DoAll ML 16" Government Liquidation Craziness

I've been following and bidding (unsuccessfully) on this I believe 1971 DoAll ML band saw. It is up at MCB Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego, CA and I actually got to go look at it in person yesterday. Today the auction is closing. It got the usual DRMO treatment of sitting out in the elements, and the table is completely surface rusted. That being said, the paint appeared to be original and in very good shape, with all of the blade guides in the upper door rack. The machine was missing the "power feed" assemblies, and had an "aftermarket" knob for the rack and pinion for the blade guard though. In all the machine looked really nice, but the pigtail had been hacked off, and the DRMO code was an "H"...non-repiarable. Ohh, the table trunion was in perfect shape. It appeared that the machine didn't get used much. It even still had a blade in it.


I forgot to check the transmission fluid, but I could turn it by hand. What is blowing me away is that even with the machine not running, missing some parts (non-critical) and being subjected to the elements, with 15 minutes left in the auction, it is going for $1,407.00. I had to bail at $1,000 for a non running machine with expensive parts.

I love DoAlls, especially older ones, but is this just bidding run amock? The machine will at least need to have the outside blade guides and table disassembled and de-rusted, but that is before even knowing if the transmission or motor is shot.

Is this normal?

Here's the bid breakdown: (EDIT - The auction keeps getting extended as I am typing this)

Auction Summary
Auction Ends: 03/11/2015 05:17PM Eastern Time First Bid: $25.00
Time Left: 0 hours and 9 minutes Current Bid: $2,107.32(per lot)
Next Winning Bid: $2,177.32

Current Bids Displaying 1 - 20 of 50
Bid Bidder Amount Status Bid Date (New York Time) Type
1. 77715010 $2,107.32 High Bidder 03 / 11 / 2015 05:02 PM Auto-bid
2. 77196346 $2,037.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 05:02 PM New
3. 77715010 $1,967.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:58 PM Auto-bid
4. 77196346 $1,897.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:58 PM New
5. 77715010 $1,827.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:54 PM Auto-bid
6. 77196346 $1,757.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:54 PM New
7. 77715010 $1,687.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:52 PM Auto-bid
8. 77196346 $1,617.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:52 PM New
9. 77715010 $1,547.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:48 PM Auto-bid
10. 77196346 $1,477.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:48 PM New
11. 77715010 $1,407.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:42 PM New
12. 77196346 $1,337.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:36 PM New
13. 77726241 $1,267.32 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:34 PM Auto-bid
14. 77196346 $1,225.00 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:34 PM New
15. 77726241 $1,155.00 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:33 PM Auto-bid
16. 77196346 $1,085.00 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:33 PM New
17. 77726241 $1,015.00 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:29 PM Auto-bid
18. 77527627 $975.00 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 04:29 PM New
19. 77726241 $911.00 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 03:43 PM New
20. 77813659 $871.00 Outbid 03 / 11 / 2015 02:40 PM Auto-bid

It is exactly as I would have expected. Anything less would have been a steal. These are still being made. Parts are available. These things are really expensive when new and it is repairable. Lastly, never expect to get a deal with Government Liquidation.........

From some of the various sources out here and there that DoAll likes to charge stupid expensive prices for some of their replacement parts; especially if it going to be something they have to make in their prototype shop. I sure do like the old styling of the machines better than the newer plain-jane boxy ones, they seem to just be built much more stout. I know I had my hopes up for trying to steal one of these; I've come up on some pretty good deals this year in auctions, but this was my first GovLiquidation experience. For a $1k more, you can get a machine (maybe not as in cosmetically good condition) with all the bells and whistles from a dealer. Ohh well. Hopefully next time I have the slush-fund a bit deeper to make a play for one in the future.

Looking around eBay and dealers, the going price seems to average about $2,500 (for a working machine). Does this seem to jive with what you have seen?

I'm not surprised by that govliq auction result. The saw actually looks pretty nice, and saws can tolerate some time in the elements, much more than a lathe or mill which they regularly subject to the same treatment. The saw has no ways or precision spindles to worry about. Most bearings are standard ball bearings available from many sources cheap. Clean it all up, buff out the paint, replace a few bearings and you've got a new saw.

adh2000 said:

I'm not surprised by that govliq auction result. The saw actually looks pretty nice, and saws can tolerate some time in the elements, much more than a lathe or mill which they regularly subject to the same treatment. The saw has no ways or precision spindles to worry about. Most bearings are standard ball bearings available from many sources cheap. Clean it all up, buff out the paint, replace a few bearings and you've got a new saw.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that was the idea. After reading all 500 pages of http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/rebuilding-do-all-band-saw-180234/ I was inspired...the inside of the saw was pretty immaculate for a machine that was 42 years old and had been living with Marines.

Many years ago I bought a LeBlond Regal from the DRMO at the Air Force base in Las Vegas. It had an "H" code on it as well as a tag on the gear box selector lever that said "Unable to Repair". It had an Air Force property tag on it. It looked to be in very nice condition, nothing broken or missing, no wear worth mentioning, very little rust. It had a 3 jaw on it and a 4 jaw and some other tooling in the chip pan. I couldn't identify anything wrong with it so I finally decided what the hell and put a low ball bid on it. I got the lathe and went over it real good when I got it home. Cleaned it up, changed the oils and all that. Never did find anything wrong with it. I think the unable to repair tag probably scared everyone way. I have heard that some of the contractors working in the DRMO yards will tag decent stuff that way so they can have a buddy buy it cheap. Could be that whoever ran the shop it was in wanted a new machine and that was an easy way to justify the need. Could be the fuse was bad and government incompetence was on full display. I don't know, but I was happy with it. Like a fool I sold it about 10 years later to buy a bigger one. I should have just kept it.

A couple of years back a 7" South Bend shaper sold at the Air Force base in Salt Lake City. I didn't see that one in person, just the pictures on the net. It was pretty rusty and the vise and the side door were missing. It sold for some insane price like $1200 or $1400 bucks. I think the Government auctions are generating a lot more interest and higher bids now that they are on the internet.

The price is about the norm for the San Diego area. I have seen a heavy hydraulic shear with most of the electrical, and hydraulics, and missing the blades, plus the main bedframe was broken. About $ 250.00 scrap price, went for about $ 9000.00, headed to Mexico. A lot of the DRMO equipment seems to go to Mexico.

Gear and equipment going to Mexico makes big time sense. It almost seemed like a had a chance to nab it until the 30 minute mark, then the money really started flowing. I've just fallen into the machining and manufacturing world, and am still a noobie. When my old man was growing up down here, he said back in the day, it seemed like every other garage had a lathe or mill in it. Machinists, T&D, you name it everywhere. San Diego had a huge aeronautical industry once upon a time. I wonder where all of the stuff ended up going?

Down at the SD International Airport, the Convair / Consolidated General Dynamics factories were torn down and now have giant parking structures sitting on them. I wonder if my generation (I'm 32) will every see large scale manufacturing come back.