OK, Old dog woodworkers

[Lee Schierer]

She will probably sell them for what you told her you paid for them.

[Bob Glenn]

My biggest fear is that when I die, my wife will sell my tools for what I told her I paid for them.

[Stephen Tashiro]

Maybe we could devise a strategy of what to do in such a case. My best thought is to talk to my oldest son and tell him
what might be appropriate.

Do your executor a big favor and don't obligate him or her to deal with a lot of material objects in particular ways.

[Jim Andrew]

I plan to just give my machines to my kids. They can decide who gets what.

[Andrew Seemann]

I'm going to say two things that are not going to be well received, and probably denied outright.

1. Your tools are probably worth less than you think they are, possibly a lot less.
2. Getting maximum value for your tools takes a lot of time, money, and effort. Probably more than it is worth doing.

A couple years ago we had to clean out my dad's shop when he and his wife moved into the old folks' home. He had a nice shop and some pretty nice tools, with the standard complement of power and hand tools. He was very surprised and rather disappointed with what we were able to get when we sold the ones that my brother and I and his wife's kids didn't need or have room for. We could have maybe gotten more than what we did, but it would have involved storing things that none of us had room for, to maybe get an extra 10% in price.

He had what was to him a very nice table saw, a 1964 Craftsman with a 2 hp motor, but it had the original pot-metal web extensions and that gad-awful, finger-eating cast iron rip fence. The saw sold for about what he paid to have the motor rewound a few years earlier. Some of the more recent Deltas did better, but nothing was more than about half of new. I ended up donating a fair number of small power tools to the local high school shop after not getting around to listing them on CL for a year.

The fact is what we treasure often isn't valued by the general market as much as it is by us. And getting that value is a lot of work. Researching values takes time. Taking pictures and organizing takes time. Listing items on Craigslist and dealing with no-shows and constant lowball offers takes time. Selling on eBay takes time and effort to list and then pack and ship items. Getting assistance with any of this takes money.

Laugh if you will at the idea of selling a Starrett compass for 50 cents, but that kind of value isn't unrealistic depending on where and how it is sold. And if you have just gone through your 20th box of stuff or spent your fifth weekend in a row cleaning out a shop, you just might be ready for it to disappear for 50 cents.

Also bear in mind, that all of this will likely be done by people who are not only grieving, but also dealing with all the other aspects of settling an estate, like lawyers, potential probate, sending death certificates to credit card companies, etc. If your spouse predeceased you, there could be collections of Hummels, Lionel trains, Waterford (all of which have values that have cratered in the last 10 years) to get rid of as well, along with your residence and all its contents. All of which may need to be done under a deadline for a sale or the limits of how much time your kith and kin can take off of work.

All those bargains and steals we like to brag about, like snagging a Lie Nlelsen #4 at an estate sale for $15, could easily be our tools someday.

[Rod Sheridan]

Lowell, I would discuss it with your partner.

Diann knows that my shop machines and tools are to go to my daughters or friends for free if I predecease her.

It's good you're thinking of this in advance, I placed it in my will.............Rod.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I have been compiling a book showing images of each tool, and their estimated values. It's not only in case something happens to me, but also for insurance purposes if something were to happen to the shop. I highly recommend everyone do this- at a very minimum, take photos of everything for your insurance. My will has in it specifics about my tools- basically my brothers and my best friend get to pick what they want, with a couple of very special tools designated for each to remember me by, and also their children can pick what they want, and the rest go to sale. I am not one of these that cares what happens to their tools after they die- it's really more about alleviating the burden from my wife. She actually tells me often that her biggest worry if something were to happen to me (other than, of course, losing me) is having to deal with all my "stuff."

I recently lost my mom and my father had passed a couple of years prior. Fortunately, they had a living trust, and also my dad had very carefully designated what pieces went to which son, and the rest we very peacefully agreed on who got what. I highly recommend folks to get a living trust. It makes things SO much easier on the surviving family.

[lowell holmes]

I will start a tool list with suggested values and keep it in a safe place she knows about . I am in good health and expect another 20 years, but who knows.

[James Brown]

This thread reminds me of a Craigslist interaction I had several years ago. I bought a lot of tools from the brother of a deceased woodworker. We arranged to meet at his brother's basement shop. He had no idea what he had, and I was apparently the first buyer who came by. Everything was just the way the deceased gentleman had left it.

I was able to show the seller current retail prices on a lot of the stuff that was there, so we were able to agree on fair and reasonable prices for what I was interested in. He was trusting but not gullible, and I try to deal honorably with people in transactions like this. Some of the stuff he thought might be junk wasn't, and vice versa. I stayed a while and helped him sort through some of it so he could maximize the return as he sold the rest of it off.

Some of those tools, and some of those half-finished projects, really got to me. The guy seemed interested in hearing what his brother had been doing down there, and he seemed moved to hear me speak admiringly of the guy's craftsmanship on some of the works in progress.

I'm incredibly fortunate that my wife's an avid woodworker (among the million reasons I'm fortunate) ... she'll keep using the tools when I'm done with them!

[Malcolm Schweizer]

By the way, I just laughed at myself because when I read "Old dog woodworkers" I immediately felt it pertained to me. I don't know what that says about my perception of myself. :-)

[lowell holmes]

I think I invented the phrase, so it tells you about my self perception.

OBTW, there other old dogs out there. Maybe we could form a club or something.

[Jim Koepke]

Your tools are probably worth less than you think they are, possibly a lot less.
[edited]
Some of the more recent Deltas did better, but nothing was more than about half of new.

With the exception of tools bought new, most of my tools were bought at below the current market prices when they were purchased. My feeling when buying tools is to pay less than it could bring if it was flipped on ebay. Sometimes my judgement is wrong.

Hopefully some of my grandchildren will become interested in woodworking. My wife has a little idea what was paid for most of my tools. It is my old coin collection that worries me more.

For machines, half price of new is about standard. The good part is on quality equipment where inflation raised its price by enough so half of the current price is more than a machine's original cost.

jtk

[Pat Meeuwissen]

Pat,
For six bucks, you could post anywhere you want or, for a case like this, send a private message to Lowell. As an added bonus, you'd be helping to keep the Creek flowing!

Even sending a PM is not an option.

[Jon Nuckles]

Even sending a PM is not an option.

It is if you pay the $6 to become a contributor. Please consider doing so. This is a great site and it will go away if we do not support it.

[lowell holmes]

I have no illusions about the value of my tools. They are mostly rust free. When I inventory my tools, I will assume 25% value.