When the time comes...

[knothead]

Hallo everyone, sorry I have been out of circulation for some time, which brings me to my point: I am in my 70's and contemplating what I must do to minimise any inconvenience caused by my death. I have a 400 sq ft workshop, loaded with machines, power tools, hand tools and materials. No-one in the family is remotely interested in woodwork (yes we are a deprived family... :? ). Local schools & colleges would be happy to cherry-pick, but don't have the facility for a mass uplift. My local dealer has disappeared (Jack of all trades, Wimborne - what happened to them?). Should she survive me, it is not something my wife would be able to deal with. I will be happy to give the stuff away, or leave it as a legacy in my will, but to whom? I would prefer to leave it all to someone who could make use of it, rather than take it to a scrap yard. I'm sure this has come up before; if yes, can someone direct me to the appropriate thread, if not, then perhaps it is a topic that would invite useful discussion.

I look forward to ay response. Thanks in hope.

 

[MikeG.]

I would suggest that you leave details of your account here at UKW in your will, take photos of your workshop and tools and leave them in a set place along with a lits of the major items and a suggested value, and get your executors to start a thread here using your account. A workshop clearance in those circumstances will no doubt receive lots of interest, and your estate should benefit. You might also take comfort knowing that your tools will go to people who will make good use of them.

 

[Lazurus]

How about the men's shed charity or whatever its called, where like minded older gents get together to pass skills, time and pleasantries with each other, that would be a fitting epitaph to your hobby.

 

[Matt@]

my advice for what its worth is do not under any circumstances allow anyone to cherry pick from the contents. Make sure its all or nothing. If you die I'm sure the last thing your wife or executor want to deal with is a load of tools and workshop contents. They will just want the whole lot gone in one hassle free transaction. If finances are an issue and every penny counts then obviously different rules! In an ideal world someone will clear the lot and make use of it themselves in a manner that you would prefer but in reality unless you have someone lined up for that it prob wont happen. If it were me I'd give it to an auction on basis that they clear the lot or sell it on ebay as one lot. But with ebay you need to have someone savvy doing this to make it work well.

 

[MusicMan]

I recently helped a widow clear the workshop of her late husband. Much of the work was done when I got on the scene - I answered an ad for an item on ebay - but I helped her identify, value, describe and sell a number of unusual items on ebay, advised her on what had no value and sorted through some drawers of "miscellaneous" items. I took a number of useful items to the TWAM charity for tools for Africa. In return she gave me some wood for free (though I hadn't asked) and a few useful tools that I didn't have, on the understanding that I would make a donation to charity.

If your executors put a notice on this forum, it is quite likely that someone within reach of you on this forum would do something similar.

In my own case I have put ebay- or forum-ready descriptions and approximate values of the bigger, sellable items in a letter to my executors, rather than in the will itself. Plus details of this forum!

 

[Lons]

I did exactly the same as Musicman, and sorted out a friends workshop a few years ago for his widow, it took me 3 days and she wanted to throw everything in a skip which is understandable as she just couldn't cope. I bought a couple of items from her at a fair price but was horrified when she accepted £1200 for someone to clear it all without asking me. I would happily have given her 4 times that and made a decent profit on selling it on.

I've made a start on listing my extensive stash of tools, machinery and wood and my missus is under strict instructions to sell my stuff for what it's worth if I pop my clogs - or I'll be coming back to haunt her! (hammer)

 

[timber]

I am 83 in a few days time and am in the same boat, I am trying to sell the biggest bit of kit on here, Looks like a waste of time, I have had only a couple of replies.!!!
I have put it up at a fair price, but no doubt if I give it away I may get some replies.-----------very dissapointing
Timber

 

[AndyT]

There's a useful note/checklist on the TATHS site about this, though maybe more focused on the collectable end of tools. You can't get away from it though - you only get maximum cash if you are prepared to sort, identify, describe, advertise, sell, despatch etc each item - which can be a lot of work, needing specialist knowledge. That's why dealers and auctioneers exist.

http://www.taths.org.uk/tools-trades/no ... ollections

 

[Lons]

I am 83 in a few days time and am in the same boat, I am trying to sell the biggest bit of kit on here, Looks like a waste of time, I have had only a couple of replies.!!!
I have put it up at a fair price, but no doubt if I give it away I may get some replies.-----------very dissapointing
Timber

It really highlights the issues faced by family you leave behind as in many cases they wouldn't know where to start so if you're having difficulty think how they would manage.

I really must get on with sorting mine.
Bob

 

[ScaredyCat]

You could always put together a little dossier for your family. A picture of each of the major tools and some text describing the kit, what its value is this year, what you might expect to get for it in a few year's time. Noting what quality (presumably you didn't buy cheap stuff) the kit is so that they don't let it go for too little.

It might take a while, but I'm guessing that you're not planning to exit for a while yet.

 

[timber]

Depends who you are replying to ??

 

[Sideways]

I am 83 in a few days time and am in the same boat, I am trying to sell the biggest bit of kit on here, Looks like a waste of time, I have had only a couple of replies.!!!
I have put it up at a fair price, but no doubt if I give it away I may get some replies.-----------very dissapointing
Timber

I very much sympathise. I'm involved with a men's shed and only today was mentioning a beautiful table saw I'd recently seen for sale on the "ukworkshop" forum. I was surprised to see a mainstream tool like that did not sell immediately. Sadly even our shed is short of space for a proper sliding table saw and i'm sure i'm not the only person here with a single garage workshop who can't squeeze in anything bigger than a kity 419.
I hope you don't lose heart. A specialist item like your ornamental lathe will be the perfect buy for the right person, it may just take some time to find them.

 

[ScaredyCat]

I hope you don't lose heart. A specialist item like your ornamental lathe will be the perfect buy for the right person, it may just take some time to find them.

I'm so new to this woodworking lark that when I saw "ornamental lathe " I thought it meant "broken" or "beyond repair" but "nice to look at" -

 

[Yojevol]

I often buy things at Pughs Tools & Timber auctions in Ledbury. Last time I was there on preview day and bumped into Mr Pugh himself. I said to him that I might well be selling all my gear here one day. He replied "or your widow"
Brian

 

[Lons]

I'm so new to this woodworking lark that when I saw "ornamental lathe " I thought it meant "broken" or "beyond repair" but "nice to look at" -

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Paul200]

Thought provoking post. I recently fell into helping a local family dispose of a workshop full of hand tools by answering an ad for the sale of a couple of planes. It soon became obvious that they didn't know the value of things so I offered to help out. (Pride of the collection was an early Preston Patent double rebate plane which they had tried to give me for free - it made £240!).

No-one is more surprised than me that in August this year I will have managed to reach the grand old age of 65. The Boss and myself have discussed what to do with my kit occasionally - but that's as far as it gets. I think the list suggestion is a good one and I may make a start on that today. I do have a potential son-in-law who is a luthier, so he would be the obvious first port of call for my grieving wife. I don't have tools of any great value but I would much rather they went to a good home, so donation to the local Mens Shed is also an excellent suggestion.

You know, even with my recent disposal activities and being generally quite pro-active, the question of what to do with my workshop hasn't really been sorted satisfactorily. With the emotional links these tools would undoubtedly evoke I can see that it would be a heart-rending exercise for the Boss. I'm on it now - thanks guys!

Paul

 

[Sideways]

Last year, well after his passing, I cleared my fathers workshop helped by my brother in law. It was 4 days of hard work as there was a lifetimes stuff accumulated, much of it of no monetary value, and many trailer runs to the dump were needed. We kept a few better tools between us and the local mens shed got their choice of anything good that we couldn't use.
What stood out was the storytelling - explaining incomprehensible jigs and fixtures which i'd seen or helped my dad make even when I was a kid. We had a rare "lads" weekend together and marvelled at dad's ingenuity and his own unique take on the world.
It is a happy memory i'll remember for a long time

 

[Mr T]

If you wanted the tools to go to someone who would really benefit from them and treasure them you could consider donating them to Tools for Self Reliance in your will. They collect and refurbish, if needed, hand tool and some power tools and send them to crafts people in Africa where good tools are scarce. http://www.tfsr.org.uk .

How do you add a link nowadays!

Ah, looks like ti does it automatically!

Chris

 

[Just4Fun]

Every time I visit my mother I come away with a few tools I rescue from the shed, even though it is nearly 30 years since Dad passed.

One theme that comes through in this thread is that often the surviving family have no clue what things are worth. This doesn't just apply to tools. My father was never a rich man and had only basic hand tools, albeit quite a lot of them, but at least we know something about them and know they have little more than sentimental value. It was different with his violin. My mother assumed that it was just a cheap fiddle and gave it to the local school. A little while later they contacted her to say they had had it valued and did she realise what it was worth? She nearly fell off her chair when they told her but she didn't feel right asking for it back, even though they offered to return it. Instead they asked permission to sell it and use the money to equip the brass section of the school orchestra, which is what they did. I still smile at the thought that Dad had surreptitiously squirreled away the money to quietly acquire a fine instrument, just to play for his own pleasure, even though it was always a struggle to pay the household bills. How many people have done something similar to equip their workshop? How many surviving spouses would be surprised by the money tied up in a shed?

 

[Homers double]

Last year I was asked by a freind if I could help her mum out, her mums partener had passed away in 2016 and she was having to move to a smaller house and needed to clear the shed and garage, I agreed to take a look and see what I could do. I was surprised at what I found, the deceased person had what would have been a great workshop in the garage, there were lots of gaps where machinery would have been, I asked the lady where it had all gone. Her answer totally shocked me, after the guys funeral one of his friends offered to tidy up the garage and get rid of some of the equipment for her, he gave her £50
I’ve no proper idea of what was there but there were no power tools at all and very few hand tools, I’ve surmised from the operation manuals and machinery specific tooling that I found while emptying it all that the friend probably had a couple of thousand pounds worth of equipment for that £50.
I gave the lady £400 for what was left, part of which was a snap on tool cabinet which the freind had duly emptied when he tidied up.
At the time this made me contemplate my situation, as like the lady I helped my wife wouldn’t have a clue about about the worth of any of my gear, I don’t have a workshop, but I do have a lock up and garage full of tools that I’ve collected over 34 years of being a builder.
I’ve now made a portfolio of every thing of value, I made sure my wife and youngest son have copies of it.
I was astonished at what I’ve actually got and am going to sell of some of the more industrial gear, I did groundwork’s for over 10 years and I’ve got a load of hydraulic stuff I’ll never use again.