What will happen to your tools when you die?

[yetloh]

A bit morbid perhaps but still a serious question. As we get older many of us increasingly consider our own mortality, even though we may not talk about it much. Many of us also have quite a lot of mooney tied up in tools and machinery while having family who have little or no knowledge of the true value of our kit or how they might realise it. Selling it on ebay is one answer but that that depends on having the knowledge required to describe it accurately and will they want to spend the considerable amount of time needed to sell the contents of a well equipped workshop when they have busy lives of their own.. All too often I'm afraid such collections end up in the hands of dealers who exploit ignorance and pay a tiny fraction of the real value.

So what to do? I don't have any easy solutions, but one thing we can do is to review our inventory. If my experience is anything to go by, as we get older the projects we take on get smaller as does the range of tools we use. Couple this with the woodworker's natural tendency to acquire a lot of kit over time and analysis of your inventory will very likely reveal a lot of kit that rarely, if ever, gets used, and get rid of it now. I did this about a year ago and was be surprised at how it built up to quite a sizeable sum. If you need the money that's great or you can give it to the kids. I was in the lucky position of not needing the money so decided to donate it to the cancer charity for whom my son-in-law worked was a fund-raiser at the time which made both of us very happy.

I still have the problem of the rest of my stuff but at least it's a bit smaller. I w ould be very glad to hear of any ingenious solutions other members of the forum may have come up with.

 

[D_W]

I think, at least it's my opinion, that part of our acquisition responsibility is deacquisition. During our lifetimes if we can help it.

If you have a friend who may outlast you, then they can help if your earthly persistence isn't so advanced as it should be.

Otherwise, we are looking at least in the states at the first or second generation who has had the means to get a lot of stuff and not need the money from it to live out their lives. I am in the same situation with my parents - large amounts of stuff that I think they don't have the stomach to get rid of and they also as the children of depression parents recognize its value and having never tried to sell anything, believe that it will be a gift left behind to be sold off to "make bank".

On another forum, we saw the collection of an avid collector go up for sale. It'll be bought by dealers mostly if it's a deal at all and the auction house's terms will screw some unfamiliar types who don't understand just how costly the sale will become with packing, sales tax and a sizable buyer's premium. And many of the items were incomplete or poorly marked (including some really expensive japanese stuff that probably targeted the original buyer at 2x or more what it brought in japan in the first place, and will now sell for 10 cents on the dollar because there is no current seller beating the drum about particular makers. That means, even if you're a dealer and you see a $1500 plane go for $150, there's no guarantee you can do what dealers do - sell it quickly for a substantial markup.).

Separately, I saw another sale of a furniture maker's who had a very strong collection of high quality and exotic woods, but he'd had them so long and instructed his wife to sell them at once that nobody bought them. I wouldn't have risked vintage exotic wood - it gets brittle, cracks, incurs bug damage - just a bad risk. Some of the wood was sold for cut rate (the high end stuff) later, I guess out of frustration, and the common cabinetmaking wood, shorts and other wood that had sat for a while, and anything else - literally pushed back into the ravine behind the building.

I think you've done both a wonderful thing offering up some of the kit, as well as recognizing that this could be done a little at a time rather than being overwhelmed.

 

[Jameshow]

How about a local men's shed.

I've done a few garage clearances mainly lower value stuff. Pillar drills, Sanders, bench grinders, mitre saws etc.

 

[Drifter2406]

Having a few close calls I have thought of this, as I have no blood relatives everything I own including the contents of my woodwork cabin and metal shop will sold off and divided equally between charities.

 

[yetloh]

How about a local men's shed.

I've done a few garage clearances mainly lower value stuff. Pillar drills, Sanders, bench grinders, mitre saws etc.

Another good idea.

Jim

 

[ian33a]

I'm in the process of dealing with my dad's tools. It was always his wish to leave them to me because my brother isn't the slightest bit practical and didn't have room for them.

It's meant a whole lot of stuff has ended up at my place. What I didn't appreciate is that he had also acquired a load of stuff from his brother-in-law when died. In turn, he'd acquired a load of stuff from goodness knows where. Nobody had thrown much away over the years.

Now, in the same position, I find it difficult to get rid of the stuff as well. Too much sentimental value but, half a dozen bearing pullers, about 100 files, 50 screw drivers (the list goes on), far too much?

I have to be practical because I don't have enough space to house everything and some of the larger stuff, like a Kitty combination set up, I simply don't need. I'm in the process of sorting through things to ensure that it is complete, or as complete as possible. Then I have to be a bit ruthless.

Looking back, I think my dad always wanted to pass everything on, but he didn't really know how much he had or how much work it would be (as well as the emotional effort). In his later years he wasn't able enough to sort through stuff and was keen for me to take things (his way of dealing with it perhaps?). Trouble was, at that time I didn't want to confront his demise and I didn't have the space for it. One of the main reasons why we moved earlier this year was to have more space so that we could accommodate some of the stuff which would come our way.

 

[glenfield2]

There are charities that will collect and tidy up if needs be unwanted tools and send them to developing countries. I imagine usually smaller tools rather than workshop machinery but who knows.

 

[Fitzroy]

Hopefully no where near the grave yet but just in case there is a spreadsheet with major equipment items, and suggested value that should bring a quick sale, in my files and the wife is aware.

I’m pretty ruthless in getting rid of doubles or duplicates of anything, to the dump if worthless, to charity if suiting a charity shop, or sold/free on gumtree otherwise.

 

[Blackswanwood]

I guess many of us accumulate tools that we don't use and so passing on what we can to those who will use/benefit from them while we are here is a good option.

It's probably worth making sure that those left behind understand the potential value in any tools so they can be worldly wise if choosing to sell them on.

Beyond that I personally wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Essex Barn Workshop]

Whilst my tools aren't listed in my will, my family know who has first pick of my tools, and second and third picks as well.
Anything left wouldn't be of any great value and can then be sold or donated away.

 

[Cozzer]

As most of my bigger tools have been purchased because of an "emergency" situation - and with the attitude of "that'll do!" cost-wise - I suspect most will be in a worse state than me on the day!

 

[John Brown]

Mine will be buried with me in the pyramid. Along with my mummified pets.

 

[Fitzroy]

Mine will be buried with me in the pyramid. Along with my mummified pets.

Was thinking the same. The other alternative is you get squirreled away in them. I still have a jam-jar of my dad's ashes on the shelves in my shed. There is a nook on a startrite 352 that you could hide a jar and no one would notice unless they stripped the whole machine down. Who knows what adventures you could go on posthumously!

 

[Yojevol]

I've just started on the rundown process. Only yesterday I sold some nice pieces of walnut and laburnum to a young lad who l made contact with though the forum here. A very pleasing sale.
I've got a sizable collection of clamps and cramps which I've advertised here but I suspect they're not going to sell, so PlanB is to put them in the January sale of timber & tools at my local auction house. That's an easy option for me. They had a sale there this weekend and I was pleasantly surprised at the prices achieved.
This is a problem that has been ongoing in my family for 3 generations. My grandfather was the general handyman at the Crystal Palace before it burned down. My father inherited a few of his tools, mainly wooden planes which are now displayed in my workshop as museum pieces. What to do with them? None of my grandchildren are following in their greatgreatgrandfather's footsteps. Fortunately there are people around who collect these things so I suspect they'll go to Pugh's sale and I'll get a few bob for them.
My main aim is for there to be no tools left when I die, only the things I made with them.
Brian

 

[treeturner123]

At almost every Craft Show I do, I'm approached by someone who has the same problem, their Father/Father-in-Law has just died and they don't know what to do with the tools. I usually advise Men's Shed, Local Turning Club and one of the charities that reconditions and sends them abroad.

Phil

 

[John Brown]

One of the many regrets in my life is that I didn't keep at least some of my father's tools. Although I've had an interest in (extremely amateur) woodwork since my teens, when my father died I was too upset to deal with his tools, and they were sold as a job lot for what was probably a steal. I've no doubt that some of those tools originally belong to my grandfather also.

 

[niall Y]

Now that I can be officially classed as an 'old git' What happens to the contents of my workshop, after I 'pop my clogs' is something that I have given some thought to. Not sure that I have come up with any solution - other than leave things in good order.

Back in my youth, I used to belong to SMEE, ( a model engineering society) At that time, when one of the senior members died, his tools would be auctioned off amongst the members. This was a time to pick up a lathe or two -if you had the space-, or other hand tools and bits and pieces that you needed. It was also a way of donating money to the widow, so folk would often buy stuff they didn't need. I saw the same sort of thing happening in the farm sales in this part of Wales, back in the'70's. The auction would be split between the farm equipment and the contents of the farm-house Apart from the odd London dealer on the look-out for Welsh dressers, it was a time for locals to have a bit of a day out ,and contribute to their friends and neighbours retirement.

In that my son is also a carpenter, I'm hoping that he will take over the workshop stuff that I leave. Not sure about the machine tools though. This very much depends on having a secure space to put them, and in that none of my grown up children own their own properties, and therefore have no security of tenure, this could prove a little tricky.

I'm reminded of a comedy programme I saw years ago , where the father is standing in his junk -yard saying to the son - " One day, my son, all this will be yours! " and the son says, - " Don't die just yet dad"

 

[loftyhermes]

When I'm dead, it's not my problem, I'm not worrying about it.

 

[hog&bodge]

I just bought someone's storage rack, full of tools nuts bolts washers of
all sorts, kind of creeped me out this morning going through it all.
Saw this post and decided to take photos of tools and will put guide price
for the better half to flog when I'm gone.
Thought it would take me a couple of hours but its monumental task, cut
story short, will only do it for big tools the rest is just what ever they go for.

Sorry if my writing is a bit awry, down to dyslexia it's a real pain..lol

 

[Spectric]

Two different directions you can take, unless you sell whilst living then the money is of no value to yourself so if you want to add that to your will and leave to family then one option. Another option that appeals is to forget the monetary value and find someone who is less well off and struggling but would really appreciate some tools that they would use and give them a start in their working life, problem here is finding that genuine person.

Maybe the better option is to thin out what you no longer use as you get to old to use it and find a new home for it whilst you are in control. I would certainly prefer it went to someone who would make use of it than someone looking to make a profit.