Possible Mortiser Acquisition

If it has an electrical cord it is covered here.
User avatar
Brian
Deshi
Posts: 1090
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2014 11:46 am

Re: Possible Mortiser Acquisition

Fri Feb 09, 2018 10:46 am

4000 sounds right, the fact that they're not willing to budge is strange, especially with other recent sales to prove your offer is more or less market price. I wouldn't imagine their are endless buyers for these machines, but I could be wrong. My father sold off some sheetmetal machinery not long after he retired and just finding buyers that are not set to kick the tires is a tough act in and of itself when it comes to large pieces of machinery.

Anyways, I'm curious to see where you land with these things.
User avatar
Chris Hall
Site Admin
Contact:
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Re: Possible Mortiser Acquisition

Fri Feb 09, 2018 11:49 am

The seller wouldn't budge, I guess, because he was born a rich man, not in need of cash too much still, and he bought the machine for 7000. Still, it has ben sitting in his warehouse for about 2 years now, so I guess he is in the machinery storage business (?) as much as anything.
User avatar
Chris Hall
Site Admin
Contact:
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Re: Possible Mortiser Acquisition

Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:53 am

Anyway, back to the Brookman: the seller finally emailed back with a whopping 12 second video clip showing guy plunging 3 mortises with the machine from a fixed vantage point (from the same view as the photo attached on page 1 of this thread). I learned that the machine appears to work, at least the up/down of the head as controlled by the foot pedal. No other details however, no basic camera sweep around the machine to see all sides, or other detailed views, and he hasn't answered several basic questions I have put to him (like, "what chisels come with the machine?", "what's the operating voltage?", "is it a hollow chisel only machine, or can a chain mortiser also be fitted?", etc.

I always seem to run into this situation. People who seem to want to sell a machine but then when you ask for more information about it seem unable to muster anything. It's like pulling teeth or something, by hand, with vice grips, and he is the unwilling patient...
User avatar
Brian
Deshi
Posts: 1090
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2014 11:46 am

Re: Possible Mortiser Acquisition

Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:04 pm

Ah, hopefully they get back to you with something of substance. You'd think they would be able to handle getting back to you with something of substance so that they can sell their machine.
User avatar
Chris Hall
Site Admin
Contact:
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Re: Possible Mortiser Acquisition

Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:10 am

Isn't the idea to sell the machine? That's what I thought...

Saw your ad on Woodweb today - didn't realize you were missing parts for the hollow chisel attachment.

I asked Hofmann last week if it were possible to put a hollow chisel attachment on their mortiser, and it seems possible. Just waiting to hear back on that now. Ah, yes, but then there will be the price....
User avatar
Brian
Deshi
Posts: 1090
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2014 11:46 am

Re: Possible Mortiser Acquisition

Thu Feb 15, 2018 2:38 pm

The attachment was option from Felder, and $600 so most people probably didn’t buy them for production work. The machine came from a production shop and was setup for line boring. It works great for that also, I used it for chisel racks recently.
The birds mouth bits are great, so far, for wasting out mortises. I cut through mortises in white oak and cannot see the overlap in the cuts (coming in from either side).
I’m excited to get the attachment soonish and finally cut some mortises with a hollow chisel. I just wonder if I need to use Felder chisels. I’m seemingly devoted to chucks recently, it would seem.

Great to know that the Hofmann can be fitted for hollow chisels.
User avatar
Chris Hall
Site Admin
Contact:
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Re: Possible Mortiser Acquisition

Sat Feb 17, 2018 8:47 am

My suspicion with these attachments for slot mortisers is that the machines themselves are insufficiently rigid to allow anything but the smallest hollow chisel bits to work well. also, the horizontal orientation would tend to exacerbate the issue with hollow chisel mortisers, namely the auger wandering slightly off of the line and making a slight scallop mark at the sidewall of the bore hole. I guess we'll see.

I've been looking at a lot of different milling machines over the past few months. there are universal mills with horizontal spindles as well as vertical spindles, and some of those machines have a movable quill for the horizontal spindle as well as the vertical one. i'm thinking this might be a great place to mount a hollow chisel attachment, and the typical top speed on such mills, around 2200 rpm, would be quite ideal for a hollow chisel. Certainly, there would be no issue with rigidity.
User avatar
john verge
4
4
Posts: 171
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 6:55 pm

Re: Possible Mortiser Acquisition

Sat Feb 17, 2018 1:11 pm

Great thread you guys! Lots of valuable info being thrown around. I was wondering how you come up with an offer for these second hand machines? My approach would be machine cost at brand new minus all those years of depreciation like our accountants do it.

As for people holding out on their inflated prices for second hand units, I think it has to be greed that fuels their decisions. Also, over valuing through ignorance of the machines short comings, as proven by all the modifications you guys are forced to do on these units once they land in your shops. I think you guys should be machine machine brokers, at least people buying your units would get a full heads up on reality. Good work you guys.
User avatar
Chris Hall
Site Admin
Contact:
Location: Greenfield, Massachusetts
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:46 pm

Re: Possible Mortiser Acquisition

Sat Feb 17, 2018 3:42 pm

The price of a thing = what someone will pay
User avatar
john verge
4
4
Posts: 171
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 6:55 pm

Re: Possible Mortiser Acquisition

Sat Feb 17, 2018 4:56 pm

Value of a thing=?

Return to “Heavy Metal”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests