Buy used

[Charlie Knighton]

items to buy Craigs list or estate sales

band saws
Chain saws

any other treasures?

 

[Dan Hall]

Anything freestanding and over 50 years old. IMHO. A nice Unisaw, shapers, jointers, drill presses, grinders from Baldor and Dayton, a 12" disk sander with 6" belt sander. I have a classic DeWalt radial arm saw but they are dangerous so I'm not sure I recommend them when sliding compound miter saws are available. You need a good compressor; Kellog American, and Ingersol Rand are very high quality two stage machines and expensive. Even when used. I have a Dayton 9 cfm at 125PSI machine that I bought new from Granger 25 years ago and it's still going strong. A Kellog American you will pass through your children to your great grandchildren.

I don't by any powered hand tool used. Perhaps with the exception of an older Skilsaw they are just not worth the effort to maintain.

Get a set of wheel and bearing pullers and repair the stuff. It will last forever. Three phase to single phase conversion can be done once at the panel or at each machine. Or you can replace motors at considerable cost.

 

[John Spitters]

You need to know your stuff when buying used, most heavy duty woodworking machines such as a cabinet saw, planer, jointer and bandsaw are very basic simple tools with little that can go wrong other than bearings which are generally cheap and not too difficult to replace. A good quality lathe can also be a gold mine on the used market.
Chainsaws are iffy, if damage has been done such as running the saw with too lean of a oil to gas ratio, your piston and cylinder could be scorched as well as the crank which results in an expensive fix, the clutch could also be worn out. But “if” you know what to look for you can find good deals. I bought a Husqvarna 372xp for $300 off of craigslist that’s a $1000+ power head. Needed to replace the bar and chain which was totally beat but I would have needed to buy this requardless when buying a new power head. So far 5 years running with no problems.

 

[Mike Johnson]

I was just on a nationwide Craigslist search tool looking for several pieces of equipment. If you look on a daily or weekly basis you can find just about anything you are looking for, all depends on how far you want to travel to pick up the deal. I always keep a stash of cash available to call and make the deal on a bargain right away before it is gone.

Plenty of free wood listed on Craigslist.
Wood slabs and turning blanks by local wood mill operators
Metalworking Equipment
Woodworking Equipment
Construction Equipment
Equipment Trailers
Vehicles
Painting Equipment & Supplies
Finishing Equipment & Supplies
Appliances

My wife likes to add to her fabric collection when large offerings show up in the area.
Last year she made about a hundred designer tote bags for all of the nurses that work for the local hospital my daughter works for.
She also made a bunch of designer tote bags and donated them to the local retirement home.
She also makes and donates baby outfits for the new born that don't make it.
She stays busy!