We are planning to make publish on lapiegatrice.it about used press brakes in IT and DE languages. We would like to present this article also in English, probably will be helpful for somebody:
Today we will speak about used press brake. Please note that it is only our private opinion and also should be a little bit different between European countries because some brands of press brakes which are well known in Italy are completely unknown in other countries and do not have the same value.
The idea to purchase the used press brake is only one — to get the professional tool with some money savings against the offer of new machine. Or it could be the idea to purchase more special machine (for example with bigger opening) which could be very expensive if to study the new one.
For sure the idea of purchase of used industrial machine tool is the same as purchase of the car — you want to drive and look for any economic possibility (for example the purchase very old machine to enter the process of sheet metal bending) or you want good and cost-saving offer.
So PRO (advantages):
- Investment savings — you are planning to pay much lower price than the new machine
- Machine tomorrow — you do not need to wait several months for production of new machine, you will find available machine and ship it tomorrow
- Press brake tools for free — in lot of offers tools that are together with the machine cost small price or zero (if the seller do not want to take the existing tools for his other machine and to use it in other way)
You can choose your options — choose between control, tooling system, backgauge movements. You can order the machine you need for all the parts.
Against (disadvantages):
- No guarantee — yes is possible to find the machine with guarantee but it is rear option. Normally the machine goes without guarantee, as it is. When you will pay for it and ship it, no any other responsibility from seller.
- No support for old machine — we will explain it better in text
- Machine as it is — no possibility to order something as option, you need to accept the machine construction, possibilities and configuration as it is presented.
- No investment programs — investment programs, state programs for purchase of new machinery and support for it, leasing and credit — mainly programs are not active for used machinery
- No history — if you are not professional you could not know what is happen with the press brake during the years, what were problems, defects, troubleshooting.
- Find your specialist yourself — for new machine installation will be done by manufacturer. For old machine you can request assistance of manufacturer but if he doesn’t have a staff for this model or control system probably you will be only yourself to install the machine.
Old machines could cost a little but have two main problems — they are old and any day something could happen. There is the third problem with old press brake customers usually do not care about and then get the surprise — old tooling clamping system is not supported as standard by tool suppliers and, for example, you bought the machine for 5 thousand EUR and now you should buy even the simple set for full length for half of price if the machine. And sometimes in could be even more worse, set of tooling could have the price more than the machine itself!
Any machine could be old but you should note that machine tool industry is not the car industry with millions of units. Standard support time for the machine from the manufacturer is usually 10–15 years. After this time even if the manufacturer is not closed and still on the market the prices of parts could be very expensive or even not available completely for any change. And it is reality and happens with some machines so for customer is very important to know before the investment what he will do tomorrow if he needs something to replace.
Next question you should count — the value.
The owner of the boat is happy two times in his life — firs time when he purchases the boat and second time when he sells the boat.
Nobody wants to buy the machine for any price if this machine is impossible to sell after. Tomorrow could be anything and the replacement of production as well or probably the customer wants to sell the used machine to purchase other one (more modern, other length, whatever…). And if he cannot sell the machine for good price it is not reasonable for him to purchase.
For this it is very important to study markets, not from the side of the buyer but in general to understand how rich is the markets, what brands and trademarks are popular in different countries, availability of offers for different models, what could be the price if you decide to sell the purchased machine after couple of years. Important to study the brands, as we told some local brands are completely unknown outside country so it will be “black cat” for potential customer and he will never pay good prices for press brake.
We also warn to all people that it is correct to think that purchase of used machine tool is similar to purchase of car in lot of details. During purchasing of car you believe that nearly or not but it is not a problem to find service station if you have troubles with something. And if we are talking about world known brands every service station could know this car, there are spare parts from original manufacturer and OEM replacements so you should be quite secured that finally your car will be repaired or any problem will be solved. And it is not the same in machine tool business where you usually completely tied with the manufacturer and service from him. Moreover for lots of brands it is absolutely impossible (even for new machine tool) to buy the replacement not from the manufacturer, even if you will find the piece outside the supplier could decline your request because they are limited with the contract with the manufacturer of the machine.
And the other story is service, could be very complicated story from the question, as we already told about impossibility to supply the spare parts till the absence of people who really know old machines and availability manuals of it!
We prefer not to give any recommendations, any customer should decide himself all the “pro” and “against” to make the right choice. The main reason of this article is only to give more details what to study and what to expect. One thing is good to note — your all studies should be with confident technician and probably you should request service book. We like to study the full history when we purchase the used car and to get all the service station lists with repairs and check-up by official dealer about services made according to the general recommendations. The same service book for the used press brake will save to you a lot of time and will make you more confident with the machine you are planning to purchase.
Your decision is always your decision. Anyway if you are looking forward for the latest generation used CNC press brake try also to contact us about new machine to compare the prices and possibilities and to make your final decision more solid and reasonable!
This post is also published on @Medium
