Quote Originally Posted by Ken Fitzgerald View Post
Ben,

Not everybody has the time, the skill or the desire to restore old machines.

I don't want to learn to pour bearings......I don't want to deal with taking things to a machine shop to have it machined to accept new parts. I don't want to spend days or even weeks or months looking for the replacement part or trying to find a welder who weld cast iron properly.

I would love to buy American NEW but frankly I equiped my entire shop for same price as an 8" Northfield jointer.

Would I like to have tools made in the US or North America? You bet. But the average Joe can't afford them.

That's the bottom line.
I purchased my "Old Iron" by another tact- I purchased restored tools. What I found was that perfectly/lovingly restored machines go asking for less than the price of the imports. I have a shop full of them. I run a pro shop and did not have the time to do the restorations myself but I sure do love the old tools.

Case in point- My 1944 Unisaw. A perfect as new rebuild with a $500 Biesemeyer fence and a brand new $100 blade- I paid $500 for the package. The saw looks like it came off the showroom floor and cuts like a dream.