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31st March 2018, 10:53 AM #16.
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Still sounds like a work for someone.
It reminds me a little of a situation about 10 years ago where an 85 year old neighbour of a friend had shed full of disorganised (mostly) rusty old tools, many shelves of rusty fasteners in glass jars and cans, a stash of timber, and a few home made rusty machines. The elderly chap lived alone and was so frail and ill he was about to be moved into care and wanted to know what his stuff was worth. Like the chap in the OP he was hoping to sell everything as a job lot. In addition he was hoping the buyer would clean the shed out and take away the rubbish of which there were a couple of trailer loads.
Even though there may have been a few interesting pieces in his stash I indicate that "as is" nothing was worth much, but if some of he tools were cleaned up and presented in a half reasonable manner they might be worth a few $. There was no way this chap was on his own able, or at this stage even interested, in sorting out or cleaning up tools. He suggested he could do something if he had some help but I could see that this would mean at most him sitting and giving directions. For someone with a spare week up their sleeve it might have been in interesting exercise but I politely declined to help. I've been caught out before doing these sorts of a, "oh while you are at it can you clean it up" jobs before. I did offer to take photos of his machines and place an ad on GT but when I explained that I would be putting his phone number in the add and that it would be up to him to show the prospective buyers and arrive at a price for the machines he was clearly not expecting to so this. Perhaps he expected every time an enquiry came up I would drive half way across the city and negotiate the deals. In some ways I didn't blame him for not wanting to do it himself, who knows what sort of person might show up. I did feel sorry for him .
Another similar case came through a concierge service who were helping an elderly couple clean up and move out of the family home into care. The wife thought the hubby had a gold mine worth of stuff in the shed and asked the concierge service to find a valuer for the speciality tools in the shed and I ended up being asked if I could do it, for a small fee!
I said I would take a look as it was very close to my place. It turned out to be a 3 x 4 m garden shed with no machines, just a battered old bench, a few rusty hand tools, some wood, lots of rusty paint tins, and lots of junk. The old bloke was in the shed in a wheel chair working at the bench. The wife (who was much more able then he was) introduced me in a highly condescending manner, as the ". . . the valuer from the concierge service, he's come to tell us what your stuff is worth and help sort it out!" The old bloke who had suffered a stroke and could not speak very well was clearly annoyed and embarrassed as he knew what he had was basically junk and why had his wife even bothered. I was also deeply embarrassed but had a short and difficult conversation with the old bloke about his condition and quick look around and then left. From my car on the verge I called the concierge service and said that the stuff had no significant value and perhaps a garage sale might raise a few bob if the stuff was organised but I would not be able to do that and there would be no fee.
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31st March 2018, 11:24 AM #17GOLD MEMBER
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I tend to lean toward what BobL said.
First off, there is no way there is six cubic meters in that pile. That pile might have a volume of 6 cubic meters, but there's a huge difference between 6 cube of material and 6 cube of pile. I painstakingly measured every board in my collection for international shipment and got 4.5 cube. Then I paid for 6 cube of volume, and I was trying to fill every single gap I could.
That pile is full of air. It's way less than 6 cube. I'd be surprised if it was two.
And that doesn't take into account the fact that a lot of it is in rounds. Rounds are a pain to mill for many woodworkers. If you don't have a chainsaw (and don't you need a license to use a chainsaw in Aus?) then it's an even bigger pain.
Also, the woods like that inland rosewood in the one photo are so fluted that you get very very little out of the log itself. I know this from personal experience. I hauled a ton (literally?) of it from Moranbah to Brisbane and have around six or seven relatively small blocks of wood to show for it.
To sell it in one go he's going to have to be looking at some kind of giveaway price like a couple hundred bucks. In a piece by piece sale he could probably get much, much more.
I would encourage him to inventory it. If he's no longer a woodworker, then he should have some spare time. Get an inventory, a realistic volume, and an estimated price per piece and go from there.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Luke
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31st March 2018, 11:55 AM #18
Yebbut:Sure it's going to be some work - better than chucking it away though - and bearing in mind that none of us have seen it. I know how much I made selling off some timber a couple of years ago - much of was smaller pieces like these. It's not like the guy is incapacitated - he just can't work with wood dust any more (as I understand it).
It's worth a shot at least.
If you see what I mean - these are unsolicited expressions of interest.....
Ok, want to save as much work as possible? Put a thread in the market place asking for expressions of interest to come and pick over the pile on one of (say) two days. I bet London to a brick the poor bugger can pick up about a $Grand if you can get people there.
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31st March 2018, 12:07 PM #19.
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Yep agree - it always looks way bigger than it really is especially when there are round pieces and fluted in there.
I would encourage him to inventory it. If he's no longer a woodworker, then he should have some spare time. Get an inventory, a realistic volume, and an estimated price per piece and go from there.
Another elderly chap I met back in 2010 found out I was interested in WW and told me he was downsizing from a house to a retirement village and getting rid of his shed stuff and could I come take a look. It turned out he had nothing of value except for a somewhat battered and rusty collection of ~ 30 wooden planes which he had never used and he did not even know what most of them were for. I indicated to him that if they were done up and sold individually they might fetch a few $$ but he said he was not interested or able do much and how much did I think they were worth as a job lot? I suggested $50 and left it at that. A few weeks later he rang me and asked me if I would take the planes off him for $50 - i didn't really want them but I did it anyway and they are nearly all still under my house collecting dust. I have done a few up and played around with them and given 6 away to a fella that does manual ww classes with "youth at risk" and will probably give him a few more as there are multiple copies of the same planes.
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31st March 2018, 02:33 PM #20
Luke,
I know there is not 6m3 in that pile...I did say in the original post....I estimate that he has approx 6m3 of timber all up ...some pics of part of his stock is attached......in addition to this load in a storage shed, there is another 2m3 of cedar at his home.
He phoned me this morning to say that a wood turner that sells at a local market will be having a look at the timber at some time. I will let you know if he gets rid of it all and for what price. The turner will have a better idea as what it's value is to them.
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31st March 2018, 09:35 PM #21
If I was closer I would be interested. I hope he gets a fair price for it
Brad.
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1st April 2018, 01:59 PM #22
I joined this forum when I decided to reduce my timber stash.
As I couldn’t think of a catchy name called myself “clear out” as that is what I hoped to achieve.
I had a large timber rack with quite a few cubes of dressed timber.
Blackwood, NSW Rosewood, Queensland Maple etc etc.
I also had a small stash of exotics Ebony etc.
I did a tally and priced it at about half the going rate.
I had a response from a bloke a few suburbs away come and look at it and offer to buy the lot.
My son and my two visiting nephews from Canada helped me unload the rack and stack it in the freshly cleared space in the shop for pick up. This included a cube in the rafters of the shop.
The guy cancelled the day before he was due to come and get it,actually I was probably going to deliver it with the young guys as I had a ute.
I then made a bit of effort with Sturt and CSA students and got a few responses from the forum for the exotics.
In the end I sold a small amount of timber for good money but still have a rack full.
As Bob posted getting involved with helping clear out other people’s stuff is a good way to waste a week or so and be abused by the person you are doing it for or their partner and/or siblings.
If you ever get asked to do this and you are the first in the door make an offer for the lot at about 10% of what it’s worth and take everything. What you don’t want, can’t sell,take straight to the tip,scrappy or local Men’s shed or one of these trendy upcycling outfits like the Bower at Marrickville.
I have just had another reshuffle of the lifeboats here and the departed had to get a container to stash the few odds and ends that had crept in over the past few years. This in addition to the truck, Mill, Mig and other useful items.
I currently need to dispose of a Douglas Compi saw that another mate has decided he doesn’t want so has dumped it in my shed. He didn’t get it from here but I was with him when he got it so I wear it? It’s in the freebies on here.
H.Jimcracks for the rich and/or wealthy. (aka GKB '88)
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1st April 2018, 02:35 PM #23.
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Good story clear out - there are exceptions and its worth a try but you need to get lucky.
Part of my stash comes from a downsizing wood turner who let it be know that he was giving away basically all of his timber. I drove all the was across the city to see him with SWMBOs vehicle but found the wood was so dirty and some of the good stuff was too long, I took a couple of small pieces and then I decide I would come back a few days later with my van. I called ahead to make sure he was there but when I turned up he wasn't so I went back the following day. I knew he liked whiskey so I turned up with a bottle for which he was delighted.
Then we had a cup of tea and long chat (this bloke and his missus could talk both back legs of a chair) etc but when I finally went out to his shed there was bugger all timber left, certainly nothing that I wanted. He was then hoping I would take the remainder (ie basically clean up) and was unhappy that I only took a few small pieces - most expensive wood I have ever bought!
The other "you can have the wood if . . . " story was a small sheoak tree that had fallen across a 4 strand wire fence 100 km out in the country.
Myself and another WWF member could have the log "if we cleaned up afterwards".
Unfortunately what we didn't know was the tree branches were on the outside of the fence (property) and the trunk was inside the property and I could only get my vehicles with the milling gear near to the outside of the fence.
So the milling gear had to be lifted over the fence.
The milled slabs had to be lifted back across the fence to my vehicle.
When we finished the milling gear had to be lifted back over the fence.
Then the canopy had to be pulled back over the fence (the land owner wasn't allowed to burn the branches outside his property) and piled ~10 away from the fence so that the could be burnt.
Given the cost of fuel to drive there and back the total time we spent on the job we didn't come out of that deal too well.
I still get plenty of invites to go look at logs, wood stashes etc but I usually don't bother these days
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1st April 2018, 03:23 PM #24
Timber collections are such a tough one. For ages I had ads up looking for old tools and timber and nine times out of ten I’d walk away with a couple of small pieces or nothing at all. Still go and check them out when I can but I’ve been having better luck with roadside collections and chatting to builders doing renovations around my suburb.
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1st April 2018, 03:50 PM #25GOLD MEMBER
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Hairy oak logs $50-$100, sandlewood $100 for small ones and then up, cedar at least $100 per cube... sell it throught the forum in bits or GT or the wood shows.
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2nd April 2018, 01:07 AM #26GOLD MEMBER
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If I died tomorrow I'd hate to think of the fun they'd have trying to dispose of my stash.
Not that I want them to, I want a viking funeral.... lay me up on the bench with the skidder parked up on one side and the loader on the other and pile all the boards over the top and send me to Valhalla with all the gear I need for the next go around.
Look its in Brisbane right? Go see Carbatec... I think they pulled all the oddities and turning blanks etc off Lazerides when they shut their retail operation down. They may well be interested in taking it as a job lot either cash up front or perhaps on commission. Expect to take a hit selling at wholesale rates but if you want retail pricing you're going to have to retail it.
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2nd April 2018, 10:33 AM #27.
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Seeing as my young bloke left such a mess when he left home I have told him several times I'm not doing any tidying up before I go and he is going to have to clean it up.
Look its in Brisbane right? Go see Carbatec... They may well be interested in taking it as a job lot either cash up front or perhaps on commission.
By the time all that is done and wholesale rates are applied, I doubt the $ obtained will cover the costs.
It reminds me of the folks that are giving away a log for free. Problem is the tree is still standing (often next to a house or outbuilding) so they want the tree to be taken down, and some even want the canopy taken away! Then there are those that spent $2k having a tree taken down and the canopy taken away and expect to get $2k for the log
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2nd April 2018, 10:24 PM #28GOLD MEMBER
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whats that clear out - you want pictures of my funeral or pictures of my stash?
Hell.. if they give me the funeral I want I want pictures of it too.
The stash - try here: Shifting house.
I'm a professional sawmiller - what did ya expect???
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2nd April 2018, 10:51 PM #29GOLD MEMBER
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heres a dumb question: Whats the 2 cube of cedar: rounds or boards?Rounds are worthless except to turners. But boards.... Is it professionally sawn, stored right, and free of decay etc? thickness? rough widths? (Like is it a pile of 2" boards and most of them are 150 or wider?) If its good I can point you at a couple blokes... and tell ya straight up that theres at least 5 grand if they're cut well and in good order in useable sizes... minimum.
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