Which Is Better – Buying A Combination Woodworking Machine Or Used Machines?
Whether you’re starting a new woodworking business or taking your existing business to the next level, affording the necessary woodworking machinery can be a major concern. Like other vocations that require specialized machinery, the prospect of starting or upgrading a woodworking business can be an expensive one; so much so, in fact, that some woodworkers give up on a new or existing business without fully investigating their ability to buy equipment at lower than expected prices. To get the best prices on commercial woodworking machinery, woodworkers have two options: they can purchase used woodworking machinery or they can purchase a combination woodworking machine that features two or more equipment functions in one unit. Below, we look at the advantages and disadvantages of each option.
Buying a Combination Woodworking Machine
Advantages: A combination woodworking machine is to woodworkers as a Swiss army knife is to outdoorsmen. Instead of being weighted down with as many machines as you have woodworking needs, combination machines allow you to economize on woodworking space and the overall price of your equipment. As one might expect, the cost of combo machines is largely based on their number of functions, with those that offer the most costing the most. A quality combo machine that offers fewer features can cost as little as $5,000, whereas one that offers the highest range of features can cost roughly $30,000.
Disadvantages: Although combination machines are typically engineered to offer commercial grade dependability, they rarely offer the durability required by industrial grade woodworking, where machines remain mostly in use instead of mostly at rest. In addition, combination machines have little hope of meeting the production rate of a truly high demand woodworking operation, which explains why they are usually purchased by smaller wood shops.
Buying Used Woodworking Machines
Advantages: The advantages of buying used woodworking machinery depend on the machinery, with industrial grade machines offering the best value due to their lengthy useful lifespan. When the prospective dependability of a used woodworking machine is properly assessed, its significantly lower price than a new machine (a 40 percent discount isn’t uncommon) is extremely attractive. Thus, the primary advantage of properly assessed used woodworking machines is their delivery of new machine quality at a used machine price.
Disadvantages: If you plan on purchasing individual machines, you’ll need the space to accommodate them, which can mean moving out of your wood shop and into a warehouse style work facility, which might be your plan in the first place. Other than spacing concerns, the biggest disadvantage of purchasing used woodworking machinery lies with its purchasers and not the machinery itself: the potential to inadequately assess a machine’s dependability. A proper assessment of a used machine’s dependability follows three steps: assessing the seller’s reputation at the Better Business Bureau (BBB); requesting a copy of a machine’s official maintenance record; and conducting a first hand inspection of the machine or having an expert third party conduct the inspection.
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