What's your favorite used machinery/parts source?

[ralph@nes]

I know a lot of stuff pops up on ebay... But sometimes you're looking for something a little off the beaten path and it's not there.

For instance, I'm searching for a rotary electromagnetic chuck to retrofit a grinder for shoe-centerless grinding. Rotary electromags have come on so many machines from Cincinnatti to Heald, B&S and others, you'd figure there'd be lots around.

Nope!

Your options when new are limited... OS Walker (who supplies the OEM applications) at a VERY high price, or someone like Magnetool who is priced attractively yet has a cumbersomely long delivery time.

Who do you go to for machining junkyard parts? Got a favorite outlet, scrapper, spares/used items vendor that has served you well? I'd love to hear about it.

[carbidecraters]

Ebay sucks! Here is why

1. Most machines are repainted using paints that will fall off into the coolant or cutting oil
2. Most machines are SIMPLY repainted making them look more attractive to sellers
3. Most machines with little things like linear ways or bad histories are often hidden to the end user
4. Buying something larger and not being able to test it out can really make for some bummer transactions and second thought later
5. Shipping and rigging can cost a small fortune!!!
6. Ebay has a couple of large volume dealers who always charge a MINT for old tired machines and the going rate on these machines is hardly what the real world value is or what they paid for them
7. Some things arent shown on ebay (for instance like the Cincinatti SABER line of budget cncs, the castings were known for their desinigration over time!)


Ebay is a great resource to find out who makes or made what and what components and features were available.

[ralph@nes]

I've noticed that there are more bits and pieces than whole machines.

Take, for example, this Cushman Air Flash indexer I have laying about. A google search returns tons of 'for sale' ads for one, several ebay items, however no literature or anything similar, lol. I can't even find out who ended up with the rights to them.