used table saws

Depends on what you want. Cheap saws are for sale every week in our local shopping paper. I've seen one good saw listed in the past 5 years.

Depending on your definition of "abused" will it determine the spectrum of saws for sale. I see many saws almost daily passing through Craigslist, that is, at least in my area. In some cases, or more, people sell their equipment for reasons such as financial downfall, death in the family, physical limitations, etc. Therefore, many of these saws, as well as other tools, are still in fair to great shape. If you learn more about the functions of these machines and tools, you'll provide a vast amount of knowledge for yourself, then knowing what to look for within a tool, in which the payoffs will be much more rewarding.

and estate sales. I looked for 4 years and had no luck, but I saved up while searching then bought a new one. Get a good one, and you won't have the frustrations and you won't need to buy again!

Where are you I have BT3100 that might get you started

Randy

was hardly used. Solid cast iron top with extension and upgraded fence. I believe this same saw would have sold for 1200.00 to 1500.00 brand new. I live in Southern California and at the time a few were listed. If you live in a smaller community you might have to look longer or drive farther to pick it up. It's not something you want to ship! btw the guy threw in a bunch of extras too, which probably added up to 350.00.

Rich

I did the same when upgrading from a contractor saw to a cabinet saw.

In some areas, good used tools are everywhere. In others, you gotta' be ready, fast, and somewhat lucky to get a good used tool.

Proving I live in the latter type of area, I used my Jet contractor's saw for 5 years for "almost free"! I paid $500, new in '97, and sold it for $525 in 2002. The saw was listed in my local "Bargain Shopper" for less than one day, literally hours, selling to the first caller. I got 3 or 4 more calls while the buyer was loading the saw into his truck.

On another note, I paid $1650 for my General 650 cabinet saw in 2002. The same saw now goes $2600 - > $3000, depending on the dealer. I could probably sell the 650 quite quickly, for more than I paid for it.

Most top quality stationary machines and hand tools will at least hold their value. The tools that don't hold value well seem to be "homeowner" quality tools and cordless construction tools.

Pardon my simplicity with the above numbers, I do understand opportunity costs and time value of money, that's why I said "almost" free.

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saw?

Circular saw? Hand saw? There's not much ripping in garden benches.

from a public school auction. Many high-schools are doing away with their vocational education facilities, so industrial equipment comes up for auction from time to time. In my experience, the schools buy good quality equipment and maintain it pretty well. One caveat, however. Almost all of the stuff I've seen is 3-phase (as was the saw I got). If you don't have 3-phase power, you'll have to re-motor it, make/buy a phase converter, or put a VFD on it. I went the VFD route, because I already had it (free cast-off from employer). Good luck, and be patient.

Regards, John.

Should be good pickings around here in a few years - all the schools are buying Sawstops :-).

Depends upon where you live, I suppose. In Minneapolis MN there's a company called Peterson Machine that sells all sorts of used woodworking equipment (new, too). They have a pretty good reputation for checking out the used stuff the sell. Try the yellow pages.

Pete Stanaitis

mrsnippy wrote:

i use a hand saw, but tired of doing all the cutting that way.