time to decide

[BrianH]

I recon that the loss last year of Ray Key and Linda Mortimer, two people who certainly deserved to be immortal, probably means that even I am likely to be called upstairs at some point. Yep, you guessed it, its time to upgrade the will, with all the problem decisions that brings.
I, like many others I would think, would prefer my workshop not to be broken up and auctioned off to dealer people who have little idea of what half the stuff is. I want someone deserving to have the lot so that they might even finish turn my roughed out pieces. The lathe, etc is definitely beyond the needs of a youth club or Help for Heroes recovery centre so what's to be done?
Has anyone out there in Woodyland walked this path before me?
What ideas did you come up with?   

New Year's resolution..... Time to decide

Brian

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Brian I agree with your comments about Ray and Linda, proud to say I counted them both amongst my friends. I would also like to think that you still have a few good years left in you yet. But the problem you highlight is the problem of turners the world over. I too do not wish my tools to be sold to a dealer and have instructed my family accordingly but you must remember that no matter how attached we become to our tools when they come to be disposed of they are just secondhand or at worst worth scrap value. I admit to being a tool junkie and have tools that I have not used for years but I still cannot bear to be parted from them.
   In the abscence of any better suggestions the for sale pages on this website could be the best idea so far. It frightens me what value I put on my tools, I have at least a dozen bench planes for various uses, some like the compass plane are specialist tools, but again when I go it will become a second hand compass plane. I suppose the secret is to start disposing of your kit before you die and then at least you will have some knowledge about it and some control.
    Something that amazed me was when my father retired he sold all of his tools within a few months apart from one or two that he held onto for work around the house. I could not believe that after a lifetime working with his tools there was no sign of sentimentality.

[John Plater]

I noticed through a recent forum posting that a local woodturning club was responsible for selling David Reeks' lathe. Maybe that is a possibility ?
ATB John

[burywoodturners]

As club secretary, I get enquiries from people who have a family members workshop to sell on. I have learned to simply pass the inormation on to club members without getting to involved with the process.
Some time I find the seller has looked on Ebay and wants the asking price seen on there, often unrealistic! some times other family members get sentimental and want prices based on what was paid new.
It is a sad business, and not an easy one to take on.
I have told my family to take anything they want, sell the rest for what it is worth and leave it at that.
Ron

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

As club secretary, I get enquiries from people who have a family members workshop to sell on. I have learned to simply pass the inormation on to club members without getting to involved with the process.
Some time I find the seller has looked on Ebay and wants the asking price seen on there, often unrealistic! some times other family members get sentimental and want prices based on what was paid new.
It is a sad business, and not an easy one to take on.
I have told my family to take anything they want, sell the rest for what it is worth and leave it at that.
Ron

Heaven forbid that my wife sells my tools for what I told her I paid for them!!

[michaelb]

Think you must have been watching Billy Connolly all very depressing, yes we will all fall of the perch at some time but no matter how old we are,  be ambitious, improve skills, plan our next project, and when you do fall off why worry what happens to your blanks they might even keep someone warm and if my wife gives all my tools and equipment away for nowt so what at 93 and that my target date,  will I know, but I will be with one of the Master Turners either looking up or down. According to "she who must be obeyed" looking up ...... 

 

[Les Symonds]

This is a thread that, at worst, could be thought to be morbid, but if nothing else it has made me think. I have no intention of popping off for a while, but I suspect that none of those who died suddenly had that intention, either. So here's my thinking. I have been teaching woodturning for several months and have encountered students from all walks of life. Some were complete beginners, others had been turning for a while and wanted to hone a specific skill. One stands out! He was a young man with a learning disability whose mum educated him at home because she could not face the prospect of him being educated in a state run special school, and I do not blame her. He was my first ever student and he spoiled me in terms of what I should expect from future students. He could feel the wood through the tools. He could feel the way in which the wood spoke back to him about how it wanted to be cut and how far he could push it. He turned an oak bowl, scorched and limed on the outside and waxed on the inside, and he did all this in a two-hour taster session, even though he'd never touched a lathe before. He was limited to a two-hour session because his mum could not afford to pay for a whole day, so he gets my vote.Tomorrow morning I shall let my wife know just what I want to happen to my equipment. On Monday I shall tell the solicitor.

Thanks Brian.

Les

[Paul Hannaby]

Perhaps it's worth remembering the AWGB is a charity and grateful for any donations. We use suitable tools and equipment to support our grant, loan and training schemes for individuals, clubs and other deserving organisations. Unsuitable equipment is sold and the funds used for the same schemes.

This page might be of interest https://www.awgb.co.uk/donations/

Les, perhaps the student you mentioned would be interested to find out more about our training grants. This doesn't yet appear on the website but will do shortly.

On the wills - I recall seeing something which said "when I'm gone I hope my wife doesn't sell all my tools for what I told her I paid for them!" 

[BrianH]

I was most interested in reading Paul's post about donating to the AWGB but wonder how much forward thought or planning has been made (or is possible even). One volunteer in a transit would be fine to pick up a 'garden shed' type of workshop contents but what about something larger?
My workshop, for instance, is a chaotic, overstuffed single garage, with a shedfull of timber next to it, out on the East Anglian coast. To clear it within a reasonable timeframe, which is what a grieving family would need, would take more than one reasonably fit bloke and a small lorry or multi transit trips. The resulting mountain of stuff would need to be sorted by a knowledgeable person... so that chucks and their jawsets go with the lathe and spindle blades (never used, I'm far too feardy!) and mortice attachment stay with the multi woodworker. Not to mention the hand tools, power tools and spare hacksaw blades. Then some sort of garage-sized premises would be needed as a distribution centre.
Does the AWGB really have such resources available at reasonably short notice?
If it does it would be a wonderful idea and a great answer to the problem but if such resources weren't available or, worse still, the volunteer(s) in question were only interested in cherry-picking (its only human nature after all!!!) then there is a real risk of actually making things more problematic for the family.
There is no easy way out of this problem but without clear thought, with open minds, it would be far too easy to make well- intentioned promises which, in fact turn out to be millstones.
Brian

[seventhdevil]

sounds like we need a central hub and distribution center for all this equipment and wood.

i'm not too worried about my tools as they are nothing special but the timber i have is a different matter. i'd want that to go to a good home and be used in the same way i do and it's unlikely that will turn out to be the case.

good thing i've got 35 years of average life expectancy left to try and use it up...

[John]

I'm eighty in a couple of months so this is quite a current problem for me.
My wife has advanced dementia, so its down to my kids to sort out. Luckily my son wants woodworking tools (not turning) He already has my planer/thicknesser and radial arm saw.
I have a two lathe workshop plus a small portable lathe for the odd demo which are getting few and far between. I have 3 friends who use my workshop once a week for assisted turning.
At my wifes demise I am moving to Norfolk and hope to setup a smaller workshop with just one lathe (Hegner) and one set of tools. I will at that time dispose of everything I "think" I wont need.
John

[Paul Hannaby]

Brian,
We have a limited number of regular helpers but we are able to call upon our members to help out when required. So far we have been able to cope with all the offers made. The last one took a luton van with three people (myself and a couple of local club members) to load / unload. The contents of that donation is awaiting sorting, machines to be tested etc. but it should result in both some tools and equipment we can either pass on or sell. We do have a storage facility to hold all this until we can find new homes for it.

[BrianH]

Thanks Paul, very reassuring.

 I have surprised myself in the direction my thinking has gone since I started this thread but nowhere near as surprised as I was to find other members starting to think the unthinkable as well.
Where in Norfolk are you planning John? if its in the Great Yarmouth kind of direction let me know and we'll share a cuppa or something.
Brian

[John]

Hello Brian
I will be moving to Harleston, To live in the same road as my son
John

[burywoodturners]

John and BrianH, you are not a million miles from us in Bury St Edmunds, and we will welcome you if you decide to come to us. we meet every second MOnday, next meeting tonight, Tic Challis, pyrography.
If it is a bit far for you then try the AWGB website for a club nearer to you.
Ron