Whats a fair offer?

[RobCox]

If you only have space for a minilathe, make him an offer. So if a new one is £800, this is used so would be £400? in good nick, but the control board is fried, so either you buy a new board (is the motor toast?) or, my preference, go for a vfd and 3 ph motor. You won't get much change from £150 for the vfd & motor, then there's your time and materials to fix it as the vfd may want an enclosure, the motor mount will need modifying, so conservatively allowing £100 for that, its worth £150 tops. I'd offer £100, might go for £120. Much more and youre not getting the bargain you thought.
As for the comments re. a bigger lathe, yes, you'll prob outgrow it soon enough, I did, but if the "new" bigger lathe needs bits making to repair it, you've got a lathe to do that on!

 

[bourbon]

CL 300 is still being sold, so you can still get parts for it. Off the top of my head, I'm not sure of the costs. Give parts a bell.

0115 956 1805

 

[Greeves246]

Yes it is that one.

As much as I’d love a bigger lathe my workshop is crowded as it is. This is probably the largest I could do at the moment.

Where are you based?

 

[Beanwood]

£100 seems fair. As others have said- it’s a stepping stone as you will want something bigger and more rigid fairly soon after you realise you need to make things that bit bigger and more quickly. DAMHIKT.
But do check your tools first- these take 8mm which is small.

 

[Kram]

If the lathe is worth buying I would offer £300 as a minimum. If it is not worth that, dont bother wasting your time on it. Any lathe with good condition accurate ways is worth that - and I wouldnt want the pain of one that couldnt easily do accurate work.
The repair is usually quite simple replace of SCR's in the controller

£100 would be an insult, little more than a tank of fuel! You cant buy a decent branded cordless tool or drill for that.

Yes it is that one.

As much as I’d love a bigger lathe my workshop is crowded as it is. This is probably the largest I could do at the moment.

The size difference between the Clarke and mine is only 180mm in length. They are near enough the same size machine except for mine is 3x the weight and a lot more capable. However they dont come up used very often, so get what you can find..
My lathe is the same length, 1m, as my shed is wide, fits perfectly. I just have space to stand and some storage shelves. Most other stuff I do outside.

 

[Beanwood]

£100 would be an insult, little more than a tank of fuel! You cant buy a decent branded cordless tool or drill for that.

Ok how much is it worth working but with no tools? Does it have the change gears?? If you assume it is worth £250 working but parts cost £200 is it then worth £50?Or less due to the time and effort to fix it?
Perhaps offer £100, but with an offer of extra cash if it can be easily and or inexpensively fixed

 

[indykid]

He's asked you to make an offer, but I'd ask him what he was after for it first and say you've had a think about the bits to fix it and the size and it's probably not worth more than £100 to you if it helps him out, but you're happy to leave it. He may think that's fantastic because he's not going to get that weighing it in, or he might think it's worthwhile him buying the bits to fix it instead.

You've passed the decision back to him then. You're worried about ripping him off, but I'm sure he'd feel the same if you bought it for a lot more than he was thinking (assuming you're both honourable gentlemen).

It's £650 on a vat free weekend BNIB and used, it surely can't be worth more than about 50%, even with all its original tooling. Used and non functioning, it's a buyer's market

 

[Beanwood]

If it’s that easy for you- you could just be a great guy and fix it for him as a favour A little kindness goes a long way…

 

[Nomad]

Speaking from experience, picking up "bargains" often turns out to be a waste of time as you need to put time & £££ fixing them.
If you are doing the work because you enjoy tinkering that's fine, for almost anything else I'd wait until you find something that doesn't need work - ideally with some tooling.

The flip side is, most people I know have ignored "bargains" in the past then found the item got chucked in the metal skip as is was in the way. Make a low offer, explain why and leave the decision up to him. It's worked for me in the past..

 

[Greeves246]

But mine was made in Burnley