Advice on used basegrinder?

[petemorgan(pmoskico)]

I am looking for some advice. I found a basegrinder model Fontaine 1404 for sale. It sounds like Fontaine was a supplier for winterstieger.

What kind of things should I look for when buying a base grinder?

Without much knowledge of these types of sanders, I would probably fire it up and check for alignment of the wheels. Any good ways to check that? Probably just eye ball it?

What kind of parts usually wear out?

He wants to sell it for 1400$. I don't think it has an auto feeder. And I'm not 100 percent sure how old it is. Maybe from 2005

Any help on what I should be looking for would be great. Thanks!

[MontuckyMadman]

pretty sure fontaine ceased production in the US in 1999.
bearings go bad and motors and pumps die. depends on use.
SVST has replacement parts for these machines.
head monkey has one of tehse
viewtopic.php?p=12769&sid=0390a74ca58e7 ... 34caf95dda
http://www.happymonkeysnowboards.com/Mo ... se_grinder

[Sherpa Burns]

I have the same machine. Paid $1000 last year and it is in great condition. When I was looking around for these machines, they seem to consistently run around 1K.
MM is correct in that SVST will have all replacement parts.

Make sure the coolant pump is working and all bearings are good. People forget the grease these things and the bearings aren't cheap. The motors were built well and seem to last.