How much should I ask for these lathe tools?

[Captain BarnaclesParticipant @captainbarnacles]

Hi All,

I hope this isn't inappropriate or in the wrong group but I have lots of tooling that came with my ML7 lathe that I don't think I'll ever need so I have decided to sell them to help raise funds for a small milling machine. The problem is that I have absolutely no idea of their value and I was hoping to gauge opinion as to how much I should ask for them. There are over 200 pieces and they weigh somewhere between 25 and 30kg at a guess. They vary considerably in size (some of which don't even come close to fitting in the ML7's tool holder!) and many tools have been ground on both ends with profiles for specific jobs.

I'd be most grateful for any help.

Paul.

[Captain BarnaclesParticipant @captainbarnacles]

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

Streuth!

Thought that I have an excess but nothing like this.

Sorry I can't be a lot of help but thinking they must be worth second hand, around 50p – £1 each. So 200 maybe £150?? Don't know how much of a wild guess. With so many, perhaps buyers could be tempted with smaller batches, say 20 per batch at, say, £15/ batch??

Good luck.

John

[DC31kParticipant @dc31k]

Find out the current scrap price per tonne for HSS. Sell at that price plus postage. Package up in random 1kg lots and send via Royal Mail standard parcel second class.

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Realistically, apart from any that you can use yourself, they're pretty well worthless.

Sorry.

[Bill PhinnParticipant @billphinn90025]

Posted by Captain Barnacles on 12/09/2022 18:21:53:

that I don't think I'll ever need

Things being what they are, you're almost bound to need one or more of them soon after you sell them.

Personally, if they were mine I'd consider them a rare windfall and find space for them. Après moi, le déluge!

[BazParticipant @baz89810]

Agree with Mark Rand, just about worthless, try your local model engineering club or men’s shed, they may take some off your hands and weigh the rest in for scrap value. I have a collection about the same size from a lifetime of turning the handles.

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

These look like the residue of a turner's life well-lived.

You get to the point where you have so many special-profile tools ground for a particular job that, next time a job comes up needing a special-profile tool it's easier to grind a new one than sort out the one you used last time, which probably won't be quite right anyway…

So on you go, and the pile builds up…

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Posted by Mark Rand on 12/09/2022 19:27:42:

Realistically, apart from any that you can use yourself, they're pretty well worthless.

Sorry.

I have to agree with Mark but hey if you manage to sell them good luck to you

Tony

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

The trouble with lots like this is that most people's old lathes have already amassed collections from previous owners. They do make useful parallels for the mill.

Both of mine came with an ice cream tub half full of 'specials' like those.

[HOWARDTParticipant @howardt]

The problem with hss is once they get below a certain length they become more or less useless. Other than using some shorter bits in boring tool holders, most square sizes will only fit or be used on certain machines. Desk top lathes use 8 or 10 mm bits, larger machines use progressively bigger bit sizes. Has has been stated unless the bits are near full length they are no more than scrap value.

[GrottoParticipant @grotto]

I've got a similar size collection of bits which came with a lathe I purchased decades ago.

I've used quite a few of them over the years, nearly always find one just the right shape for anything a bit different. They are all shaped and sharpened by someone with much better skills than me which is nice.

I'd keep them if you have space.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I got a big metal toolbox with my last lathe stuffed with loose bits like that

Found a lovely chunk of stellite 100 in it, totally unblemished compared to the other bits

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Have a look at ebay and you see lots of silly adds with 10-20 or even more and silly prices to boot. Ask yourself why you wouldn't bid for such an item (ignoring your large collection). Nobody wants to buy anything less than 2 inches nor more than a handful at a time. Then as you see from posts on here most of the beginners want to go with lblunt carbide 'sets' because they think grinding HSS is some kind of major skill.

Actually it's just given me an idea. A bucket at club meetings or in clubhouse for unused and spare bits – bring one in and take one for 50p.

[HollowpointParticipant @hollowpoint]

Hard to believe people are suggesting these are worthless! Admittedly they aren't worth a fortune but definitely not worthless.

When I go to the various engineering shows and autojumbles stallholders often have trays of HSS almost always for sale at £1 each.

I would sort them into similar sizes (shank size), type and brand. Bundle them up in 10s, 15s or 20s and sell them as lots.

The better brands, Eclipse, Cleveland, Osborn, Presto etc will sell fairly easily I would have thought. Even the smaller pieces have some value. Plenty of micro lathe users out there wanting small 1/4 inch bits.

[Captain BarnaclesParticipant @captainbarnacles]

Many thanks everyone for your helpful responses. I think what I'll do is ask the local club if they would like a donation of say half of the collection, I'll keep a few for myself and try, as Hollowpoint suggests, to perhaps sell the rest in bundles of similar sized pieces.

There are quite a few that have decent brand names on so I'll put one or two of those in each bundle to spice them up a bit .

[not done it yetParticipant @notdoneityet]

Bazyle is about right (among others). Don’t look at what is on offer. Just look at completed sales – a much indication of value.

[Captain BarnaclesParticipant @captainbarnacles]

Posted by not done it yet on 13/09/2022 19:06:36:

Bazyle is about right (among others). Don’t look at what is on offer. Just look at completed sales – a much indication of value.

Don't know why I didn't think of that!

Just looking on there this morning and it seems to suggest that brand names and bundles of similar style tools certainly make significantly higher prices than random collections do. I'll have a closer look at my collection over the weekend and see if I can sort them out into logical groups.

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