Craftsmanship in Wood

Came across this on machineseeker and thought it was interesting. It's a 1984 Schelling jointer-planer:
Tables up for planing:
Another view:
Nice planed tables:
And check this out - a helical cutterhead:
Perforated table lips to reduce the 'wind beat' noise from the knives.

It could be yours for 6500€...

I wish it were a tersa head but am I the only one who thinks this machine looks very, very appealing?

The fence even looks like a pretty good design. What is the price of something like this shipped? Is Schelling still in business? How hard would it be to find parts for something like this. I'm not *seriously* interested yet as I have no place to put but just curious.

Price shipped? No idea at this point. There's also the cost to have it crated for international shipping which not just anybody can do. I'm looking at table saws in Germany lately, and I'm guessing shipping will be $4000~$5000 to the US East Coast. Hopefully less.

Came across another jointer-planer today, this one by Kölle:
Jointer tables appear to flip together:
Interesting dust collection chute huh?
This is the first design I've seen where the planer's dust chute remains in place with the jointer tables down or up. Neat.

Here's another one - by Hofmann, who make some excellent machinery and are still in business.
Curious shape for the jointer table though:
Tables up:
I wonder how effective the chip suction is for the jointer?

Back side:
Like the Kölle, the planer chip hood remains in place, however the exit route is different.

http://www.maschinensucher.de/ma2/bilde ... glish.html

I'm having some tool lust lately and this machine caught my eye, it's shorter tables aren't all that desirable but it looks like a solid piece of kit for those of us with limited spaces.

It looks like a really well kept machine and doesn't appear to have any newer electrical boards added so it'd likely only require a motor swap. That $4-5k import price is a bit steep though. Did the 4-5k quote include crating, etc? Would it be the same for shipping from Japan? I'm assuming same ballpark but I can't remember seeing anything posted. I'd imagine someone would want a super-surfacer or perhaps a side by side jointer planer like the Makita job. If you could get multiple items for that price, it'd make sense but man that is a lot of cash to get a machine over here.

Then again if there are no better alternatives in the US, it may be the best option available. As I've often seen you state, you've never regretted paying more for quality.

wow is it ever a tease to see the availability of quality machinery in Europe. looking around me, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Kentucky, ect, ive had a hard time finding more than a half dozen potential candidates. most of these excluded after learning where/ how they were used most recently. if shipping several items reduces overall cost that significantly. I'd love to get some serious buyers together here in the states to split the costs up to a more manageable amount. if only there was a place that people who are willing to undertake such endeavors could meet
Rob Shearer