Free lathe

[Canadium]

Found this on Hamilton ON Kijiji last night. I imagine its already spoken for as I write. Looks like an old South Bend to me. https://www.kijiji.ca/v-power-tool/hamilton/free-working-lathe-and-table-saw/1532827102?uli=true

 

[DPittman]

Well hopefully someone that will use it will get it, as opposed to someone else just looking to make a buck off it.

 

[YYCHM]

No Longer Available - Free working Lathe and Table saw Free

 

[Tom Kitta]

Obviously someone did not know what they have - it is the very first time I see metal lathe for free. OTOH I did see some home made wood lathes for free. Presence of some wood tooling suggests it was used a bit for wood.

Someone is very happy today.

 

[Canadium]

I offered to take it 10 hours after it was first posted. Someone else obviously beat me to it. The ad was taken down less than 24 hours after it was posted. I would say it proves these marketplaces are worth watching but you have to be quick to get the best offers. Some times the seller is more interested in getting rid of the item than getting his moneys worth. Some times the seller goes with the first person to show up rather than the first person to reply. So if you are interested you also have to be prepared to go and pick it up promptly.

 

[CalgaryPT]

Well hopefully someone that will use it will get it, as opposed to someone else just looking to make a buck off it.

15+ years ago an elderly man down the street from me saw me walking and invited me into his shop. He was selling his house and anxious just to get rid of everything. He offered me his entire machine shop for free. I can't recall the machines but do recall many well organized boxes with lots of tooling. Really nice fellow who didn't want the hassle of advertising or screening buyers. I get that, and will likely do something similar when my time comes. Some people subscribe to the belief that they got their use and fun for their money, and know it will be gone quickly if given away. Others think that is wasteful and irresponsible. I don't think there is a correct answer because there can be other reasons and we don't know the behind-the-scenes story. Often there is a death of a spouse, bad medical prognosis, or other event that demands quick closure or motivates people to move on and get rid of memories quickly. I stupidly asked him why he was doing this and got a horribly sad tale of a stage 4 cancer and how he was just trying to ensure his wife and kids didn't have to clean up a mess they never had an interest in. His house was also up for sale. I walk by it every day and every day I wish I'd kept my curiosity to myself and my mouth shut.

 

[trlvn]

Some times the seller goes with the first person to show up rather than the first person to reply. So if you are interested you also have to be prepared to go and pick it up promptly.

When selling, I've had people say "I really want it but I can't come until a week from Wednesday". I always tell them that the first person to waive a sufficient amount of money at me, gets the item. It is funny how stories then change to "I'll be there in about 45 minutes"!

If I really want something and really can't get there for a few days, I'll offer to send a deposit by e-transfer to show that I'm serious.

Craig

 

[Dabbler]

Before I bought my first mill, back in the dawn of time, I had a personal referral to a guy that had a WWII German mill he had uncrated from the cosmoline and used for many years. He was going to sell me everything with it, cutters, rotary table, et al. He and I hit it off just fine, but he didn't want to invite a stranger into his shop. I called him faithfully every 5 months or so, which seemed to be the right interval.

After 4 years of waiting , on my regular call, he was confused and said that I had picked it up months ago. The best I could figure from his description of events is that someone closer to him had gotten a 3rd party to pose as me. Sigh. So much for patience. I bought my first mill, new, a few months after that. (This was in the days before buying and selling on the internet was common).