Anco Bilt mid-century vintage drafting / drawing table, $20.

When it comes to old drafting / drawing tables, older seems to be better. The 'mid century' look (1933 - 1965) is becoming increasing popular, and you should familiarize yourself with the mid century look, as well as some of the names that people after this style are looking for. Anco Bilt is a good start.

Older drafting tables like this Anco Bilt often sell for many hundreds of dollars on eBay, simply because they're so well-built, perfect examples of the adage that 'they don't make them like they used to.' Still, your potential buyers will not want neglected, abused or broken junk, so always be sure to carefully inspect any table you're thinking about buying.

You're going to find these Anco Bilt tables in several widths, among which are the 24" (I believe,) 36", 42" (the one in this entry,) and the really big 60" model. From what I've seen so far, this 42" model is the one that really does well on eBay, pricewise. I mention all of this because eventually, you're bound to run across one of these tables in your travels, and I don't want you to think that it's worth a bundle just because the table says 'Anco Bilt.'

To give you a better idea of the quality of the table in our example, and why folks out there want the older drafting tables like this one, look at the last two photos below, which are not of the table I have, but of a less staunchly constructed 36" Anco Bilt model. On the larger table, note the big black knobs instead of the wing nuts. Note the big, iron half-circle supports that bolt to the table top on both ends, instead of the smaller table's stamped steel quarter-circle supports. Note the much heavier duty construction of the larger table's lower section, which doesn't need the smaller table's criss-crossed stringer setup for rigidity. The folks out there bidding on drafting tables know what they're looking at and will stick with the best examples.

This Anco Bilt drafting table sold on eBay for $335.