Today's Craigslist Precision Tooling Deal

[SteveHGraham]

Ever wanted a big surface plate but didn't have the money to go first-class? Your days of yearning are over. I just found this beauty for the low, low price of $600. Is it accurate? You bet it is. It's so accurate, they used it to measure open cans of house paint.

https://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/tls/6059388984.html

[BadDog]

That's nothing. I saw one at auction a few years back, something like 4' x 6' and had to be over 20" thick with massive stand and calibration stickers. Who knows what that cost, and it sold for under $200, might have been below $100, likely due to rigging problems. I also still kick myself for letting 1-2" thick ground 8'-10' tables go to the scrapper (i.e. sold for enough less than scrap value to be worth buying, paying "premium" (don't get me started), and hauling!) because I had no room for it.

[earlgo]

A razor scraper and a little acetone and it would be as good as any hobbyist could want.
When the salesman came to sell a black granite surface plate to the shop at the facility where I once worked, took a carpenter's hammer and a 16 penny nail out of his brief case and proceeded to try to drive it into the plate, I was shocked that he did that but impressed all the same.. Bent the nail but didn't even ding the plate. Must be good stuff.
The point is, a little paint won't hurt a thing.

--earlgo

[SteveHGraham]

I will just have to trust you on the immortality of surface plates. I wouldn't go near this one even if I had room for it and thought $600 was a good price.

Some other dude on Craigslist is selling a very nice Starrett about half that size for $230.

I do not want a surface plate. I just thought the ad was funny. They didn't even bother trying to clean it.

[BadDog]

I got my 18x24 Grade A "lipped" plate for $75 with 1 year old calibration stickers. Frankly, I felt like I overpaid and would have gotten it a lot cheaper if that guy from LA (what was his name, the guy who bought all the machine shops for ebay?) and his crew were not there running up the price. But I had it in my head I wanted one, and it was cheaper than the budget granite plates from Enco. I use it from time to time, generally glad to have it, really nice at times, but I generally don't really need it.

[SteveHGraham]

Who buys a thing like that and then spills paint on it? I can understand it when the government ruins tools, because the government is stupid and evil, but this is a private individual.

[BadDog]

Have you ever worked in a professional shop? I used to run (owner/operator) a body shop. We had a guy there who did a lot of the rough/regular mechanic work as needed. Really decent mechanic, nothing special, but I couldn't tell you how many things he screwed up just by not giving a second thought to what he wanted to do "right now". Eventually I fired him when he took a OA torch to cut the bolts loose for the bed (to frame) of a 2 year old Ford diesel truck we were rebuilding. He cut through the fuel lines and damaged the frame, didn't even realize it. I was told what he did and ordered new bolts plus chewed him out. Didn't find out that he had cut the fuel lines (plastic self-sealing lines) and frame too until we started putting it back together. That cost me most of my profit right there. If it had been a gas burner, he would have killed himself, burned down the truck, and likely the entire shop. When I found out, I gave him 10 minutes to get him and all his crap off my property. He said "or what?". My response, "do you want to find out?" He was gone in 5, pushed his box to the next parking lot where he called someone with a truck to come get him.

I worked in an extrusion tooling machine shop for a while too (glorified draftsman, they called us "Engineers"). Had a guy there who was great at keeping machines running, hooking things up, and generally keeping things moving. Good guy all around, but I could easily see him opening cans of paint on the layout and inspection tables, if nobody were there to stop him.

[SteveHGraham]

I overlooked the difference in mentality between people who pay for things and people who merely use them.

[pete]

It's a very good surface plate produced by a very well known company. It's also priced at least 3 times or more what it's actual value is due to the unknowns. If the previous owners knew that little about the care and feeding of a surface plate and what it requires then it's working surface is totally suspect. For most of us in a home shop a heavy piece of plate glass would work well enough for most layout work. The real value in a surface plate is checking precision parts and/or rebuilding machine tools. A good surface plate is no different than a good set of gauge blocks and a cylindrical square. There basic shop reference surfaces and have to be to a known and unquestionable accuracy level. Add $400 - $600 if your within some resonable range for a specialty company to check and resurface any inaccuracy they find and you may as well spend 2-3 times it's asking price on a new Starrett crystal pink in the same size. Work & tool holding, cutting tools & metrology are where performace and accuracy are everything. That plate despite what it looks like might be just fine. I'm extremely doubtful of that, but it's still going to cost at least a couple of hundred just to have it checked and recertified unless you already have a couple pieces of very expensive test equipment and can do it yourself. If it was next door to me I'd have to think real hard about offering the owner $100 and I'm needing one in that size. The sellers dreaming at that price though since far better condition plates that may have been recently certified can be found for a bit less with some dedicated searching.

[mcostello]

I have seen a 4'x8'x4'thisk granite surface plate, it had a 1'x1' recess milled off. Owner got it for little more than shipping. Been in a window making factory and at every step of the process they have a granite surface plate right there. Don't think anyone would have to walk more than 50' to find one. For windows!

[SteveM]

I would not discount the idea of getting a large plate and having it resurfaced (although $600 for that plate is too much).

We had a company come in and resurface several surface plates for a reasonable price.

The guy "hosting" the party had a very large one, and by having several other people bring plates in, it helped bring the price down for everyone.

I resurfaced my dad's 12x18 pink granite plate and my black import 9x12 to AA grade for less than a decent B grade 12x18 would have cost.

I was told that the company has customers that buy the cheap import black granite plates and then have them resurfaced to get them up to a better standard.

BTW, that plate is from 1966 or earlier. It has a zone number on it, which was replaced in a966 by ZIP codes.

Steve

[Cary Stewart]

Speaking of surface plates, the June Travers Tool flyer is offering a black granite grade B 12" X 9" X 2" surface plate fir about $35.00. Compare to 12" X 12" X 2" or 3" elsewhere. Cary