"aemeijers" wrote in message
...
On 9/23/2010 9:41 PM, wrote:
On Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:43:36 +0000 (UTC), Jules Richardson
wrote:

On Wed, 22 Sep 2010 20:02:30 -0700, Smitty Two wrote:

Friend has an older Makita 10" miter chop saw. Not compound, not
sliding. Model is 2400B if that means anything to anyone. Says he'd be
happy to sell it to me but he has no idea of the value.

New Makita compound miter saws are going for $200, but despite the
extra
feature I'm guessing they're not the same quality as this older saw.
Nothing on eBay right now for comparison, not even completed listings.

I'm thinking I'd be happy at $100, squeamish but satisfied at $150.
What
say y'all?

Does it come with a bench/stand? I'd expect around $50 if not, maybe $80
if it does. I'm not sure how much prices vary from place to place, but
up
here in the frozen north that'd be about the going rate.

The problem is that you're right, it was probably better quality - but
after having a few miles on it, it's not necessarily going to make
better
cuts or last longer than a new $100 compound saw. I love old stuff, love
repairing it and keeping it going, and I'll pick old-but-better-quality
over new-but-crappy whenever I can - but things like bearings and pivots
and switches might be getting a little tired on an old saw, and
replacement parts aren't necessarily available to make it like-new
again.

cheers

Jules
True - but GENERALLY these saws have had very little use if not in
commercial service. A handiman has a trim job to do, or a deck with a
herringbone pattern, so he buys the saw to do the job and it sits for
15 years, being pulled out the odd time to do a job something else may
well have done better, because he has it and it WILL do the job.

Far from worn out in MOST cases.

Yepper- if you are gonna buy used tools, the best ones (though rare) are
quality brands from garage and estate sales, from a well-off hobbyist DIY
who only used them a few hours a year. I've looked in the pawnshops around
here at the tools used by tradesmen down on their luck, and most are
purely beat to death, and they still want 75% of retail for them.
Tradesmen NOT hard up for cash use them until they die. (The tools, not
the tradesmen.)

I've noticed, though, that homes with ANY power tools are getting more and
more rare. I don't think as many people do DIY for fun, as when I was a
kid. Too many other things competing for their spare time and money. I
don't see nearly as many tools (of any kind) at garage sales as I used to,
say then years or so ago.
--
aem sends...