Pawn Shop Tool Score: Router & ROS

I bought a Woodpecker router table insert for my PC 690 router and built a router table extension for my table saw. I decided to look on-line for a spare base 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 base that just happened to come with a PC690LR 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.

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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 $14.)

Reply to
DerbyDad03
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Nice looking router! Looks better than mine!

Reply to
G Ross

Thanks! Interesting thing is that it came with this 5/16" Straight Dovetail Router Bit with 8mm Shank. There was a guide bushing installed and 8mm reducer in the 1/2" collet.

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Somebody was doing something special with it, but they didn't do it for very long. ;-) There was a guide bushing and 8mm reducer in the 1/2" collet.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

You thoroughly suck.

Reply to
-MIKE-

Nice find! I've had a PC691 (prefer the 'D' handle) for decades. Great router.

I've never found anything in a pawn shop that was worth having. Most of what I've seen is beat up junk and they're asking nearly what a new one costs (sometimes more). You did good.

Reply to
krw

Yes...yes I do. ;-)

Reply to
DerbyDad03

You said Pawn Shop. That means used. Those look brand spanking new!

Reply to
russellseaton1

Not true. (The "used" part)

From Wikipedia:

"A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral."

While neither of the tools I bought were in fact brand new, there were some brand new, unopened items in the pawn shop. Nothing says that only used items can be pawned.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

It's early in the morning, but I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around a straight dovetail. Sorta like a 180 degree angle.

Reply to
G Ross

Right. Some stuff is shoplifted and never opened when pawned. Must be a lot of defective chargers too, many of the drills don't have them.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

He probably had a Leigh DT jig for sale too. That 8mm bit was a common size for cutting through dove tails in the Leigh, IIRC.

Reply to
Leon

Leigh Jigs used an 8mm shank straight bit for cutting through dove tails on their jig.

Reply to
Leon

Yeah! Stolen new items can be pawned too. :!) Typically presents that were unneeded.

Reply to
Leon

Around here, whenever a musician has any instruments stolen, the first place you look is the local pawn shops and used music stores. One particular music shop is notorious for taking in stolen instruments. You would think for as many times the cops have been called to the place to release someone's gear, they'd actually penalize the store or do something about enforcing laws about it.

Reply to
-MIKE-

te:

Nothing says that only used items

But your definition says "personal property used as collateral". UNLESS th e person (personal) is the source manufacturer or they are the original fac tory or original retailer, everything is used. If your router is not bough t directly from Porter Cable, or one of its authorized retailers (Home Depo t, etc.), it is used. Just like the instant a car drives off the dealer's lot, its USED. The dealer that sold it cannot buy it back the next day and say it is brand new.

Reply to
russellseaton1

Here in Texas, pawn shops are carefully controlled and licensed. But, that only keeps the most obvious fencing of stolen goods activity at bay.

Having had enough tools stolen to equip the Corp of Engineers, I don't even go look for my tools when they are stolen. If they are pawned, they can b e pawned for 10 days, 14 days, 30 days, or indefinitely. So say the pawned items sit in the back of the pawn shop out of sight for a couple of weeks ( or more). Are you going to hit every pawn shop in town looking your tools every day looking for your tools after an undetermined/unknown amount of ti me passes?

Can't do it, no one has that much time. Even if you find your stuff, which I did one time by accident, it is a chore to get it back. You have to pro ve it was yours, prove it was stolen, and then get the police involved. If it gets that far and the police determine an item was stolen then the pawn broker simply gives it back to you. He gets a mark on his record, and isn' t in the State's radar unless he has several incidents a year.

To complicate that, they broke up a ring of thieves that were working out o f Houston (a 3 1/2 hour drive from here) that were literally raiding constr uction sites and trailers during the day, then driving their stolen merchan dise straight to San Antonio to pawn. Since the local cops don't share the information unless requested, the stolen goods simply fly under the radar and are easily pawned, especially if they are pawned the same day.

When I had a buddy that worked at a pawn shop, he told me that they figure about half to 75% of the stuff they have at any given time was probably sto len.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

I bought a Woodpecker router table insert for my PC 690 router and built a router table extension for my table saw. I decided to look on-line for a spare base 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 base that just happened to come with a PC690LR 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.

formatting link

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 $14.)

***********************

Sounds like you did good. My luck at pawn shops is usually everything I want is priced higher than new retail and they expect me to be thankful if they lower the price to new retail for me.

Reply to
Bob La Londe

That's the way it is here, too. They are selling the used tools they have for much more than the price in the stores. I was a more than surprised at that since I could easily go to Home Depot's site online while I was in th e store and find the regular price of tools, etc. The clerk I talked to sa id they expect to take off about 10-20%, and most people think they are get ting a deal.

The other side of the equation that he pointed out is that Home Depot won't finance, and they will.

Strangely, one of the last things I bought from a pawn shop is similar to D D's story. I found an older saw that I really wanted on EBAY and bid it up once I found it was located here in my hometown. The ebay ad said no ship ping if picked up. I thought was an individual as he answered my questions right away, but nope. It was the EBAY department of one of our local pawn chains. When I picked up the saw, it still had the tag on it that was mar ked at $50 more (for the store sale) than I paid for it.

A lot of smoke and mirrors, these days.

Robert

Reply to
nailshooter41

Really? So you would consider the Honda generators in the sealed boxes with the intact plastic strapping as "used"? What about the Dewalt miter saws in the sealed boxes, still encased in the shrink-wrap plastic? If it's never been out of the box, how can it be considered used? Used by who?

There is no doubt in my mind that the router I bought at the pawn shop is used. However, that doesn't mean that *every* router that I buy from a third party is used. Read on...

Apples and oranges. First off, new cars are indeed driven of the lot and still sold as new. It's called a test drive. That doesn't typically happen with a tool. If you test drive a generator or miter saw, the best it'll be from then on is factory refurbished. But aside from that, in the case of a car that was sold and then driven by the buyer, there is no argument that it immediately becomes a used car. It was *used* by someone. On the other hand, the Honda generators at the pawn shop were never driven. They were never started. They were never even taken out of the box. In other words, they were never *used*. Heck, from that perspective, they are newer than the new car that has 100 miles worth of test drives on it.

How about this: Let's say I buy a miter saw from Home Depot and sell it to you, unopened, for half price. Would you tell your buddies that you bought a used miter saw for half the price of a new one or would you tell them that some idiot sold you a brand new miter saw for half price?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

8mm is a common shank for Festool routers, too. Maybe his other router was a Festool. ;-)
Reply to
krw

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