Deal Finder -- What's your best??

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Mon May 21, 2007 8:38 pm

Hey guys,

For those of you who don't know, I've developed a reputation amongst some of my pipemaking colleagues for finding excellent deals on shop equipment. There's just something about the "score" that is so rewarding! I come from a long line of rather thrifty people (I once witnessed my great-aunts pour an entire dish of unfinished dinner mints into their purses as they left a wake!) and enjoy buying big on a small budget.

So, this thread is for those of you who share my passion for deals. It might be a pipe (I just picked up a Patent Era Dunhill last week for $30!), materials, or better yet, shop equipment. Post photos of your finds and even a story about it if you are so inclined.

Looking forward to seeing what you can come up with!

Jeff

ScoJo · Post by **ScoJo** » Mon May 21, 2007 9:13 pm

This one time...esteemed pipe maker Jeff Gracik offered to sell me one of his really cool pipe creations for only $100!! I couldn't believe it...

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Mon May 21, 2007 10:28 pm

Now that we're out of fantasy-land, Scott

, I'll start the thread off with two recent scores of mine.

The first is a repost. I found a used Emco Compact 5 lathe about a month ago and ended up paying $200 for it. Considering that these machines typically list north of $2000 (I believe newer stock, lower quality ones, can be had for around $1k), I consider it quite a deal. I've since added a quick change turret to it and the massive jacobs chuck on the tailstock, but otherwise it is as I bought it in the photos.

The second and most recent score was picked up this weekend. I've been in the market for a new drill press since--well I suppose since I bought my first very crappy one in 2004. I just picked up this Protech drill press this weekend. It's a 12-speed, 1/2hp press and included the stand. Not a thing wrong with it. It came out of a local mechine shop. I paid $40.

I'm a happy and cheap man.

That's it for now. But these will certainly not be the last ones I find.

Best,

Jeff

RadDavis · Post by **RadDavis** » Mon May 21, 2007 11:28 pm

I once paid $4.00 plus tax for two patent Dunhills at an antique mall. One was from 1921 and the other was from 1954.

Jeff would have been about 7 years old at the time.

Rad

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Mon May 21, 2007 11:40 pm

RadDavis wrote:I once paid $4.00 plus tax for two patent Dunhills at an antique mall. One was from 1921 and the other was from 1954.

Jeff would have been about 7 years old at the time.

Rad

It sounds like a good deal now, but that was back when Dunhills were selling for $8 and Alfred was still hawking the pipes himself.

pierredekat · Post by **pierredekat** » Tue May 22, 2007 4:59 am

Here in Houston, we have "heavy trash pickup day" once a month, and tool-wise, I found a little Craftsman bandsaw out by somebody's curb awhile back.

Funny thing was, the guy who was throwing it out saw me snagging it and shouted down the driveway, "It works good! It just needs a new blade!"

I shouted back up, "Cool! Thanks!" Yep, a new blade, and it worked great. Still does.

A guy could make a living off of what people throw away in this town.

Some other finds:
* 30+ board-feet of some very nice solid mahogany -- a custom shelf that somebody had built and then threw out some years later, I'm guessing. Planed it down and I've used some on a few non-pipe related projects. Still have a lot of it left.
* Miscellaneous other hardwood from downed trees, etc. -- maple, pecan, mulberry, etc.
* A nice Dell Dimension desktop running Windows XP that my Girlfriend now uses -- cleaned up the OS with Norton Utilities, and it's been whizzing along ever since.
* Bamboo out the whazoo -- it's more or less an aggressive weed here in Houston, all different varieties, from the little bitty grass-like stuff to the 40-feet tall stuff.
* Several metal shelves for my shop
* Almost everything else you can possibly imagine -- a vintage Bianchi road bike, a like-new color television, a fax machine, desks, workbenches, you-name-it ... all free for the taking.

So NOW, who's the cheap so-and-so around here!

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Tue May 22, 2007 8:33 am

I picked up an unsmoked Tokutomi with hippo tooth adornment for about half of what it would cost retail!

Here's a pic:

This pipe really called out to me. Not only because its gorgeous and the shape spoke to me. But because I already own the tamper in the forground. The pieces needed to be reunited.

ScoJo · Post by **ScoJo** » Tue May 22, 2007 8:51 am

Wow, these are all great deals! I have to start hanging out with you guys - I never find anything like those things around here.

Post by **KurtHuhn** » Tue May 22, 2007 10:49 am

Not strictly pipe related, but I recently got a 200A load center with 24 positions - all populated with 15A and 20A breakers for free. It will be the basis of my garage/woprkshop when it gets built next year.

I have also recently been given a handful of empty soda kegs and CO2 cylinders. Enough to keep me in draught ales for months.

I haven't been hunting for tools recently, so I haven't really found anything in that respect.

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Tue May 22, 2007 12:16 pm

I recently picked up 10, 100 sheet packs of 400 grit sandpaper on ebay for $9.99. That's right, 1000 sheets of sandpaper for 10 bucks. I was pretty stoked.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Wed May 23, 2007 9:15 am

Hey Jeff.. how's that vise pictured with your drill press work for you? I've been looking at one similar to its operation but haven't yet pulled the trigger. Thanks!

Matt

kkendall · Post by **kkendall** » Wed May 23, 2007 11:01 am

Brand new Delta LA-200 Midi Lathe - $150 ... 205 (delivered)

Was pretty happy finding that deal (PS - They still have more at that price!)

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Wed May 23, 2007 11:10 am

hazmat wrote:Hey Jeff.. how's that vise pictured with your drill press work for you? I've been looking at one similar to its operation but haven't yet pulled the trigger. Thanks!

Matt

I haven't used it yet, but based on my testing of it it should work out just fine. It was cheap enough @ harbor freight that I didn't think twice.

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Wed May 23, 2007 1:07 pm

Harbor Freight is where I was looking at them, also. Gotta be easier to get where you need to be with a vise like that than what I'm currently using.

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Wed May 23, 2007 1:22 pm

.... and I did get my Jet Midi lathe and oneway chuck in trade for giving a buddy drawing lessons.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Wed May 23, 2007 4:10 pm

@Matt
Short answer re the Harbor Freight cross-slide vice: POS, I mean a REAL POS. I tossed mine in the garbage after a few short months.

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Wed May 23, 2007 5:19 pm

With regards to bargains, I almost screwed up big-time.
I bought an eBay lot of about 10 old estate pipes for about $20 to experiment on with sanding & finishing, awhile back when I knew zilch about pipes.

I was preparing to smooth sand a sandblast finish pipe so as to try my hand at staining pipes. I noticed some maker's stampings & decided to research them first just out of curiosity.

Suffice it to say, I almost destroyed not one, but two pre-transition Barling's, one of them a "quaint". I resold them on eBay for about $250 for one & about $550 for the "quaint".
The quaint would have sold for even more if I hadn't over-buffed it. As I said, I knew zilch about pipes at the time.

Talk about beginner's luck!

hazmat · Post by **hazmat** » Thu May 24, 2007 8:24 am

Frank wrote:@Matt
Short answer re the Harbor Freight cross-slide vice: POS, I mean a REAL POS. I tossed mine in the garbage after a few short months.

Thanks for the warning. Did you find a more workable, similar vise anywhere else?

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 24, 2007 8:36 am

Frank wrote:Suffice it to say, I almost destroyed not one, but two pre-transition Barling's, one of them a "quaint". I resold them on eBay for about $250 for one & about $550 for the "quaint".
The quaint would have sold for even more if I hadn't over-buffed it. As I said, I knew zilch about pipes at the time.

Talk about beginner's luck!

D'OOOOH!

Frank · Post by **Frank** » Thu May 24, 2007 12:20 pm

@Matt
Unfortunately, those Harbor Freight ones are the only inexpensive cross slides. You can get those exact same ones on eBay for as little as $10. http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dl ... category0=
Worth it for a throw away if it lasts awhile, but the bed ways are so badly milled, they start to stick after awhile.

I just use my combo mill/drill/lathe now. I got rid of my drill press. Was also a POS.