My deceased fathers workshop

[backinthesaddle]

Hello all - sadly my father passed away 18 months ago. Long story but essentially he was a skilled woodworker whose dreams of retiring to his workshop in the family home to turn, build and generally potter about, were robbed by a degenerative illness. My Mum has only now felt ready to start dealing with his workshop and I am very much in the basic DIY camp and will not have the space or need for a lot of his tools. His pride and joy was his Record Power Lathe, but there are many things like Grinders, Vertical Drills, a Bandsaw, and many other things. Your sympathy would of course be much appreciated but I'm really hoping that there will be some practical help and advice!
What would be the best way to go about selling these items?
She has also already sold his specialist chisels that he used for his turning but there remains a lot of items and she is worried about using eBay. Also how would we go about working out what would a 'fair' value be?
Thanks in advance and sorry for not being able to contribute to any real woodworking chat!

 

[Woodchips2]

First of all sorry to hear of the death of your father. It is so sad when he was looking forward to enjoying his workshop in retirement and never made it.

Selling on E-Bay will determine the market value but you have to offset the cost of E-Bay and probably Paypal fees totalling about 15% and the possibility of the odd time-waster.

Selling on this site incurs no fees and you are getting access to dedicated woodworkers who appreciate good tools and the satisfaction that your father's tools will probably end up with somebody who also appreciates them. I have sold quite a few tools on this site with no problems whatsoever.

How you determine a value is down to a bit of research on your side using the search engine to see if something similar has been sold on this site or on auction sites.

Good luck with the sales and sorry you have to do it in sad circumstances.

Regards Keith

 

[Bigbud78]

Totally agree, ebay if you want to max money or the forums to sell to woodworkers. On ebay you can search for items that have sold to get an idea of price's. If selling on here knock of 15% ish and you'll be about right.
You could try the free ads but in my experience you'll get time wasters and chancers a plenty.

As a side note dont let anything go with out checking price's first, some of the smaller innocuous hand tools can go for big money

 

[AndyT]

Sorry for your loss and for what is a frequent problem.

There is a useful guide to the pros and cons of the various options published by TATHS here:

http://www.taths.org.uk/tools-and-t...ns-including-advice-for-owners-of-collections

 

[jamesevenlode]

My condolences for the death of your father.

If you want the sale to be easy then it might be worth selling everything as a job lot.
If you want to get the most value out of the tools then selling things individually is the way to do it- you will get a lot more.

I would make a list of every item, including model number.
Then search for sold prices (eBay completed listings is good) for those items and then you can get an idea of what they are worth.

The problem you might have is some of these items might not have been sold recently so you will not have much an idea of what they are worth. We might be able to help with these items.

The problem you might have with some of this is being able to demonstrate the items to be working and in good repair.
For example, let's say the bandsaw doesn't have blade on it- you will need to put one on it and be able to demonstrate to someone buying it that it works.
If you cannot then it pushes the price of the bandsaw down as it will be sold 'as seen'.

Some folks (although no-one here) will look at you as ripe for the picking, based on your inexperience in these matters.
You might be surprised at how much some of these items are worth.

May I suggest that you sell the larger items as 'cash on collection'?
Shipping large pieces of machinery isn't something I'd suggest a novice attempt.
Quite a lot can go wrong.

Something else to be aware of is eBay has a vicious returns policy that favours buyers.
Anything can be returned up to 14 days, even if you mark it as 'no returns accepted'.

Good luck with your sale.

 

[rafezetter]

Again condolences for your loss - and I must echo all that's been said but add that ebay chancers need only make a complaint and claim some hokum about it being not "as per description" to demand a full refund, that should you refuse on the grounds you know he's lying, can be removed from your paypal account without your consent. This often happens for items you may have shipped a long way away, and they know it'll cost you a lot to get it returned - or the old "but I've already sent it" routine when infact they have not. Even if you tell them to return it recorded signed for, they won't as they know once the refund has been paid - you have no recourse to get the refund money back if the item goes "AWOL in the post, not my fault mate".

You might not get top dollar selling on here or at a proper tool auction place (and often you'll get more here than at auction), but it'll be far less hassle in the long run.

and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in seeing what comes on offer.

 

[duncanh]

Why not try contacting your local woodturning club. There are plenty spread across the country and they're usually run by helpful individuals who may be able to come round and suggest a price. Our club regularly has adverts on our notice board for either job lot sales or sale of individual items from people who have stopped for various reasons.

Items may not sell for as much as on ebay but the process may be easier

 

[backinthesaddle]

Thanks for all the condolences and for the helpful responses, I am really gutted than I didn't discover this site until now as he would have taken great pleasure in debating all manner of subjects on here.

I think I have to post about 20 times before I can use the 'for sale' section.

 

[backinthesaddle]

I will look at the Avon and District Woodturners in Bristol as we are based over in Bath. If anybody had a contact there then that would be very useful!

Thanks once again.

 

[MusicMan]

While you are accumulating your required posts before selling, you might like to post pictures of the major items on here to ask advice at least about identification, which will help you in your price research. I suggest that items such as screwdrivers, chisels should be sold as job lots (but all tools of one type together); you can start these on eBay at 99p and they will find their value. But be sure to put makers' names on the ad whenever you can find them. Machines could go on here for precise identification. Take pictures from a couple of angles and include the motor plate and makers' plate if visible, as there are differences in value between different rating power tools. And do post pics of the hand planes (again include makers' names/marks) whether wooden or steel, as these can sometimes be surprisingly valuable. And don't hesitate to post pics of weird contraptions that you can't identify. People here enjoy the challenge.

I recently bought a dust filter from a lady whose husband died in similar circumstances, from a motor degenerative disease. Not much was left in the workshop by the time I saw it, but I was able to identify a couple of unusual tools and point her to the (considerable) value of them. It isn't only the cash raising that she, and I am sure you, was interested in. She was concerned that they should find good homes where they would be valued as her husband valued them.

Personally, I get extra pleasure out of using old tools that have given a lifetime of service to someone else.

Keith

 

[arnoldmason8]

Hi All
I think we should all remember that all our tools and collections will end up in this position and we should all make an effort to catalogue what we have got even if it is only the more valuable items to help the people who are going to eventually have to clear up all our possesstions

Note to self - I must practise what I preach- I have 4 major collections Woodworking tools - Loads of Model railway equipment some pre-war - An Austin sixteen 1931 - a pre-war Drummond lathe none of which are catalogued.

Regards Arnold

 

[Bigbud78]

Have to be careful what you list with values thou in case the boss finds it xD

 

[lurker]

I seem to remember there is a very well regarded tool shop in either Bath or Bristol who sells ( and thus must buy) second hand tools

 

[backinthesaddle]

Thanks once again for the responses - I am again reminded how much he would have enjoyed this forum. He did have a vague attempt at documenting the workshop but obviously had bigger things to worry about. He also had the natural concern that Mum might sell the items for what he told her they cost originally.

I will get a couple of photos of some key items and take it from there.

 

[backinthesaddle]

To give you an idea of the sort of stuff he had:

Axminsters mechanics bench
Axminster parrot vice
Compact Aviation snip straight / black and Yellow
Axminster pillar drill , 12 speed
Axminster Sander
Creusen – chisel sharpener
Tormek water cooled sharpening machine for edge tools with instruction book
Grinding stone for above
Power Cap mask
Kity circular table saw - 419
Kity bandsaw 613
And spare blades
Axminster swivel tilt mortise
Axminster disc sander
Axminster Router
Orange Tool Router table
Perform tile saw
Metabo electric orbital jigsaw
DeWALT Hammer drill set
DeWALT router table
Forstner bits
Axminster
Dust extractor
Yorkleen
Skill jigsaw
Makita grinder
B & D proline grinder
Planes - various
Roller stands for timber

 

[CHJ]

I seem to remember there is a very well regarded tool shop in either Bath or Bristol who sells ( and thus must buy) second hand tools

http://www.bristol-design.co.uk/

 

[backinthesaddle]

For anyone interested the Lathe is a Record Power Maxi-1 heavy duty swivel head lathe with DVR technology. Heavy duty cast iron bed and stand. Electronic variable speed. Sturdy 1inch tool rest. 8inch throat. 3 additional chucks including a scroll chuck with 2 jaw sets and a light.

 

[Bigbud78]

For anyone interested the Lathe is a Record Power Maxi-1 heavy duty swivel head lathe with DVR technology. Heavy duty cast iron bed and stand. Electronic variable speed. Sturdy 1inch tool rest. 8inch throat. 3 additional chucks including a scroll chuck with 2 jaw sets and a light.

They don't come up used often, only one I could find sold for £1000 on a forum but there were a number of people that wanted it. With the chucks you would be looking at maybe £1100-1200 if its in good condition.
I'm only picking figures out the air, if you want market value go ebay but on that you'll be paying a lot of fee's. I wouldn't accept payapl, ask for cash on collection.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Bristol Design have been in business for over thirty years now. I often drop in when I can find a good excuse. They are nice people.

From the perspective of selling, there are pros and cons:

- They do occasionally sell powered tools, but it's not their focus. Gumtree is most cost-effective (or selling on this forum), EBay will get them sold, but the charges are a very high proportion of the value and there are other issues, like the contract you "sign" as a seller, and risks of scams if the items are valuable.

- B.D. are specialists, and have specialist customers. If your father had rare hand tools they will almost certainly find a home where they are cherished, either to be used or by collectors.

- They are a commercial business, so they need to turn a profit themselves. This will affect the price you are offered.

If I might be bold, don't sell everything! At some time, in years to come, one of your father's descendants may be delighted to have something he used passed on to them. So keep anything small and particularly special.

I have my own grandfather's drawing boxwood rule set, and from my other grandfather a couple of pieces of furniture he made (not brilliant, but he was a timber merchant rather than a cabinet maker!). They are cherished for who they came from, as much as anything.

 

[backinthesaddle]

I am saving a few things - his old G cramps, His leather fold up with some lovely chisels and a few other nice things. It would just be a travesty if his specialist equipment did not go to a good home. Sitting unused in my garage would not be a good home!

If I may also be bold to say that those of you who have a similar workshop - document want you have and keep the instruction manuals in one place!