The Woodworking Table Saw Myth

[Art Mann]

I guess we don't have as many people who are not in their right mind around here.

[Tom Giles]

They are out there. I found a Unisaw that was in great shape (meaning all I had to do was plug it in). When I went to pick it up the guy also had a Powermatic model 60 8" jointer also in great shape that he wanted to get rid of. Loaded both in my truck for $800. Deals can be found if you are ready to pull the trigger.

[Tom M King]

I googled "Powermatic 66 craigslist" and found this: http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/an...822648429.html

Personally, I'd keep looking for a hobbiest saw with single phase and little use, but these could be some good.

[Joe A Faulkner]

In my search, mostly limited to Indiana, the Chicago burbs, Southwest Michigan, and Kentucky, I've noted more Unisaws that PMs. I was able to pick up a Uni with 1.5 hp motor and 52" fence similar to this one: http://muncie.craigslist.org/tls/4845656104.html for $650 - that was 2 years ago. I had been looking for months. I haven't really seen a deal like this for some time. The only PMs I ever see in the $500 range are 3 phase models that appear to have been used and abused in production environments. Most of the Unis I see below $900 appear to be in need of some work. Right now searching the Indianapolis area for Unisaws the prices range from $900-$1700.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Like most things, the location is a big factor. IF you live in or near a big city, the math just works out that there are more people selling more saws, and and the market price is supply v demand, as always. If you live in or near Bupkiss, the numbers don't work in your favor.

No disrespect to Bupkiss - I lived the the Bupkiss, Mich suburbs for 10 years..................

Also - there are often great deals on the 3 phase gear, simply because they are not in as much demand by Joe Woodworker. As noted above - a var freq drive, or maybe even a replacement motor, can open up another layer of options.

EDIT: Most references are to C/L. I suggest you also check our two other sites:

Ex Factory is a major, major source for used equipment. A lot of Delta and PM table saws listed there - but did not see any in the $500 range.

The other is Industrial Recovery Services. They handle auctions. There are 3 PM table saws, and 15 Unisaws listed a the moment. YOu might find a quick deal, you might not. You might bid on equipment, and repeatedly get outbid by some cement-head. Costs nothing to play.

IN a professional capacity, I have bought from both places. The IRS items were accessory shop-floor stuff [floor fans, things like that]. THe transactions all went smoothly - no problems at all.

I have bought big-time honking stuff [ain't no one putting them thingys in their home shop] through ExF - not table saws. But - the place has a very good reputation, for good reason. I have always been able to get through to their listed rep and ask questions that get answered.

No qualms recommending them. But, no guarantees you find what you want a the price you want - just saying they are reputable, well-run outfits.

[Jim Andrew]

In Kansas, good deals come up once in a few years. I decided I am too old to wait. I did get a good deal on a used Grizzly drill press. But most of my stuff was purchased new.

[Jon Nuckles]

Supply might be higher in bigger cities, but so is demand. I watched Craigslist in Chicago for months before I bought new. I only saw a couple of things that were good enough tools and prices to even call about. I didn't get a call back on either one, including a Unisaw that I called within a half hour of its listing and left a message saying I'd pay his asking price if it was in working order!

[Rick Potter]

About two years ago, I sold a 2000 limited edition Unisaw in great shape for $600. It had the 50" Beis, 3HP, and a Delta mobile base.

I have noted before about prices going up lately, and I think I could get $900 or more for it now. The really good deals were from '08 to '12 around here.

[Peter Quinn]

I've never come across one of those $500 deals in my area, and when I was looking anything decent and reasonable went so fast you basically had to be the first caller, live next door to the seller and have the cash in your pocket at the time. Even just fair priced used stuff went very fast. I guess there will always be exceptions, but I wouldn't sit around waiting for a PM66 some little old lady used once to drive to church to pop up just down the road for $500. Now if you want a really bad RAS for $150 my local Craig's list seems to have those perennially.

[Brian Henderson]

My local CL generally sucks, there aren't a lot of tools listed and most are overpriced, but I just did a search for Unisaws and found quite a few in the $700 range that looked decent enough. The only PM66 was a brand new one, still in the box, for $2300.

[Charles Li]

The thing about the good deals on CL is they sell fast - like with in hours. I've missed out plenty (not on a table saw though) even replying the same day. I've had some luck too. To increase your chances on CL I'd do one of those auto notification apps. I've never used one (sounds dangerous when you don't need anything but then you don't have to constantly scan listings. But yah, I've never seen an amazing deal like you noted. I'm sure they exist, I just wasn't on CL that single moment it was posted.

[Keith Weber]

I guess there will always be exceptions, but I wouldn't sit around waiting for a PM66 some little old lady used once to drive to church to pop up just down the road for $500.

That just paints a hilarious picture! I think there needs to be a Photoshop contest to see who can come up with the best rendition of that.

It's been tough out there lately. Back in 2008, lots of woodworking businesses were folding and I was getting incredible deals on quality, 3-phase machines for pennies on the dollar. Now that the economy has seemingly been on a tear for a number of years, the deals are fewer and further between. It's an especially tough crowd in the Chicago area. Everybody seems to want an arm and a leg for things. It isn't helped by an abundance of machinery dealers that buy up anything in sight at whatever cost it takes, and then advertise them at ridiculous prices in the hopes that a desperate buyer comes along with deep pockets. They bombard CL and the Bay with listings, so every time you look through them, you have to sift through the same ads that they've had posted for 2 or 3 years with the exact same, inflexibly-overpriced tools that aren't selling. They even list on CL as "For Sale by Owner", so you can't filter out the dealers. I don't know how they stay in business.

As others have mentioned, you have to consider the repair bill on older tools. Most of the deals I've got lately were because they needed repair. If you've got the skills and equipment to repair them, there's some deals to be had. I recently picked up a 5-foot D&K sheet metal finger brake for about 1/2 of what I should have paid for it because it had a snapped counterweight arm and about 5 missing fingers. I was able to weld the counterweight arm back to like new in about 15 minutes, and fabricating some new fingers will take a few hours on the Bridgeport when I get around to it.

On the plus side, it's good if you've got things to sell -- especially if they're single-phase tools.

[Kent A Bathurst]

The thing about the good deals on CL is they sell fast - like with in hours.

Just like a great deal on an LN plane here..........

[Dick Brown]

I ended up with five Unisaws a couple years ago off Craig's List, all single phase, for a total of about $700. cash outlay. Parted one to fix another, sold the bones for $200. and the rest in the 6 to 8.50 range. All this happened in about two months. Could count on one hand all that have been on C.L since in our area. Be patient, they seem to run in bunches. Did look at an Atlas 3160 1 h.p. cabinet saw this morning that was on the Bend, OR Craig's List priced @ $300. Not a Unisaw but maybe an par with a decent contractor's saw.

[Phil Barrett]

Like others have said, good deals on CL go fast. Typically, the ad gets taken down because the seller is tired of getting calls after it's gone.

There are other sources, often auctions, that can have good deals though it's hit or miss. I went to 3 auctions last year that had cabinet saws. The best was a cabinet shop that was shutting down. They had 2 PM 66s, a newer 52" PM with a bessy, outfeed table and DC and couple of older cabinet saws. The 52" PM went for 800. The rest went much cheaper, one was 350 and the others were 250 or under. At another auction, a fairly clean unisaw went for 450. In our area there are a couple of outfits that deal in used equipment - when they are there and bidding, you know the price is reasonable.

I've seen ads for other auctions, typically manufacturers (but not woodworking related) shutting down. Often they will have a few tools including a decent table saw, drill press and bandsaw. I usually don't go to those but you can get really good deals there if you are the only one seriously interested. Hit or miss, though.