Used Myford S7 makes £8k at auction!

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

So as it looks like a pristine lathe sells for a premium I should perhaps get another mini lathe like the Sieg SC3 I am very happy with and hide it in the attic – After thirty years it will be a rarity and worth a fortune as a lot of other people seem to think they are 'Chinese rubbish' and won't last 5 minutes??????

As possibly the only one left will it be worth auctioning – I wonder?

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Posted by Nick Clarke 3 on 02/07/2022 10:44:30:

So as it looks like a pristine lathe sells for a premium I should perhaps get another mini lathe like the Sieg SC3 I am very happy with and hide it in the attic – After thirty years it will be a rarity and worth a fortune as a lot of other people seem to think they are 'Chinese rubbish' and won't last 5 minutes??????

As possibly the only one left will it be worth auctioning – I wonder?

Every dog has its day! I remember when Honda Four motorbikes that sell for $25,000 today were so common you could hardly give them away. "Jap junk" they were called. "Like backsides, everybody's got one." Most of them were ridden into the ground (They were the first motorbike that would run long enough to do that!) then scrapped or parted out. The survivors now are highly sought after.

Yes buy another SC3 and put it away in its original packing crate in the attic. One day it will be remembered as the lathe that did to model engineering what the Honda Four did to motorcycling.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Stuff is only worth whatever someone is prepared to pay for it at the moment! Very few things have intrinsic permanent value, so prices paid rise and fall. The same lot would have gone for a song if no-one at the auction had wanted it. As it was at least two well-funded bidders slugged it out and the lot went for big money plus commission. Let's hope the buyer knew commission and tax were on top!

Here someone thought it worth spending £8000 to get a Super 7, assumed to be in good order, plus a collection of bits. Thanks to Tony's link we can see the bits are a mix of desirable accessories, ordinary gear, and junk.

If the buyer bought the collection in hope of selling it on at a profit, he may be disappointed, unless all the high value accessories are broken out and sold individually. The whole is often cheaper than the sum of the parts: cost out building an ordinary road car by buying all the parts from a dealer and assembling them yourself! And then consider how much it will sell for – a ordinary car except it's not supported by the manufacturer.

Or maybe it was bought by Myford fan who wanted to set-up a workshop from scratch and saw this as the quickest way in. Rather than scrabble around the second-hand market, just go for it. Not a bad idea, especially if no-one else at the auction wants it.

For me this isn't a good deal; the package doesn't deliver anything I need, not now or when I was getting started. For example, Rodney milling attachments, good idea in their day, are inferior to a new hobby milling machine costing about £2000, coincidently the sum paid in commission. That's just me – tools have advantages depending on context: a Rodney might be good for a tiny workshop, or anyone interested in retro-machining. The lathe is also fitted with a flood coolant pump, which I rarely need, and is a hint the lathe may have been worked hard in the past.

This thread makes an interesting contrast with Steviegtr's recent "Cheap Stuff" thread, which starts: So it does not cost a lot to populate your workshop. Both experiences are true, but:

• That bargains are found at boot-sales and similar does not prove that workshops can be outfitted on the cheap by buying that way.
• £8000 being spent on a Super 7 at auction does not prove that all Super 7s are worth that much.

Dave

[Frances IoMParticipant @francesiom58905]

newbies bidding up the price not realising that there was 50% commission usually saw the same item in the following week’s sale – this time regulars usually got it at the price they were willing to pay.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Well,I agree with StevieGTR. My experience is that a workshop can be outfitted cheaply from the likes of boot sales. Over a couple of years I completely equipped mine from Saturday morning garage sales, our local equivalent of your boot sales. That included a totally clapped out Myford for $400 (200 Quid) that was refurbished and put to good use with very little further outlay.And I live as far away from an industrial area as you could just about get.

A new Super 7 is worth 8,900 Quid – well that's what you have to pay Myford for one. But is it really worth that much? Is it 8,700 Quid better than my 200 Quid ML7 revitalised clunker? I seriously doubt it. The old ML7 will do anything the S7 will. Depending on the nut holding the cross slide handle!

I see at the above linked Manor Attic auction, a sturdy looking barely used round-column mill sold for 200 Quid. More my kind of bargain.

Edited By Hopper on 02/07/2022 11:22:57

[HOWARDTParticipant @howardt]

Looking at a local auction house their fees are now 18% for seller and 24% for buyer including vat. It looks like fees have increased dramatically over the last few years to make up for losses over the last couple.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

There has been a huge change in auctions over the last 5 or six years, especially industrial ones. Most are now at least partially on-line which widens the pool of buyers considerably. I'm no expert on machine tool prices, but have a fair idea on electronic test equipment. It is bizarre to see people bidding up to hammer price higher than you could buy the same unit for from a dealer with warranty. You have no recourse at an auction if what you buy turns out to be complete junk. Then there is the "ebay effect" where one seller puts an item up it an unrealistic price and suddenly there is a rash of the same item at similar prices.

On the subject lathe, my view is it was not a bargain, but if you wanted a Myford super seven with all the extras it was probaly a good buy.
And don't forget at least TWO bidders were prepared to pay that price +- £100

Robert G8RPI.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

On the basis of this my myford is worth about £12K ! It even has the bed mounted capstan and all the bit that make it a repetition/ production machine ! I recently use an auctionhouse that with vat and commision added 44%. to the hammer price, but I only bid £14. Noel.

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