Pro Planner Dilemma

h-bomb · Post by **h-bomb** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 5:27 am

Morning All,

Just want a bit of advice.

I have the opportunity of purchasing a pro planner recently refurbished.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SHOPSMITH-FREE-ST ... 4aac3e8764

I know the person and it has new blades and I think new speed controller and feed motor. It also comes with a spare feed motor second hand and possibly a second hand speed controller.

The dilemma is I already have a Mark V planner almost brand new the previous owner said used for a total of about 10 hours, just ran oak floor boards through it.
I recently purchased the cast steel table for it and it needs to be fitted.

Is there any benefit in having 2 planners running together?
Obviously having a stand alone is useful and the spare parts could be a real bonus.

Cost £ - the reserve is $640 and the person said I could have it for that.

I am moving towards buying it, but I am still wondering if it is sensible.
The reserve is more that I was willing to pay, but having the spare parts could be very useful.

Help would be appreciated

If I have broken the forum rules I apologise and will remove the thread.

Ron309753 · Post by **Ron309753** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 12:12 pm

H-Bomb,

I don't think you're breaking any rules, and from a price perspective $640US is not outrageous. I think a Pro Planer in Ohio sold for $599US a couple of weeks ago. I have heard on this forum that SS wil not ship overseas so having a second planer for parts seems like a good idea.

The problem I have is that he is will willing to sell you the planer off-line after he has received bids on eBay. I sell quite a lot on eBay and I don't like paying their fees anymore than the next person, and I think their fees are outrageous, but that's not an excuse to cheat the system.

My advice would be to determine what you are willing to pay and submit a bid via the auction. If he's not willing to sell it at that price or if someone outbids you, then so be it.

Sincerely,

Ron309753

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 2:34 pm

I agree $640US is very reasonable if the condition is truly as described.

Other than the spare parts angle I doubt there would be any advantage to having two. Moving to a stand mounted with its own(1.75hp?)motor is definitely an upgrade. Consider selling the MV mounted one!
How close is £68 to $640?

I leave it for the two of you to make that morality call!;)

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 3:16 pm

JPG40504 wrote:How close is £68 to $640?

A LONG WAY, I'd say. 68.00 GBP = $108.570 USD

horologist · Post by **horologist** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 5:56 pm

$640 US isn't unreasonable, especially as the planer looks to be in excellent condition. One advantage is that it is local, as I understand it no one can pack a planer well enough to have it arrive undamaged. I also have found this true with clocks but that is another story.

If this is more than you are interested in paying then bid what you are willing to pay. You may be able to get it for your price, depending on how motivated the seller is and how strong Shopsmith products sell in the UK. Perhaps you could work up a package deal if he has other items you are interested in.

There are advantages to the free standing Pro Planer. I would recommend making the purchase and then selling off your present one to offset some of the cost. I’m not sure keeping the old planer for spare parts makes much sense.

Troy

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 8:54 pm

horologist wrote:$640 US isn't unreasonable, especially as the planer looks to be in excellent condition. One advantage is that it is local, as I understand it no one can pack a planer well enough to have it arrive undamaged. I also have found this true with clocks but that is another story.

If this is more than you are interested in paying then bid what you are willing to pay. You may be able to get it for your price, depending on how motivated the seller is and how strong Shopsmith products sell in the UK. Perhaps you could work up a package deal if he has other items you are interested in.

There are advantages to the free standing Pro Planer. I would recommend making the purchase and then selling off your present one to offset some of the cost. I’m not sure keeping the old planer for spare parts makes much sense.

Troy

I believe that you are misinformed. I have shipped several Mark V mounted planers at reasonable cost without any damage to the planers. But I buy boxes and packaging material that will stand up.

To the question, I would offer what I feel is a price you are willing to pay. If accepted, I would sell the other planer to offset the cost of the new toy.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 11:50 pm

SDSSmith wrote:I believe that you are misinformed. I have shipped several Mark V mounted planers at reasonable cost without any damage to the planers. But I buy boxes and packaging material that will stand up.

To the question, I would offer what I feel is a price you are willing to pay. If accepted, I would sell the other planer to offset the cost of the new toy.

I am amazed at what some think is adequate packaging. I have received very heavy items that were thrown in a box and surrounded with plastic 'peanuts'! Fortunately the box did survive, though of a vastly different shape when it 'arrived'. And then there was a 500 table thrown in a box with NO packing - arrived with holes in the sideS! Flaps stuck(almost) with hot melt glue - no tape!

horologist · Post by **horologist** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 9:08 am

SDSSmith wrote:I believe that you are misinformed. I have shipped several Mark V mounted planers at reasonable cost without any damage to the planers. But I buy boxes and packaging material that will stand up.

[font=&quot]Misinformed? No. [/font]

[font=&quot]Exaggerating? Perhaps a little. I suppose to be more precise I should say the odds of your planer suffering severe damage due to poor packing are very high. Not to mention that the damage will be sufficiently severe that restoring the tool will be an expensive or impractical project. For this reason I would never recommend purchasing a planer from an individual if it needs to be shipped, unless you know for certain that the seller will actually pack it properly.[/font]

[font=&quot]I have received a few clocks that were well packed but over 90% of my purchases have been damaged due to poor packaging. This of course voids the insurance. I’m working on a series of rules on how to pack a clock. Rule one is that it must be packed in a box and the box must be larger than the clock…. Don’t laugh, this is a problem.[/font]

[font=&quot]Troy[/font]

h-bomb · Post by **h-bomb** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:07 am

Thanks guys for all your help.

It didn't reach the reserve and in the end decided to purchase it.

Brand new table, feed motor, speed controller, 4 corner posts and new blades.

It also comes with the old feed motor, speed controller, old planner blades, sharper fence and the feather board that fits above the quill.

So not a bad deal and I have the expensive replacement parts for it.

Now what do I do with the Mark V Planner?

At present I'll keep it and see what happens, could be useful with a powerpro.

Has anybody used a powerpro with the planner?

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Tue Jun 28, 2011 12:37 pm

I find that one planer is enough for my needs, so I would sell it. The money could be used to offset the new planer purchase or to buy other tools.

If you need to ship it, email me directly and I will provide you with what I do to ship them safely and cost effectively.