Need help pricing a mill

Hello,

My name is John. I need help coming up with a reasonable price for a Bridgeport mill. It belonged to my father who was a machinist for 30 years at Pratt and Whitney. He passed away this past May, and unfortunately I have to sell his house and cannot take the Bridgeport with me. So the time has come to sell it. I'm just looking for a reasonable price, not looking to rip anyone off, but I don't want to be ripped off either. I do also have to take into account that moving these things is not easy. It will come with some tooling and accessories however. I am not a machinist, and my father only just started to teach me before he unexpectedly passed away. Any help or insight you can share with me would be appreciated. Also, I have had issues trying to sell things online in the past, so if there is any sort of schemes that people try to pull when buying these sorts of machines to try to knock down the price, please share that with me as well.

If I looked through the serial number listings correctly, the mill is from 1978. Beyond that I don't know much about it.







Thank you for your help.

Condition is king ..perhaps 1,200 to $5,000

From here it looks in good shape..
You might find a good mill hand to check it out..
Might pay a local machine builder shop to come inspect it..I know of one shop shop here in Detroit area..
Might look of craigs list and find some numbers.
Scalpers will come to find .015 to 050 free handle play mid long travel and say the machine is wore out..when it may or may not be wore out.

Thank you for the advice. I may have someone look at it. It is, what I assume would be (again, not a machinist), decent condition for a machine from 1978. We've used it for many projects over the years and has always worked without issue. I'm in Connecticut.

I would fine crocus cloth with a business card backer and go over the numbers ..with a fine file or hone to the bugs to just surface only...
Fine side 6" Norton stone to the flat surfaces..Again a fine file to the bugs to Just make original surface....not cleaning up 100%.. *but you not being mill hand you may mess it up...

Let me know when you come up with a price. I'm in CT too. Been looking around for another mill.

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I just went through a lengthy process of pricing and eventually buying a Bridgeport mill. One thing that is definitely a big factor for sale price is the location of the mill. From my considerable research, the very same mill can draw easily +/- 20% or more in value depending on where it is within the country. Adding to that, if it's located in a basement or some other difficult to get to place, forcing disassembly and or extensive rigging tasks, then the selling price takes a very sizeable hit. Another factor is if the machine is located way out in the middle of some rural area with few bidders around and expensive rigging/transport costs associated with moving the machine to a remote buyer's location.

I've seen many machines in my searches that looked great and we're selling at a great price, but when I factored in the rigging and transport associated with getting the machine to me, it quickly became out of the question. I passed over many good candidates in Connecticut, simply because I lived in Maryland and the transport/rigging costs essentially doubled the price of the machine.

But getting back to the location within the country influencing price: I see you are located in Connecticut. From my research, Connecticut had the most plentiful supply of Bridgeport mills and hence the lowest sale prices for them. I assume this was because Bridgeport mills were made in Bridgeport Connecticut. But I definitely noticed the availability of good used machines at great prices seemed to be best in the Connecticut and MA areas. So the amount you will be able to ask for that machine will be somewhat less than what that same machine could fetch in a Bridgeport scarce area.

No way to know what it's worth with those little pics. The condition of the overall machine is king. Is the table in good condition or does it have a bunch of holes drilled in it? Are the X,Y and Z leadscrews tight, or do they have substantial wear? Does the head or motor rattle or make noises? And above all, what condition are the ways in on the machine? Also, are they chromed ways? Chromed ways are worth more, especially if unworn. Your machine also does not have the variable speed head, which is worth more. Step pulley heads like yours command less money. The table length also drives value. Most people want a table 42" or wider and will pay more for them compared to 32" or 36" tables. Also, does the machine come with any tooling or accessories? If not, that minimizes resale price. Also, most people want a DRO, even if it's an older one. No DRO means lower prices again. Same thing for X axis power feed. Most people (like me) want as a minimum an X power feed and will factor that into price too.

In my opinion, if your machine is tight and in great condition, but is bare bones with no extras and has a 42" table? I would guesstimate it's worth about $2K where you live...although CT is a big state, if you're out in the middle of nowhere maybe less. If it's in the basement and needs to be extensively rigged and or disassembled for transport, way less. Just my $0.02.

johnkilo - you do supply enough pictures to get any idea of the actual condition of the mill - take close up pictures of the horizontal and vertical ways (exposed) and the table, and estimate amount of the play in the lead screws read in the middle of operating range and the end(s) of operating range - here is a link to a succinct method of evaluating a mill :
http://www.mermac.com/freemill2.html
And 'maschine' above has a good post...
To simply answer your question about value with what (little) you have supplied for information:
I have bought a number of mills and lathes and watched many more mills go in auctions and such. Your mill with normal wear (down here in Texas - Connecticut may be less) is worth from 800$ to 3000$ with 1500$ to 2000$ being best guess if in reasonable shape (for mill only). You say it comes with extra tooling and accessories: that is extremely important to the total price as the extras can be very expensive, and you do not say what those 'extras' are...For 'extras' research their new price and be very happy if you get 1/2 their new price value (if in excellent condition)....but expect 1/3 to 1/4 of new is more pragmatic expectation for usable 'extras'. I personally like to buy 'extras' at 10 cents on the dollar (10% of new) and find lots of 'extras' at that kind of price sooner or later (sometimes later)....but to have the extras in one package with the mill - is worth more than having to buy them separately - if one knows what extras one really needs...
If one researches new prices vs used prices of such machines, one might be astounded at how cheap used machines go for. This is an era where older used manual machines are obsoleted by CNC machines at the 'commercial' or 'industrial' level, and the old manual machines have yet to develop any 'collectible' value. Older manual machines like yours are a bargain now and sell very cheap compared to 'new'...If I was a multi-millionaire and had the space - i would buy all the manual machines in good shape I could find - just to save their excellent integrity and value as a future investment...Even though such machines are obsoleted, they still have great value...It is a buyers market for such machines and has been for several decades...

Thank you for writing all of that, it's very helpful. Thankfully the mill isn't in a basement, it's in our garage with has a large door I can lift up. It will still be a bit of a task to move, of course, but not as bad as if it was elsewhere. I do live in a rural area, but it isn't some remote part of the state.

Sorry about the pictures, I didn't expect the site to re-size them so small. Here is a link to it full size.

https://i.imgur.com/6nn4Zyd.jpg

The accessories would be the collets, the Sony digital readout, rotary table and some other things I see laying around. I'm sorry I can't add a lot of details because I really don't know about this stuff.

Would you recommend I sell the tooling and accessories separate or keep it all together?

Always hard to tell from pictures alone - but your mill looks clean and in good shape to judge for a pic alone - also has 'DRO" worth several hundred extra $ - can be researched on internet. Rotary table definitely a good accessory worth $... brand of rotary table makes a difference - USA and Japanese made accessories worth much more than Chinese 'extras' (worth very little in my opinion)
I have little to add to my post above - except to say - such machines are such bargains in this era - that if you you or progeny might ever think they need your fathers tools - and this 'tool' is a primary one - you should keep it...Any advanced self-respecting DIYouselver or 'inventor', or metal 'worker', will sooner or later want a lathe and a mill....keep it....If you have a son into cars or motorcycles or fixing things in general ...he (or she) will likely one day wish you never sold it ....(in my (narrow) opinion anyhow)...

I'd love to keep it but unfortunately there is no way I can. I'm keeping as many of my dad's hand tools and smaller woodworking machines as I possibly can. I'm sure talking to someone who is mostly ignorant about this stuff is frustrating, but I really appreciate everyone's advice.

What k-size is right on. Considering this is your dad's mill, and he was starting to teach you on its use - presumably you had some interest in learning some machining and maybe using the machine yourself? If so, is the $2K or so you get for what amounts to an amazingly versatile and useful machine really worth that price? Especially considering the knowledge that your dad may have used it to put food on the table? Once it's gone, it's unlikely you'll get it again. I would just make sure you really want to dump it. Nothing lasts forever and we cant keep everything our parents owned, but I would just think carefully about selling it considering it's not going to bring a great windfall and its extreme utility in the right hands...not to mention its ability to make money if you were so inclined.

OK - you have to sell it...your father was a machinist so one might assume he bought a 'gem' for his home use....and depending on how long he owned it - it was not in a production environment while he owned it and well taken care of - it may be still be a 'gem'...it looks 'good' in pics
To directly answer your questions:
You do not want to remove the DRO from the machine - that goes with it, as does the collets (not worth all that much)...the rotary table you can easily sell separately - a 'bargaining chip'...ask 2800$ to start. I have lots of time invested in watching such machines sell on Craig-list and such...seems 3K$ is big 'barrier' price... likely will sit a long time to find buyers over 3K$. I am talking Texas...in Connecticut there are more machines and so the price may be lower...I would not NOT want to let it go much under 2K$ with DRO and rotary table...but in Connecticut - I cannot predict..You will see on Ebay people asking 2X that price I suggest but if you go to Ebay advanced search and see 'completed listings' in Ebay (those that sold) - then you'll see what I am telling you is the realistic expectation..

Craigslist : Price it at $2995 ,haggle at 2200-2500. DRO is a plus as is a rotary table. Vise unless a Kurt not a big value adder.

As far as price I don't have a clue but it will be an easier sell with the rotary table. The vise looks like it was a bargain basement priced item even if name brand still only a Palmgren, around $100 new. I'd look at the rotary table to see if it has a makers mark somewhere, could be a gem or not depending on what/where made.
I'd definitely consider selling the whole thing together as a package unless you want to deal with several different people. If the rotary table is something special it should help to command a slightly higher price in a package deal, more if sold piece by piece. Also, if it is three phase and you have the converter a home shop guy might need that, seems a lot of those guys cringe if they cannot plug it in and use it.
I have no interest in the machine personally but hope it works out for you and the buyer.
Dan