We have bought and sold 699 vertical machining centers. That is our own record, not a catalog listing — so when we quote your machine, we are pricing something we have traded before.
We have 172 vertical machining centers listed right now, so we know what the market is paying this month.
Get an offer on your vertical machining center
Tell us what you have and how to reach you, and we will come back with a route and a number — usually the same day. The make and model of your vertical machining center are enough to start.
Why sell your vertical machining center to KD Machinery
The spindle taper decides who can buy your machine, and 527 of the machining centers we have bought and sold are CAT 40. That is the taper most shops are already tooled for, which is why a CAT 40 machine moves faster than a better machine in a taper the buyer would have to re-tool for. Haas accounts for 388 of them, so if yours is a Haas we are pricing against a large book of our own sales rather than an estimate — and if it is not, the taper, the travels and the spindle still put it in front of the same buyers.
What we buy
Three-axis machining centers, four and five axis machines, trunnion and rotary table setups, high speed and hard milling machines, box way and linear rail machines, drill-tap centers, bridge and gantry mills, and toolroom mills. One machine, a cell, or the whole milling department.
What decides what a used vertical machining center is worth
- Spindle taper. 527 of ours are CAT 40, and it is the first thing that decides whether a buyer keeps their tooling or replaces it.
- The three travels. A 30 inch X travel is the commonest we handle, on 167 machines, and travels place the machine in a size class before anything else is discussed.
- Spindle speed and whether the spindle has been rebuilt. 12,000 RPM is the commonest rating on ours, on 216 machines.
- Tool magazine size and type. A 30 ATC is what 173 of ours carry, and a side-mount changer is quicker than an umbrella one — buyers know the difference.
- Fourth axis, fifth axis or trunnion, and whether the table, tailstock and its control option go with it.
- Control generation and the options actually enabled on it, plus probing, through-spindle coolant, chip auger and high speed machining, which are frequently fitted and rarely mentioned.
- Spindle hours and cutting hours read off the control, and whether the way covers and ballscrews have been touched.
How to sell a vertical machining center
A machining center is judged on spindle and accuracy, and both can be evidenced in an afternoon. Before it is listed:
- Read spindle hours and cutting hours off the control and photograph the screen showing them.
- Photograph the taper bore, the way covers, the chip auger and the inside of the enclosure. A clean interior is read as a well-run machine.
- Run an indicator over the table and note what it reads, or say when it was last checked and by whom.
- List the tool holders, vises, chucks, fourth axis, probe and toolsetter you are willing to include. Tooling that ships with the machine is valued; tooling mentioned after the sale is not.
- Say whether it has been running production or toolroom work, and whether it has cut anything abrasive or hardened.
Selling a vertical machining center: common questions
How much do spindle hours actually matter?
They matter less than what the spindle sounds like and more than the machine year. A high-hour machine that has been maintained and can be shown cutting a test part will outsell a low-hour machine nobody can power up. Hours set expectations; a demonstration sets the price.
Should I sell the tool holders with the machine?
Usually yes. A machine that arrives with a full set of holders matched to its taper is running the week it lands, and buyers pay for that. Holders sold separately fetch very little and often end up not being sold at all. The same is true of vises, soft jaws and a fourth axis that was set up on it.
My machine has a fourth axis but the control option was never enabled. Does that matter?
It matters, and it is worth resolving before listing if you can. A rotary table with no enabled control option is a table the buyer cannot use on day one, and it gets discounted as if it were not there. Enabling it, or knowing exactly what enabling it costs, turns a deduction into an included feature.
Is it worth moving the machine before selling it?
Almost never. A machine still in place can be powered up, indicated and demonstrated, which is what a buyer is paying for. Once it is unbolted and sitting on a trailer it becomes an unknown, and it is priced like one. Leave it running and let the removal happen after the sale.