On a serious note, folks

[MikeG.]

I thought I would leave my planes to Waka.......

Mike

Looks like I'll have to build another cabinet

What, there's no room for 2 extra planes? :shock:

Mike

 

[SVB]

What about insisting in your will that it all be buried with you?

Glad I'm not a pallbearer!

:shock:

 

[CHJ]

Don't think they would allow the bulk, maybe just a Coffin Smoother if you have one.

 

[FatFreddysCat]

As a matter of interest, it was the custom years ago in the cabinet trade to auction off the deceased makers tools amongst his fellow craftsmen.

The practice where I was apprenticed was for the widow to bring the kit in and then you took one or two pieces you wanted/needed and paid a reasonable amount for them. Never heard about an auction, possibly because once you've got a smoother, jack, plane, etc why would you want another one? We've been chatting about this at work today (at least the older hands) and the practice seems to have died out with the end of traditional apprenticeships in the late 1970s/early 1980s

 

[CHJ]

....... Never heard about an auction, ....

Always resulted in a certain amount of trading swaps after the event in my experience, I know I was as a 'junior' shall we say, the beneficiary of some gifted 'unwanted' bits as well. Basically it was an easy way of garnering funds from a wider donation base.

 

[woodbloke]

Don't think they would allow the bulk, maybe just a Coffin Smoother if you have one.

Very dry that Chas, very deadpan :lol: - Rob

 

[BMac]

For what it's worth...

My mates and I have an agreement that applies to us all. If I die the others will have first pick of the tools and pay a fair value to Rosemary, a value agreed between them in order that everything is above board and a proper value is determined. If more than one guy wants a particular item a value will be determined and a mini-auction will then decide who gets it. The rest of the tools and equipment that need to be sold will be sold by my mates at the best price they can get and the money given to Rosemary.

However, before any tools are sold the guys will make up a household tool kit so that Rosemary doesn't need to go buying any tools for repairs etc.

I trust these guys implicitly and I know the valuations will be generous because we have been looking after each other for a long time. I remember Seamus watching three of the other guys playing with a flock of children in the yard one evening and he turned to me and said 'You know, our children are all our children'. I thought that was nice.

Brendan

 

[Waka]

I thought I would leave my planes to Waka.......

Mike

Looks like I'll have to build another cabinet

What, there's no room for 2 extra planes? :shock:

Mike

Might be able to fit them in, I could call it the Garnham drawer :lol: :lol:

 

[laird]

My kids have already sorted my options out. My daughter's getting all swimbo's jewellryand my son's getting all the sheds and the garage contents (plus the boat) - so they tell me.

 

[Ironballs]

Not really thought about it, no kids, still in my thirties so obviously immortal :wink:

If you were thinking of donating gear to a school then I'd check with them first to ensure they could actually take it - certainly anything that was electrically powered

 

[Derek Willis.]

I just hope that I may have time to sort some of it out before the big day, I have already, over the past ten years given away everything that could be used outside the workshop, plus three extra planes,(Ican only use jack and smoother, and only one of each). Several young tradesmen have benefitted from this, and I hope to be able to do similar with the workshop contents, as I progress down the hill, and before I get to the bottom.
Derek.

 

[Anonymous]

Total value of all the tools on ebay is quire a tidy sum (all my LNs have gone up by 30-50% since purchase for instance). I am compiling a list of descriptions and current prices so she can sell it all without getting ripped off.

 

[studders]

All together now ......

Always look on the bright side of life
Te dum, te dum, te dum te dum te dum

 

[Digit]

I inherited from my dad and my lad will inherit from me.

Roy.

 

[Night Train]

As a matter of interest, it was the custom years ago in the cabinet trade to auction off the deceased makers tools amongst his fellow craftsmen. This was done deliberately to provide his widow with a lump sum. I think that decent prices were paid so that there was a considerable amount of money that went to the widow.
All my gear is left to my son but I'm not entirely sure that's a good idea as he don't know which end of a chisel to use and the thought of him using machinery 8-[ [-o< - Rob

I remember reading about woodworkers of old serving an apprenticeship in a cabinet shop and then, once qualified and time served, would venture out as a journey man paying his way through doing work to earn his food and lodgings.
He was effectively banished from his home town for a couple of years while he learned to live through selling his skills.

His proof of his ability and skill was that he had made all his own tools and the tool box in which they were carried, hence some very finely made tool boxes. It would be though showing the quality of his tools and tool box that he would be able to acquire commissions.

His only consession was a silver earring that would be used to pay for his funeral should he fail to survive.

 

[Digit]

His proof of his ability and skill was that he had made all his own tools and the tool box in which they were carried, hence some very finely made tool boxes. It would be though showing the quality of his tools and tool box that he would be able to acquire commissions.

Yep! It was still in operation, other than moving town, when I finished my time. All us apprentices were given 6 months to find fresh employment to broaden our experience.
I finished my time in 1963.

Roy.

 

[Waka]

Total value of all the tools on ebay is quire a tidy sum (all my LNs have gone up by 30-50% since purchase for instance). I am compiling a list of descriptions and current prices so she can sell it all without getting ripped off.

Tony have no fear I'll sort them all out for you, if I get stuck Philly and Martin can give me a hand. :wink: :wink: :wink:

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Weirdly, probably because of past associations with the funerary profession, I have actually thought about this.
As I have neither progeny nor partner at the mo, dying intestate would mean all would go to my brother. This is fine, except most would end up in a skip or sold for a pittance, which would be a shame.
So I too keep a catalogue of my tools with purchase date and cost.

I have also wondered about arranging a will such that they be auctioned off for the proceeds.
The problem then is arranging for a knowledgeable executor. Taking 20(ish) DT saws (all the way from Peace to Lunn), luthery tools, Bell system braces, Miller's patent ploughs, Cliffies, Philly's, Besseys, etc as well as my stock of instument wood and DVD and paper library to the local auction house would neither expose them to those who might best appreciate them nor realise suitable coinage for the death party (all invited - provided they have neither read nor heard of this posting - mustn't put temptation in people's way ).

So my other thought was could we involve the fora?
Do we perhaps have woody solicitors who might be interested in handling woody wills and acting as executors?

 

[wizer]

This is all rather morbid chaps. Live long and prosper.

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Hey Wizer, bad stuff can happen without warning. Especially if you have dependants, it really is worth sorting out sooner rather than later - if for no other reason than it's one less thing for those left to worry about.
Cheers
Steve