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View Full Version : The Woodfast lathes at the Pickles auction - Kariong



Hardenfast
19th November 2006, 11:09 AM
Called in to watch the auction at Kariong yesterday to see how the 2 Woodfast MC908 lathes went, amongst other things.

Huge crowd (big!!), many dealers and I suspect plenty of eBay traders - not many bargains to be had, I'm afraid.

Anyway, the 1st lathe sold for $850 hammer price - add 11% buyer's premium equals $943.50, and the 2nd for $750 (= $832.50).
I'm not sure whether that was reasonable or not. Both were tucked away in the corner of a shed where you couldn't really get access to them to assess their condition. There were no chucks or extra accessories with them that I could see, and one of them seemed to have the actions somewhat frozen or at least stiff from little use. Who knows what the hoodlums may have subjected these things to over the years?

So, what thinks you all? I guess being the original old, solid Woodfast brand always ensures reasonable re-sale value, but were these a good buy at that price? Your comments would be valued.

Thanks. Wayne

Slow6
19th November 2006, 05:02 PM
I reckon thats a tad high for em if they were in rough nick. I'd say 1200 would be tha max I'd dish out for one in good condition with all the rests and face plates intact. 300-400 for what you're describing wayne.

I got my first old woodfast for 600 this year and had to spend a couple of hundred to bring it up to scratch.. that was with 4 tool rests, outboard set up and an a few face plates. no chuck or tools.

the second I bought was a 1998 c1000, not perfect but with the old short bed for bowl work the c1000 will just be a spindle lathe, the extras it came with is what sold me.. I basicly inherited the guys entire wood turning collection with the sale, from tools, chucks, steadys, wood, the works. nice guy too, I felt guilty as hell taking his lathe away.
but its a nicer lathe that I though it would be, a little vibration from the motor but nothing that cant be fixed and it still passes the 50c test.

there's a rusty old woodfast in the trading post atm.. 800 from memory.
too high imo but you never know he might be the bendy type.

great machines, cant recomend em enough.. if you're in the right place at the right time I'd say grab anything in decent knick with the woodfast badge on it.

Hardenfast
19th November 2006, 05:43 PM
Nice set-up you've got there, Slow. Makes me wonder what the fuzz I've been doing with my time.

Upon digesting your comments I'm beginning to think I should have grabbed the 2nd one at the auction - it seemed to be the better of the two anyway. I don't think they'd been knocked around badly - just neglected. I think one of them had 2 face plates, and after all they were genuine Australian Woodfast machines.

But you never know. If I had joined the bidding it probably would have kept going (and going....). Maybe I would have been bidding against someone from here? Did any of the local WWF gentry end up with one of these?

Anyway, from now on I'm going to follow your lead and grab any decent Woodfast gear that's going, or anything else of the older, heavier equipment, particularly Australian. I'm beginning to think a dealer grabbed them and now has $2,000 or more on them. Oh well.

Slow6
19th November 2006, 05:58 PM
your'e right about the bidding I reckon, I suffer the same curse with auctions.. it can be a day of bargains all round till it comes to the one item I want then pfffffffft.. sky rocket!

these old machines do come up, keep an eye on the obviouse www stuff and also on tech schools and uni's, they are/were all decked out with woodfasts and unload them cheap from time to time. if I had to do it over again I think I'd be annoying and call every school in the local phone book and ask about there lathes. I'd hate doing it.. but it might have saved me months of trawling bloody epay.

LuckyDuck
21st November 2006, 09:18 PM
Hardenfast,

For what its worth, I would have paid those prices for a used Woodfast lathe without hesitation. Compared to a new Vicmarc, even at the cheaper end of the versions on offer, a "one grand" price is a steal.

Sure, it would be nice to get all the goodies (face plates, chucks, centres, tools, wood, etc.) but this rarely happens. And it is amazing how we can all have a lot of fun using our lathes with less than the optimal set of extras.

The tip about schools is a good one. I went through highschool using a Woodfast lathe and bandsaw. My dad and I even had the chance to buy one of each but did not because they were three phase. What idiots we were as they went very cheap. We could have easily paid for new motors and switches if it came to that!

tashammer
22nd November 2006, 01:25 AM
in the past what i sometimes did after the second or 4th bid was to offer a much higher bid, maybe half of what i was prepared to pay. It tended to frighten a few away and speed things up. Sometimes poker player types got involved and they started driving the prices up. Sometimes ya can get an idea about whether they are just bidding for biddings sake, plants or serious bidders (sometimes i can be very wrong too). Just to be a bugger, if i have spotted a plant or a fun bidder i will drive the price up then drop out. (that doesn't always work - but it was always something that i wanted but i wanted it at less money).