Thread: What happens to your workshop equipment when you are gone

I wasn't going to post in this thread, I'm in the lucky situation, that my son Josh is a keen woodworker and machinist.
There's no doubt things will get looked after properly, probably Josh is a better machinist than me anyway ( I hope he doesn't read that ).

Originally Posted by Evanism

Dead easy question

Absolutely everything I buy goes onto a spreadsheet the day its bought. Date, item, brief description, price, postage, serial number, where from, with another column for a replacement retail if its second hand (a lot is).

4 Pages - hardware, consumables, books and sales (stuff I've sold)

I have QBE insurance, lots, its a good price, and I just email them the sheet every now and then. They add it to part of the record in case of something terrible happening. They absolutely love it - it gives them certainty in insurance and they know if I put in a claim that I'm not stiffing them. They are even cool with the second hand.

If I should drop off the perch, then SWMBO knows what everything is, the price paid and that gives her (or the estate manager) a good starting point for negotiations.

I'd say even for the biggest workshop it wouldn't take long to get most of those details together. Buy price might be impossible, but a decent guess is reasonable.

Good work Ev, but there's another factor that needs to go in - desirability and accessibility. If they are hard to get here or no longer in production, and are desirable (albeit obscure) then they should command a significantly better price.

It really needs to be administered by someone in the know, and that can be the hard bit. I probably should update my will around about now, so I will include a provision that a certain list of people be contacted for advice, and second hand tool sharks to be avoided completely until nothing but the dregs are leftover.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

...but there's another factor that needs to go in - desirability and accessibility. If they are hard to get here or no longer in production, and are desirable (albeit obscure) then they should command a significantly better price.

Should, but when talking about sales where waiting indefinitely for the right person to come along is not possible, you can't allow for that. To a collector some of my kit is highly desirable but not necessarily highly valuable. For example I have a gear tooth vernier that is (to quote another member) "rare as rocking horse ____" to a collector it may well be worth several hundred dollars but if I had to sell it in the next say 2 weeks I may get $20 or $30 for it. The tool gloat thread is full of good gear bought at low prices because the market is limited.

To me I eventually find this type of thread depressing as it brings home how little society in general values the ability to make and repair things these days (and the equipment to do that). In 50 years time will anyone be using machine tools for a hobby or if you want to make a steam engine will you just print one?

Michael

Originally Posted by Michael G

To me I eventually find this type of thread depressing as it brings home how little society in general values the ability to make and repair things these days (and the equipment to do that). In 50 years time will anyone be using machine tools for a hobby or if you want to make a steam engine will you just print one?

Michael

Great thread Grahame, and great quote Michael. I am in the same boat, inherited a shed full, added lots more, still doing it and I have 2 daughters, one a clean freak and the other a scientist.
I had a chemical engineer in the shed recently sawing MDF sheets up for him to make a table to play Dungeons and Dragons on. I showed him all my machines and told him my dilemma and what will happen in the future. He said they don't want to learn to do repairs, the future is replace with new stuff. I just hope there is no afterlife for me as I don't want to see that future.
I almost cry when I go to sales and see all the old stuff that goes for scrap, but I have to be realistic as I can't save it all.
Rgds,
Crocy.

Originally Posted by Michael G

Should, but when talking about sales where waiting indefinitely for the right person to come along is not possible, you can't allow for that. To a collector some of my kit is highly desirable but not necessarily highly valuable. For example I have a gear tooth vernier that is (to quote another member) "rare as rocking horse ____" to a collector it may well be worth several hundred dollars but if I had to sell it in the next say 2 weeks I may get $20 or $30 for it. The tool gloat thread is full of good gear bought at low prices because the market is limited.

To me I eventually find this type of thread depressing as it brings home how little society in general values the ability to make and repair things these days (and the equipment to do that). In 50 years time will anyone be using machine tools for a hobby or if you want to make a steam engine will you just print one?

Michael

Yeah, I hear what you say. Maybe that is more specific to metalworking stuff? I was really thinking of my kind of tools which are almost strictly woodworking and therefore a larger target market i should think. Mind you, it's still not that big a market, and the best place to sell that sort of stuff would be right here on the forum where people understand the worth etc.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Yeah, I hear what you say. Maybe that is more specific to metalworking stuff? I was really thinking of my kind of tools which are almost strictly woodworking and therefore a larger target market i should think. Mind you, it's still not that big a market, and the best place to sell that sort of stuff would be right here on the forum where people understand the worth etc.

FF, put me on your list, I want to bring a big bag of shavings and dump it all in your shed. At least then people would think that you had used the toys

Originally Posted by Michael G

Should, but when talking about sales where waiting indefinitely for the right person to come along is not possible, you can't allow for that. To a collector some of my kit is highly desirable but not necessarily highly valuable. For example I have a gear tooth vernier that is (to quote another member) "rare as rocking horse ____" to a collector it may well be worth several hundred dollars but if I had to sell it in the next say 2 weeks I may get $20 or $30 for it. The tool gloat thread is full of good gear bought at low prices because the market is limited.

To me I eventually find this type of thread depressing as it brings home how little society in general values the ability to make and repair things these days (and the equipment to do that). In 50 years time will anyone be using machine tools for a hobby or if you want to make a steam engine will you just print one?

Michael

Don't start me on 3D printers. I can't help but dislike them. It annoys me that I dislike them because I usualy embrace technology. Where's the skill in using a 3D printer to make something? Sorry OT again.

I feel strongly about this and I'll tell you why.
I am 41 and have been collecting and learning joinery for about 2 years. When I was just starting (and still am) I didn't know where to go, which tools to buy or how to use them effectively (big thanks to Chris schwarz's anarchists toolchest). When I first planed a plank and took the look from derelict to something worth having, I was thrilled and got the bug.
Now I have moved into acquiring what I think are good quality hand tools from pre-1960s to use in my sorry excuse for a shed. and am now fully engaged in learning the old skills.
Talking to the men's shed, they get tools given to them that they don't want because the members have their own and use power tools mostly.
To think that there are forum members with tools they don't want lost (and who don't have succession plans) I would like to find some solutions to preserve these tools. Is it worth trying to establish some sort of interview tool on these forums to match collectors interested in preserving? Or perhaps get in touch with the Hand Tool Preservation Assoc. and see what can be done. They publish a list of members whereabouts so connections can be made. I recently helped a bloke in Queensland (I am in Victoria) get in touch with someone local to him to preserve his 27 year collection of wood cutting tools which felt personally very satisfying.
After the effort I went to to get a decent core collection of useful tools, my heart sinks to think there are great examples going to waste ($45k worth of timber for firewood! Loss of transitional planes! Collections of hollows and rounds! )
There must be something we could do to keep these resources alive for those who wish to use them. There are young blokes interested in learning and acquiring and unless the skills and tools are passed on, well...

Originally Posted by simonl

Where's the skill in using a 3D printer to make something? Sorry OT again.

I wonder if those that made gears using nothing but a hand file said the same thing when milling gear cutters came out...

The skill is in designing a very complicated part... I am sure today we think nothing of say an automatic transmission even thought it is a very complicated piece of equipment compared to say one of those dutch windmills with pinion gears for grinding grain, but in it's day the grain cracking windmill was complicated to a mortar and pestle...

Originally Posted by Grahame Collins

The data base is a lot of of work but can pay dividends.

I lost quite a few tools in the 2008 floods. I had previously data based all the household items including tools. The full list I was able to provide our insurer enabled a quicker turn around on an insurance pay out

If you have a computer, a database is not hard to get and some will have provision for photos.

Having changed from PC to iMac I am looking for a suitable one now.

It is probably an ideal time for me to database items now, as I transfer my equipment from the single garage to the new shed.

Grahame

most cameras/phones can take video's and these can act as a pictorial database which is better than nothing....and certainly a lot quicker than individual pics as one can pan the camera around the room capturing just about everything on show ...and its all on err in one file.

Originally Posted by Evanism

Dead easy question

Absolutely everything I buy goes onto a spreadsheet the day its bought. Date, item, brief description, price, postage, serial number, where from, with another column for a replacement retail if its second hand (a lot is).

4 Pages - hardware, consumables, books and sales (stuff I've sold)

I have QBE insurance, lots, its a good price, and I just email them the sheet every now and then. They add it to part of the record in case of something terrible happening. They absolutely love it - it gives them certainty in insurance and they know if I put in a claim that I'm not stiffing them. They are even cool with the second hand.

If I should drop off the perch, then SWMBO knows what everything is, the price paid and that gives her (or the estate manager) a good starting point for negotiations.

I'd say even for the biggest workshop it wouldn't take long to get most of those details together. Buy price might be impossible, but a decent guess is reasonable.

i think we need to hire you...are your fees cheap..lol

I consider myself a blessed man in many ways.

Boy 6, girl 5, boy 3 1/2

All my kids at this time show an interest in my tools.

The oldest, Tyler, asked a few weeks ago. "When I'm grown up can I keep living at home".

After telling him by then he most likely wont want to but he probably can if he wants he replied

"Cool! Then I can use all your tools and when your dead I can have them!"

Samantha wants to be 'a girl builder'

Tommy will play with any tools he can get his hands on.

On top of this I have a huge woodworking family and I want to eventually have a working museum of wood and metal machinery. If my kids change their mind on what they want I will entrust to someone I trust or the community.

Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

I've said this before but not in the metal work forum, so it may bear repeating here.

When my son left home he left an incredible mess which took days to clean up. During the clean up, my reflections ranged from my failure as a parent, to what a little bastard he was for doing this. By the time I had finished I felt quite a bit better about the whole thing. When I pass away I intend to leave him a bigger mess so he can maybe do likewise.

Originally Posted by .RC.

I wonder if those that made gears using nothing but a hand file said the same thing when milling gear cutters came out...

The skill is in designing a very complicated part... I am sure today we think nothing of say an automatic transmission even thought it is a very complicated piece of equipment compared to say one of those dutch windmills with pinion gears for grinding grain, but in it's day the grain cracking windmill was complicated to a mortar and pestle...

Spot on. The most powerful tool is the one between your ears, everything else is simply a force multiplier.

I'd get rid of most of my stuff for a good 4 axis VMC and CNC lathe and wouldn't think twice about it. Only reason I don't is, I can't afford the buy-in price.

I don't really care what happens to my tools once I'm dead. I'll dispose of what I can before that happens if possible, otherwise it's a problem for my heirs. If the stuff goes for scrap too bad, I got my use out of it while I was alive and a lot of it was going to scrap when I bought it anyway.

Basically I have tools to enable me to build stuff, not for the sake of owning them and the amount I paid for them (or what they're notionally worth) is irrelevant to their worth to me. I re-evaluate what use I'm getting from them and if I think something is superseded then it goes on the disposal list. My Smith-Drum lathe is either going to a new home or the scrap dealer when I get back home, I need the space more than the machine now I have a HBM which can do more. Pretty sure the B/port mill is going on the market too as soon as I finish sorting out the Vicky mill and fit the J head I bought at the Grays auction as an auxiliary head to the HBM. I've had the lathe for over 30 years, the B/port for over 20 but that doesn't mean a thing once I don't need them any more.

I simply don't get the whole obsession over the cost/value of stuff like this. What value do you put today on the nice meal with wine you had last night/whenever? You paid your money, got your pleasure from it and it's gone. I've spent a lot of time and money building a steel sailboat and that's precisely how I regard *that* expenditure. The thing hasn't even made it to the water yet. The day it's launched will be its maximum value point - approximately half what it cost to build. Who cares, I've had a lot of fun in the building and bought a lot of tools along the way......

[/rant]

PDW