclusion.
- I don’t worry about running a machine (if it is still plugged in and operable, the price is usually higher). Sure it is good if you can run it, but I got most of my machines untested. You are taking a chance, but you can get a reasonable assessment by having a good look (there are going to be flaws in a machine you are paying less than 50 cents a pound for!). Again, you are getting it cheap – if you have to spend a little $$ to fix it, so what?
Auctions are fine - I have picked up two "big" machines at auction (the S&B 1024 and the first Maho) - both untested, both are great machines - also numerous small machines. The 1024 was quite broken. (see my posts here elsewhere). I've picked up 3 machines off Kijiji - none were tested (one drill had a "bent spindle" - which made it very cheap, and a new chuck solved that). I got one machine shipped in from across the county. In otherwords, keep working your sources and do lots of networking. Opportunities will show up.
