The price of industrial CNC machinery leads many woodworkers to buy it used. But before you jump at savings of up to 50% off a CNC machine’s original price, you should evaluate the potential worth of the purchase in two ways: by evaluating the seller of the woodworking machine, and by evaluating the machine itself. If you are considering buying machinery that contains CNC technology used, below is a complete guide for making the best purchase:

Starting your own woodworking company is similar to taking up the game of golf: you have to buy a decent amount of equipment to make your endeavor a reality. Yet, starting your own woodworking business will require you to spend far more than you would on a set of gold clubs. While almost everyone daydreams of being his own boss, the start up cost of a woodworking business is often dashes these dreams and keeps a woodworker punching a time clock instead of striking out on his own, especially in the current economy, where loans for small businesses can seem impossible to secure. Nonetheless, if you dream of starting your own woodworking business but you don’t have the necessary capital, you still have some options, beginning with buying used commercial woodworking machinery.

While industrial machinery isn’t known for being cheap, industrial woodworking machinery contains some apparatuses that most of us would have to mortgage our homes to afford. For example, if you’re moving your woodworking business to a warehouse setting and you need top efficiency machines, a top grade CNC router could easily cost you in excess of $200,000, while a top industrial grade wood planer might cost you around than ten percent of that sum. In either case, when your start up cost looks as if it will climb well into the six figures, it’s time to start considering what you could do to cut costs and still get the same results.

Evaluating Used CNC Woodworking Machinery

Once you find the right seller, use the following steps to evaluate a used CNC machine:

– Are the work surfaces overly cluttered and possibly hiding sharp edges or blades?

When the operator of this commercial woodworking machinery plans to cut multiple pieces with the same measurements, it should acquire a flip stop to speed up the process. A flip stop is placed at a particular spot, allowing the operator to complete multiple cuts without having to conduct measurements before each one. When multiple cuts will be made but not all cuts are from the same position, a quick stop gauging kit can be used to easily move the flip stop position.

Midway Fence

– Is all the machinery and equipment secure and properly set up?

Using the right equipment is essential to producing quality work. Although hobby grade and and mid grade models don’t cost as much as industrial woodworking machinery, neither do their production capabilities allow one to produce the same quality and volume of work as an industrial model. When the cost of industrial hardware is a barrier to getting the equipment one needs, buying the equipment as used woodworking machinery is a better option that using an insufficient grade of equipment to cut costs.