Blackswanwood
Still Learning
I look forward to your pitch on Dragons Den
What will happen to your tools when you die?
- Thread starter yetloh
- Start date
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Keith 66
Established Member
I have cleared a few sheds & workshops over the years, most are soul destroying tasks with little of value.
Got offered another one recently & declined, passed it on to the local mens shed.
Father in laws shed is next, nothing i want after all how many stillson wrenches do you need? Biggest problem there is his lathe, a 2 ton plus mitchell junior built in 1943, not going to be easy moving that out even if someone wants it which is unlikely.
In my case i have a lot of stuff, but it is nearly all high quality machinery & tools, Fortunately my son is as practical as i am, what he doesnt want will go on to a couple of forums. Timber will go to a few selected beneficiaries.
Got offered another one recently & declined, passed it on to the local mens shed.
Father in laws shed is next, nothing i want after all how many stillson wrenches do you need? Biggest problem there is his lathe, a 2 ton plus mitchell junior built in 1943, not going to be easy moving that out even if someone wants it which is unlikely.
In my case i have a lot of stuff, but it is nearly all high quality machinery & tools, Fortunately my son is as practical as i am, what he doesnt want will go on to a couple of forums. Timber will go to a few selected beneficiaries.
Bold of you to assume I'm going to die 
Cozzer
Established Member
YOU might not be bothered, but the crematorium workers might be!
They tend to go "BANG"!
Mallymal123
Member
Myself and a pal both have a mixture of budget woodwork tools, but also decent stuff like a Bosch gts 10xc table saw. So we’ve got a reciprocal arrangement - if I die first, he’ll help my missus value and sell my tools and vice versa.
Facebook marketplace is full of scammers, but I’m sure forums like this are full of people who properly appreciate the value of tools.
Facebook marketplace is full of scammers, but I’m sure forums like this are full of people who properly appreciate the value of tools.
I've possibly had a similar experience of what to do with the contents of a workshop after leaving it behind. Apart from making furniture and creating a well tooled workshop, most of my career was spent working on academic research and latterly lecturing. Consequently, when the time came to retire, I had many sets of lecture notes, illustrations and practical exercises. Naturally enough, in my opinion at least, they all contained ' jewels of wisdom' based on decades of experience and reading. When the day arrived, with much regret, I had to accept the lecture notes weren't worth a jot. Sometimes students had asked me for copies but there were no more students. Other lecturers wanted my books, but definitely not the lecture notes. So since that day, no one, including myself, has ever looked at one of those lectures.
Upon my departure from the planet, there will be no one to love either my delightful workshop or all those house furnishings made over the years. For the workshop the family has no real interest so my solution is tell them to take anything they want then dump the rest, sell it or give it away. As for the home made furniture, its completely wrong to expect youngsters with homes of their own, furnished in ways they enjoy, to take and treasure parental furnishings. They might not like them nor even have room for them.
Consequently I couldn’t give a jot what happens to anything left behind. If someone unknown gets something for nothing and wastes it then so be it. I won’t be worrying about what happens to it with a single exception. This exception is a lever harp, made mostly from an old mahogany bed end, a floorboard along with a bit of ash, and which I’ve played in many concerts. I intend taking it with me to the pearly gates. The plan is that St Peter, when he sees I’ve brought my own harp and can already play it, with any luck, he might just look a wee bit more favourably upon my soul!
( PS any users of UKWorkshop who now feel it might be worth making a harp, do get in touch - no guarantees about what to do with it once its finished or what St Peter might make of the idea! )
Upon my departure from the planet, there will be no one to love either my delightful workshop or all those house furnishings made over the years. For the workshop the family has no real interest so my solution is tell them to take anything they want then dump the rest, sell it or give it away. As for the home made furniture, its completely wrong to expect youngsters with homes of their own, furnished in ways they enjoy, to take and treasure parental furnishings. They might not like them nor even have room for them.
Consequently I couldn’t give a jot what happens to anything left behind. If someone unknown gets something for nothing and wastes it then so be it. I won’t be worrying about what happens to it with a single exception. This exception is a lever harp, made mostly from an old mahogany bed end, a floorboard along with a bit of ash, and which I’ve played in many concerts. I intend taking it with me to the pearly gates. The plan is that St Peter, when he sees I’ve brought my own harp and can already play it, with any luck, he might just look a wee bit more favourably upon my soul!
( PS any users of UKWorkshop who now feel it might be worth making a harp, do get in touch - no guarantees about what to do with it once its finished or what St Peter might make of the idea! )
Lived in a wee village called Berkeley at the time, just up the road from Briz'le
Tell me about it. I've got a collection of Hope technology from their early days, mechanical brakes, weird and wonderful adaptors, one off hubs and even prototype bits. Cant really sell it because its too niche a market, too specialized, and kind of fear they'd bin the lot or give it to a bike charity who wouldnt have a clue about the importance of the stuff.
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That's the thing with niche interests.
I have one flashlight from the early days of LEDs, full custom design and build, one of only 10 in the world. It should probably go to a design museum
I was pleased to find that I could still get a service kit for the Hope Mini brake lever last month, but that drove another tool purchase as I didn't have the tiny circlip pliers needed to do the job !!
I have one flashlight from the early days of LEDs, full custom design and build, one of only 10 in the world. It should probably go to a design museum
I was pleased to find that I could still get a service kit for the Hope Mini brake lever last month, but that drove another tool purchase as I didn't have the tiny circlip pliers needed to do the job !!
That system 20 years old now, and while a testimony to how good Hope brakes, the new system that replaced that horrifically placed small circlip makes servicing a breeze. They call a 'stop plate' and its held in place by a small M3x6mm screw.
You put in the piston, place the stop plate over it then secure using the small screw. Pushing the piston in a bit with your thumb takes the pressure off making its placement really easy. I know how tricky trying to fit the circlip is. Tricky to get the piston in far enough ,hold it fully in and under pressure while you waggle the circlip and hope to god it goes in the groove. The only way to know it has, is to release the pressure on the piston, and if it hasn't it pops right out and you need to start again. That damn thing has driven me to tears more than once
Stealth Ad: Stealth Ad: Stealth Ad
If you're ever decide to get something a bit up to date, I bought the latest tech 4 V4 system for the ebike and have a brand new pair of Tech3 levers on new V2 calipers(black/green) going spare.
I've also a new E4 caliper and a new X2 caliper(in purple) you can fit with those Tech 3 levers.
T3/V2 or T3 E4/X2 for £280 either set up. V2 on T3 is a seriously powerful brake.
John Brown
Freeloading Social media influenza
Never heard of such a thing myself. We do drop the h and have so-called boot sales, boot being British for trunk. Not that anybody sells stuff from their car boot - it's usually on trestle tables or on the ground.
I don't frequent car boot sales, as it's mainly t@, even though some folks seem to find bargains. We did dispose of some stuff at a car boot sale prior to upping sticks and moving out to the sticks, but these days I'd probably stick with FB marketplace. Great way to get rid of stuff.
Sorry about all the sticks.
yard sales (the parallel here) are generally a way to sell stuff that's worth $5-$10 for $1 or a quarter. You're probably right about the local trade / sale apps or sites. Relative of mine who is a minimalist lost his wife about five years ago (a maximalist) and he sold almost everything of any size that he had on an app that i've not seen or heard of since. But it worked well for him and kept him busy, and was far more effective than a booth or yard sale would've been.
"offer up" or something like that.
John Brown
Freeloading Social media influenza
Yard sales, or garage sales aren't quite the same. Car boot sales generally take place in a field or a parking lot, and sellers pay for a pitch. Prospective buyers also pay a much smaller admission charge. We occasionally see yard sales or garage sales over here, but they're one-off events, whereas car boot sales may have a hundred or so sellers in one place.
We once left some furniture out on the pavement (sidewalk) with a sign saying "help yourself", and a neighbourhood child left his bicycle in the danger zone. You can probably guess what happened.
We once left some furniture out on the pavement (sidewalk) with a sign saying "help yourself", and a neighbourhood child left his bicycle in the danger zone. You can probably guess what happened.
When I volunteered for a bike charity, were were gifted people bikes collections. One, several high end bikes and box after box of good kit, was obviously from a mother and father, I got the impression something bad had happened to their son.
Andrewf
Established Member
I have over the years inherited all the tools from my Father, Grandfather and Great Uncle, All who were time served carpenters and shipwrights. These are all with my own tools being left to my daughter to deal with.
Though have wondered about donating some of the stuff to one of those charities that send them overseas. Would be good to help out some carpenters in less developed parts of the world.
Though have wondered about donating some of the stuff to one of those charities that send them overseas. Would be good to help out some carpenters in less developed parts of the world.
Seascaper
Established Member
Hello,
The worst way of handling this is just ignore this issue, do nothing and leave it for the kids to sort out when you are dead. It is well worth spending effort getting rid of and finding new homes for all this stuff. It you can’t handle it yourself you can get someone to do it for you in exchange for money raised, and there are plenty of charities around. One charity specifically wants hand tools for places like Africa where they will be used to make life better.
The best way forward is to get on with it now while you are alive, it will be appreciated by those left behind.
Regards
Seascaper
Established Member
In the words of Spike Milligan:
"If I had known I was going to live so long, I would have taken better care of myself"
Point is at what point do you get rid of your tools and then regret it because you are still living and need what you have given away.
"If I had known I was going to live so long, I would have taken better care of myself"
Point is at what point do you get rid of your tools and then regret it because you are still living and need what you have given away.
Hopefully your body will let you know in plenty of time, once handling wood and doing the basic task becomes to difficult then it is time to let go. Perhaps we haved all overlooked what should be our final project, our own custom coffin.
"You" had the fun of choosing it, you should have the chore of liquidating it ?
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