Garage Sale Predicament

[cabinetman]

I follow the garage/yard sales and flea market ads in the paper regularly. I went to one home where the grandfather had died and he had woodworking tools. He had worked in a cabinet shop most all his life.

I looked around and didn't see anything I had to have. Then I noticed on the floor in the corner a few tool boxes. They were mostly the portable type with a lift out tray and a locking lid. A few Craftsman, and one that he had made. As I opened them up, it was like opening up someone's life. Here was his personal tools. A feeling came over me about my own death and some guy off the street strolling in looking in my toolbox.

I actually felt like I was invading his privacy, and those tools were sacrosanct. I also realized that he didn't put a price on them, and if they didn't get sold, they would keep dropping the price until they did. How sad, that what meant so much to him was really just a commodity to get rid of. I wonder if he ever thought about this happening.

Anyway, at first I didn't even want to look through the boxes. Then I thought, if I bought them all, I would be preserving some working longevity with the due respect that he might have appreciated. I still have all those tools, and maybe it's like keeping a spirit alive.
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[BerniePA]

It was a good thought you had. I'm sure he would be well pleased knowing they were not rusting away in a forgotten corner somewhere.

[bruce hylton]

I have tools from four generations of my own family. However they mean very little to anyone other than myself. Someday I will have them on display if I don,t kick the bucket first.

[crokett]

I have several machinist tools that were my Grandfather's. I also have some more of his tools that I use when I can. One day I will build a display case to show off his tools.

[pierhogunn]

SWMBO used the rest of the life in my Grandfather's red-sable brushes that Coca-Cola bought him for all the print-ad work he prepped for them in the 60's - 80's down in atlanta,

those were the best brushes

[jon_ramp]

Some day a great or great-great grandchild may truely appreciate those.

[dbhost]

FWIW, some of my favorite hand tools, and mechanics tools I own were purchased that way. The way I look at it, once somebody has passed on, what they leave behind is memories, a legacy of sorts.

I would like to think that my heirs, if they have no interest in my tools themselves, would make sure that the tools that have brought me so much joy and productivity, go to someone that would truly appreciate what they are. Not so much for the financial value, but for the value of creating things of both utility and beauty. For example if my tools can go to a young guy or gal with some real talent and passion for woodworking, instead of just somebody looking for a cheap circ saw to get a single task done.... then just maybe I have started the next David Marks down the right path, and in that way, I keep my own legacy alive...

[radhak]

Whoa - very profound, CM!

Kids and Pets are all taken care of by others in friends and family. Tools might get the short end. Great that you were able to give it the appropriate attention.

Whenever I use my (fantastic) Router table, I sometimes ponder about it's prior owner - a surgeon who died in his 70s. Top notch tools used very lovingly. I thank him very often. I bought it off his son who had no clue what he was selling, or what it could be used for; but he knew that his dad had a passion for woodworking, and when I was generous in my praise for his tools and their condition, I made the son very happy. He said, "I am glad this is going to somebody who appreciates it's value", and I told him he could rest assured. Gives me a feeling of a good deed done.

[Uncle Cracker]

Nothing could make a woodworker happier than to know his cherished tools were passed on to another appreciative woodworker, to create more beautiful things.

[LinuxRandal]

I have most of one of my grandfathers tools. My brother, took just a very few, and for the most part, they have sat in the two little hand tool boxes, for YEARS.

My grandfather, died, when I was 6. A LOT of stuff was discarded/sold, then. What is left, I mostly, self taught myself to use. When I go, they will probably try to have a massive tool sale, then pitch the rest, and I don't care. I would rather the tools go into the hands of someone who will use them, to make and fix things for the ones they love, and hopefully, do some projects together. That is what I would have LIKED to have from my grandfather.

Tools are a means to an end, the memories, last as long as your brain functions. The knowledge they teach you, if you hand down, can be generational.

[LCHIEN]

...

Anyway, at first I didn't even want to look through the boxes. Then I thought, if I bought them all, I would be preserving some working longevity with the due respect that he might have appreciated. I still have all those tools, and maybe it's like keeping a spirit alive.
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so, CM, who's going to get those tools when you pass? And not only his, yours?

Anyone thought of making a provision for specific disposition of tools and other personally (not monetarily) significant personal property in their wills?
What might you do?

[dbhost]

so, CM, who's going to get those tools when you pass? And not only his, yours?

Anyone thought of making a provision for specific disposition of tools and other personally (not monetarily) significant personal property in their wills?
What might you do?

LOML and I are talking about just that issue... Being that for the time being we are without heirs, we both want to insure our wishes are honored instead of having the courts and lawyers suck it all away...

I actually have a friend's kid in mind. A couple that has meant a good deal to me over the years, who went through a LOT to have their boy, and that boy is showing some promising signs of God given talent in the area of woodworking. He's 6 and already made his hand carved Pinewood Derby car without help from Daddy except for the forstner cut pocket for the weights.

FWIW, this particular couple had asked my ex and myself to be this boy's God Parents... Two days before my ex left. (She had everyone fooled...)

Actually I need to invite them over for BBQ soon... Weather is good, and the brisket is ready to go on the smoker...

[sscherin]

Lat year I brought home all my grandfathers tools..
They had been sitting unused in Grandmas basement for the last 20 years.
He was a tool and die maker and many of the items I brought home were made by him.
All total I shipped home 480 lbs in 6 containers.. Worth every penny to get em here.

Call me crazy but whenever I use them I feel like he's hanging out near by.
I need to get his Type 17 #5 plane tuned up one of these days.

[Ed62]

Yes, I've thought about where my tools would go after I'm gone. My wife and I have talked about who we want certain things to go to. So if someone joins this group, and wants a lot of information about taking care of the BT3000, it just might be a grandson of mine if I'm no longer here. I shudder to think someone might wonder why he can't crank the blade up and down very well when it hasn't been cleaned in 3 or 4 years.

Ed

[OpaDC]

Geez you guys are all so sentimental. They are only tools right?

Okay, I admit it. I have my FIL (who died long before I met LOML) old carpenter tools: hand saws, couple of planes, level, float and hand drill similar to the one pictured to name a few. I always look at old tools as a history of the original owner. Just like when I visit historic places and imagine the craftsman doing what he does best.