Not really much of a "score" in terms of an amazing deal, but a score nonetheless. I set out last night to take a look at a DW734 someone was offering. It was near Orlando so I figured I'd take the wife and treat her to a dinner. It was late -- the guy didn't respond to me until around 8PM.
Anyhow, I got there and find out he's selling most of his shop equipment in order to upgrade. If you know me, you know I'm new to woodworking and don't have a lot of tools under my belt quite yet. This guy was extremely knowledgeable and was eager share -- quite a resource. He had all kinds of hardwood in his shop that my wife and I got to pick up and smell. He showed us some of his work, including a HUGE desk he built for someone in Texas. All in all this guy was great, I learned a lot from him and my wife enjoyed seeing first hand what I hope this hobby will do for me.
So he ran a couple boards through the DW734 and the performance was great. He wanted $265 for it and it came with three sets of blades, one brand new. It was in great condition, ran great, sounded great.
I then turned my attention to his bandsaw. A Grizzly G0513 17" 2HP bandsaw. This guy looked like a beast. I had never researched bandsaws at that point and only knew it would be in my future. I'm not one to make many spontaneous purchases and like to research them -- I spent a good four weeks or so before I bought my miter saw! Some quick Googling and I found it to be a decent saw with the chief complaint being the fence. His was in great condition, ran great, about a year old. He was offering it with three blades, including a large resaw blade and a tiny scroll saw type blade. He wanted $750 for it.
I got him to agree to a little price cut for buying both. $950 for the planer, the band saw, three sets of planer knives, three blades for the saw, some hardwood stock he threw in, and a nifty hard plastic type rubber type belt for my contractor table saw that he says would increase its performance (I haven't researched it, never seen one like it before).
Retail, it looks like all of the above would run me $1000 for the saw (shipped), $430 for the planer, another $100 for the planer knives, and at least another $75 for the band saw blades. Not to mention the wood. So $950 vs $1600. Outside of the monetary value, it is hard to place a value on the information he gave me.
He also had a 3HP Grizzly 10" cabinet saw, a 3HP Grizzly dust collector, and a very nice Jet combination sander that he was willing to sell for $1200. A good deal, but I already have a 12" contractor table saw that I inherited from my great grandfather. Admittedly, when he turned that cabinet saw on, it was a world of a difference. Solid as a rock. Whereas my contract saw has quite a bit of vibration in the table. It was my first time seeing a cabinet saw in action. I am in the market for a dust collector but I'd have to upgrade his bag filters and build a separator for it.
I am lucky I took my wife with me as she is the one who helped me justify the purchases. I have a hard time spending this kind of money on me and she's been a great supporter. She was really engaged in the whole process and was eagerly listening to the guy talk about anything and everything. We ended up getting there around 8:45 and after talking, disassembling and loading into the car, we didn't leave until about 11:30PM. I just got back from taking her to breakfast since she didn't get to eat out last night!
Anyhow, I got there and find out he's selling most of his shop equipment in order to upgrade. If you know me, you know I'm new to woodworking and don't have a lot of tools under my belt quite yet. This guy was extremely knowledgeable and was eager share -- quite a resource. He had all kinds of hardwood in his shop that my wife and I got to pick up and smell. He showed us some of his work, including a HUGE desk he built for someone in Texas. All in all this guy was great, I learned a lot from him and my wife enjoyed seeing first hand what I hope this hobby will do for me.
So he ran a couple boards through the DW734 and the performance was great. He wanted $265 for it and it came with three sets of blades, one brand new. It was in great condition, ran great, sounded great.
I then turned my attention to his bandsaw. A Grizzly G0513 17" 2HP bandsaw. This guy looked like a beast. I had never researched bandsaws at that point and only knew it would be in my future. I'm not one to make many spontaneous purchases and like to research them -- I spent a good four weeks or so before I bought my miter saw! Some quick Googling and I found it to be a decent saw with the chief complaint being the fence. His was in great condition, ran great, about a year old. He was offering it with three blades, including a large resaw blade and a tiny scroll saw type blade. He wanted $750 for it.
I got him to agree to a little price cut for buying both. $950 for the planer, the band saw, three sets of planer knives, three blades for the saw, some hardwood stock he threw in, and a nifty hard plastic type rubber type belt for my contractor table saw that he says would increase its performance (I haven't researched it, never seen one like it before).
Retail, it looks like all of the above would run me $1000 for the saw (shipped), $430 for the planer, another $100 for the planer knives, and at least another $75 for the band saw blades. Not to mention the wood. So $950 vs $1600. Outside of the monetary value, it is hard to place a value on the information he gave me.
He also had a 3HP Grizzly 10" cabinet saw, a 3HP Grizzly dust collector, and a very nice Jet combination sander that he was willing to sell for $1200. A good deal, but I already have a 12" contractor table saw that I inherited from my great grandfather. Admittedly, when he turned that cabinet saw on, it was a world of a difference. Solid as a rock. Whereas my contract saw has quite a bit of vibration in the table. It was my first time seeing a cabinet saw in action. I am in the market for a dust collector but I'd have to upgrade his bag filters and build a separator for it.
I am lucky I took my wife with me as she is the one who helped me justify the purchases. I have a hard time spending this kind of money on me and she's been a great supporter. She was really engaged in the whole process and was eagerly listening to the guy talk about anything and everything. We ended up getting there around 8:45 and after talking, disassembling and loading into the car, we didn't leave until about 11:30PM. I just got back from taking her to breakfast since she didn't get to eat out last night!
