In lieu of the recent issues concerning non-Sawstop table saws, some institutions are replacing their table saws, the local tech school being one of them. Here is another school that is replacing their non- Sawstop table saw - See the Powermatic listing:
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. For those interested, click onto the item for details.
This is not the only saw that has been listed, on this site, this way.... there has been several. For anyone looking for a good table saw, or other tool, this site lists many state govt's assets being sold/auctioned, this way.
It seems not too many folks are aware that these assets are available, since so few bidders participate. And I suspect not too many folks, looking for tools, are aware of this particular govt website. For those of you looking for a tool, etc., here is one way to check out what your state has to offer, i.e., this govdeals website.
Fifty years ago I was fresh out of college, living in Hawaii and had just started a photographic business. I used to check the local surplus military auctions looking for photo gear I could use. One of the recurring items was "used aircraft sparkplugs" (not many jets then). WTF?? Why would anyone want - let alone buy - used aircraft sparkplugs? Curiosity got the better of me so I got one and had it analyzed; turns out the tip was platinum and tungsten, mostly platinum.
I don't recall exactly how large the auction lots were but they usually went for $10,000-$12,000; about $1.00 per plug IIRC. Knowing the percentage of platinum in a plug I could figure the value of the platinum that could be derived from a normal lot...one would get a 3" cube of pure platinum weighing about 500 ounces and worth about $40,000. In today's money, that $40,000 is about $250,000 so it was a pretty good sum. (Platinum has appreciated, BTW...500 ounces now is worth about $800,000).
There was no problem purifying the electrodes, there were all sorts of smelters in California eager to do so at a relatively modest price. (They were eager enough that they kept phoning me and long distance phone calls weren't chep in those days). There was also no problem selling the platinum; it could be sold via any commoditity broker; it could even be sold for future delivery, if one chose, so there was no risk of a price drop.
There was a minor problem about how to remove the electrodes from 10,000 +- spark plugs but I figured I could always hire a bunch of guys and let them jerk them out with pliers. I'd even provide the pliers :)
The *biggest* problem was that I didn't have the $10,000 or so to win an auction.
Somehow, the idea of quadrupling my money in a month or two appealed to me so I set out to find a moneyman. I ran an ad in the local paper but got only one response. A good one, though, because he was Chinese and the Chinese are generally canny businessmen. Often have $$ too. Took him to lunch, explained how he would double his money in a short time...all the details. He wasn't interested. I even upped his portion, still wasn't interested. I never could understand why, still can't.
Broke my heart. Not to mention trashing my dream of an empire built on sparkplug platinum profits :(
Unfortunately, the Saw Stop technology is closing some school's woodworking class. Our local shop was advised by council that they needed to upgrade. Can't afford another dollar hit so they are shutting down instead.
Unfortunately, the Saw Stop technology is closing some school's woodworking class. Our local shop was advised by council that they needed to upgrade. Can't afford another dollar hit so they are shutting down instead.
RonB
Sounds like some English teachers need to take a cut in pay to finance the new saw.
The listings change. Be patient. Maybe next week, month, year a listing, of interest, will be nearer to you. Seems not all states have listings on this site, though. Zip 97526 is in Oregon... the Oregon State surplus website has several drill presses (federal listing) listed. Also, an institution, having a listing on the govdeals site, may not be listing all their assets, i.e., not govt related. Click onto "their other assets" link, to see what else they may have to offer.
One of my reasons for this posting/thread: Some months ago, Bill (I don't recall his user name, here), from Indiana, posted a link of a table saw being sold at an estate auction. He asked for our opinion of the saw. He didn't win the bid. Since then, I've occasionally scanned several auction sites, to see if there is a saw available in the Indiana area, to post it for him. Hopefully, Bill will see it.... and others, also, wanting to invest in good/reasonable tools.
I've purchased a few tools, via these types of auctions, including several industrial sewing machines for my upholstery. Though I don't need anymore large tools, I still like to "window shop" on these sites.... and maybe spot something that someone like Bill can benefit from.
That seems to be the case. I suspect part of it is the public school mission to educate every child, regardless of ability.
When I went to school (in the dark ages) if a child was extra stupid he/ she flunked and stayed in grade. If a child was exceptionally smart he/ she skipped a grade.
Now the practice seems to be to lower the education level so the stupid can pass (or to pass them regardless) and have "enrichment" classes for the smart. The kids in the middle, the majority, are the ones who get hurt by these policies.
And the practices of our colleges and universities are similar, at least in effect.
I don't have a solution, but I remember a comment in a book called "Memoirs of a Superfluous Man" by Nock. He claimed to be the last generation given a "classical" education and bemoaned the loss of such until a friend pointed out that the vast majority of students were not educable (in the classical sense) they were only trainable.
How do you measure return? Scores on standardized testing? That just might lead to "teaching to the test," particularly if bone-headed teacher compensation schemes are tided to those results.
"No Child Left Behind*" was NOT an educational intitiative.
*or "No child left unrecruited," as a partion of that package required school systems to forward student information to the military.
I will concur with your first graf, disagree with both arguments in your second, and remind you with the third that all generalizations are false...
There are some charter schools of which I'm aware that make public schools look like the hallmarks of academe. And there are plenty of "adult educational programs" that are run largely to sell largely useless high-dollar "courses of instruction" that leave students unemployed, uneducated, and with huge student loans at the end of the program. These differ only in the cost from the diploma mills that used to advertise (in small ads in the back pages of magazines) a "Doctorate degree" for a couple-hundred bucks...
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