Is the typical home shop worth less than an old used car?

[Mike W]

I was thinking about this. You have a lathe, mill, and a bunch of tooling. You have the nice mics new or used and misc this and that. In the end what could you sell it for?

I have collected old Mustangs. I have a 65 that I bought new and a 69 Mach I in pretty good shape. I have a 70 Mach that is a rust bucket but has a 351C in it. I never have thought about any value in these but maybe I should pay more attention, any thoughts?

[BadDog]

I'll trade you a slightly used Bridgeport for that 69... About the only Mustang I ever really liked...

[J Tiers]

You are asking the wrong question.....

You brought up the "W" word............ "WORTH".

"WORTH" has either a specific meaning, or none at all.

When an old guy sells his tools, he usually tries to get what they are "WORTH". That usually ends up being about 1/2 of new retail price of equivalent piece, obtained from his last copy of the MSC catalog. If questioned, he will ALWAYS demand that you tell him if they are not "WORTH" that.

Trouble is, while I AGREE that they may be "WORTH" that, you cannot GET that for them.

On the "WORTH" basis, a used lathe in good condition is "WORTH" at least half of what a new equivalent costs. Same for a used 0-1" mic, etc. ......After all, they still work, and will do the same job as a brand spankin new one, the difference is age and prior use. if that hasn't been abusive, then they still have "worth" based on what they will do......

Try getting that when selling.

On a "real" basis, usually you can't get (here) more than around $10 to $30 for a mic. Doesn't matter if it cost $200. You can do better if selling individual items which are pretty new.

The imports have also caused a big price dump.

I did see where a person bought an ordinary used Atlas 10" for $3000. The person who arranged the sale applauded the buyer for "recognizing what the machine was worth". Maybe so.

However, outside of "lala land" the machine would have sold for $800 or so, double that in Alaska maybe.

Upshot of the matter is that the "realizable cash value" of most home shops is likely no more than $5000, and may be well under that. Mine on a "what I paid" basis is certainly well under that.

On a "WORTH" basis, one can argue that since the machines work and can put out high grade results, they are "WORTH" at least half the value of an equivalent new machine. And there is a certain point to that. However, one may also attempt to pi$$ up a rope.

[IOWOLF]

Depends a used Vette or a pinto?

[Alguy]

Worth is a relative term, as i dont expect to sell my stuff . I have noticed locally that at auctions of home shops ( maybe 1 or 2 a year) the attendance is down and so are the prices. I think it reflects the aging of the home shop machinest, there are less of us than there used to be. The imports have also contributed to the decline in value of equipment.
The last Names show it was discussed how some of the members left early cause of health reasons.
I dont expect to get what i paid for my stuff when the time to sell somes along ,, i treat it as a hobby expense like i would for any other hobby.
A couple years ago i tried to sell my first lathe a 12 inch (change gear) sears atlas late 30's vintage it is a tired well worn lathe , tight headstock and was able to cut a .0015 test bar, i was asking 400$ never got a nibble. So what is its worth? From a personal point of view its value is what i expect to recieve in the future use of it.
My 2 cents and dont mean to hijack the tread.

[lazlo]

I keep track of all my tooling purchases, and I have around $20K invested in my shop, including my mill and lathe. The vast majority of those purchases have been used tooling on Ebay, which would probably sell for about what I bought it for.

In fact, the home-shop sized mills and lathes seem to be going up in price, especially in the last two years (?)

My shop seems "average" compared to the pictures I've seen posted here and on PM...

[Wirecutter]

I agree that this is a question that can take us "down the rabbit hole."

If you wanted to trade me a car for my shop, it had better be a pretty nice car. To me, and I suspect for many of the HSMs here, the value of the shop is in the tools themselves and in the effort it took to accumulate and arrange them. Many of my tools are inherited across two generations and have sentimental value as well. (I have a theory that tools, to people like us, are like diamonds and jewelry to many women.)

The fact is, if you were able to pry my shop away from me by giving me a car, it would most certainly be a car that I could sell to finance a nicer shop.

Can I get a witness?

-Mark

[lazlo]

To me, and I suspect for many of the HSMs here, the value of the shop is in the tools themselves and in the effort it took to accumulate and arrange them.

Absolutely! I spent an enormous amount of time researching what to get, prices, etc, and then actually finding them...

I have a theory that tools, to people like us, are like diamonds and jewelry to many women.

My Wife would agree with you Wire There's definitely a lot of tool porn/tool lust going on...

[pcarpenter]

This is not such a silly question if it gets you to think about a couple of important things.

I would encourage you to look into what your Mustangs are really worth....try the Old Cars (magazine) price guide available at news stands. condition is everything so read the descriptions. The reason I would encourage you to do this is that it might get you to thinking about insurance you might not have worried with back when you bought the cars. I have a muscle car that I am pretty sure I could not afford to buy again today. Muscle car values have gone nuts...and some are just plain unaffordable for most of us now.

Same for the shop.....think about *replacement value*. I have lots of tooling that I bought surplus over a long period of time at bargain prices. I could not replace it in some cases as it may be old stuff that you would not find used again for a long time. It took years of shopping to find the stuff the first time and you may not ever find some of it again. Other stuff is still available as a new replacement....but at a price that is *many* times what I got it for. If your shop burnt, you might be hard pressed to replace some of this stuff without buying new. Most homeowner's policies have limits on specific types of things like tools, guns, jewelry. If you own more than that (again think what it would actually cost to replace), you might be SOL.

The thing that sticks in my mind is the Bridgeport mill I bought a couple of years ago, used. It had a Newall DRO and I paid probably the upper end of the going rate at the time. I have a lot of time spent rebuilding it and rescraping. I could not buy one in its current condition for even close to what I paid then, today. Additionally, I would not want to have to buy another that needed rebuilt, after a fire and spend another year or two working on it. So....what does it realistically cost to replace now and how much of my tool insurance limits does it eat up by itself? Probably time to put pencil to paper and do a real inventory of tooling and figure out if its time for an insurance rider for the shop.

Paul

[Scishopguy]

I agree that this is a question that can take us "down the rabbit hole."

If you wanted to trade me a car for my shop, it had better be a pretty nice car. To me, and I suspect for many of the HSMs here, the value of the shop is in the tools themselves and in the effort it took to accumulate and arrange them. Many of my tools are inherited across two generations and have sentimental value as well. (I have a theory that tools, to people like us, are like diamonds and jewelry to many women.)

The fact is, if you were able to pry my shop away from me by giving me a car, it would most certainly be a car that I could sell to finance a nicer shop.

Can I get a witness?

-Mark

AMEN Brother!!!! It took me many years to get the nice equipment I have and I'd say that it is worth a lot more than most of the cars I have ever owned.