Pawn Shop Tool Score: Router & ROS

[DerbyDad03]

I recently built a router table extension for my table saw. I decided to look on-line for a spare base for my Porter Cable 690 router so I wouldn't have to take the base off of the table to use the router by hand.

The bases are readily available on eBay, tool sites, Home Depot, etc. They go for anywhere from $70-$80 once you include shipping and tax. I decided to try my local Craiglist and found a 690 base that just happened to come with a 690 router for $60. I called the number and it turned out to be a pawn shop.

I went to the store, and after a little negotiation, I got the router and a Dewalt D26453 Variable Speed ROS for $80, no tax. The router is in better shape than mine and the sander looks barely used.

I could've spent a lot more money at that pawn shop. The tool section takes up about 1/3 of the store. Nice neighborhood too, nothing sketchy. I'll definitely be going back to shop some more.

(I'm going to try an adapt an old miter saw dust bag for use with the ROS. If it doesn't work, eBay has them for $13.)

[gfretwell]

If they aren't bad. They are the best stolen tools money can buy ;-)

[DerbyDad03]

They both work fine, so far anyway. The pawn shop router is already installed in the table. Even if the router motor goes bad and the ROS craps the bed, I still have the extra base that I wanted in the first place. Worst case is that I paid the "top of the range" price for the base. No real loss.

And I'll probably buy more. ;-)

[gfretwell]

Every tool I got from a pawn shop had something wrong with it but it was usually minor. I did get a planer with a bad motor. It might have just needed brushes but I was not willing to screw with it. My old style Dremel had a bad coupler (a consumable anyway) The 5" grinder had a bad cord and bad brushes. Since then I just buy hand tools like sockets and wrenches. You can dig through a big bin of random stuff looking for the Snap-on, Craftsman and MAC stuff. I also buy DVDs there for 50 cents to a dollar, with a discount for a bunch at a time. I immediately rip them to disk.