Help pricing Sunnen hone & tooling

rat · Mar 19, 2017

Hi, I'm trying to sell some of my dad's equipment, but I'm at a loss for what a reasonable price would be.

The hone is a Sunnen MBB 1290, which I've seen advertised in the $1,000 range.
I currently have it on craigslist for $500 with no takers, but that's probably because I'm in a fairly remote location. My guess is that this machine is appropriate for gunsmithing to small engine work. Is that correct?

The tooling includes roughly 150 mandrels plus truing sleeves, mostly small sizes. Most of the tooling is in good condition, but a few isolated pieces have seen better days.

What would be a reasonable price for the hone or tooling alone, and what about the hone plus tooling?

Many thanks for any help!

Hone photos:
Dropbox - Hone

Tooling photos:
Dropbox - Hone Tooling

moonlight machine · Mar 19, 2017

I would not sell the tooling separate, That is going to be hard to sell, 500-750 is probably the range, If you in the end can't sell it I would be interested in the tooling but if you do sell the tooling separate you will probably end up scraping the machine.

triumph406 · Mar 19, 2017

The problem you have is that nobody wants the 1290 machine, it's obsolete compared to the newer models, and spares aren't availible from Sunnen for the machine. Somebody gave me a 1290 for free, it was in excellent condition, there was some tooling with it that made it attractive. I had to rent a truck that cost me $150, I wouldn't do it again.

Your going to have to sell both hone and tooling together, then it becomes an attractive proposition for somebody with a shop who needs to hone holes once in a while. $500 maybe.

ewlsey · Mar 19, 2017

I have one that I used for wrist pin bushings (it's a bench top version). That's what they were made for as far as I know. It's not big enough to do the rod bearings.

Back in the old days they used these for honing king pin bushings. The only thing with king pin bushings today is big trucks and those are too big for those machines. Unless you work on old tractors, that's not a viable application.

Mine came with a bunch of the old school die cast hones. I tossed about half of them because the castings were worn through.

They made a ton of those things. 50 years ago pretty much any decent mechanic shop would have had a machine like that. Now they collect dust next to the Sun engine analyzer the brake lathe.

moonlight machine · Mar 19, 2017

ewlsey said:
I have one that I used for wrist pin bushings (it's a bench top version). That's what they were made for as far as I know. It's not big enough to do the rod bearings.

Back in the old days they used these for honing king pin bushings. The only thing with king pin bushings today is big trucks and those are too big for those machines. Unless you work on old tractors, that's not a viable application.

Mine came with a bunch of the old school die cast hones. I tossed about half of them because the castings were worn through.

They made a ton of those things. 50 years ago pretty much any decent mechanic shop would have had a machine like that. Now they collect dust next to the Sun engine analyzer the brake lathe.

I still have one of those analyzers! 4'wide 2'deep 6'high does a small fraction of what a little handheld does now! More junk to get rid of. At least the brake lathe is gone.

ewlsey · Mar 20, 2017

Once they started selling those "lifetime" brake pads, brake lathes were obsolete. I still turn drums once in a while, but not rotors. Maybe on a big truck, but most cars and pickups are past the limit by the time they need pads.

Every shop, and even parts stores, used to have a brake lathe. Just like they all had armature growlers and spark plug cleaners.

Nostalgia...

rat · Mar 20, 2017

Thank you for replying, everyone. This forum has been very helpful for me to try to sort this out.

I guess I'll re-list it on the Roswell craigslist for $650 with the tooling and see where that goes. The tooling is easy enough to box and ship, but I'd probably have a day into building a crate for the machine.

Thanks again.

triumph406 · Mar 20, 2017

ewlsey said:
Once they started selling those "lifetime" brake pads, brake lathes were obsolete. I still turn drums once in a while, but not rotors. Maybe on a big truck, but most cars and pickups are past the limit by the time they need pads.

Every shop, and even parts stores, used to have a brake lathe. Just like they all had armature growlers and spark plug cleaners.

Nostalgia...

The local NAPA still turns disks, probably every car I've owned has had the disks turned there once. I don't suppose they turn as many disks as they used to.

ewlsey · Mar 20, 2017

Most cars you can buy new cheaper than turning them.

Davis In SC · Mar 20, 2017

ewlsey said:
I have one that I used for wrist pin bushings (it's a bench top version). That's what they were made for as far as I know. It's not big enough to do the rod bearings.

Back in the old days they used these for honing king pin bushings. The only thing with king pin bushings today is big trucks and those are too big for those machines. Unless you work on old tractors, that's not a viable application.

Mine came with a bunch of the old school die cast hones. I tossed about half of them because the castings were worn through.

They made a ton of those things. 50 years ago pretty much any decent mechanic shop would have had a machine like that. Now they collect dust next to the Sun engine analyzer the brake lathe.

Some are collecting the old Sun Analyzers and such ..Retro Garage Look...

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