What to do with all my stuff

Re: What to do with all my stuff

Mark Nowicki

Magazines I have been throwing out without giving them a second thought. Next are the books, charities can get them if they pick up.

I have no intentions of wasting the years I have left to do the legwork for some cheapskate, so all sales are local with pickup in my area.

I use Facebook Marketplace, get immediate notifications on my cellphone if anyone is interested. For sale items can be there for years without getting pushed back to the end of the line. Added benefit is the ability to check the profile.

My city organizes an annual garage sale, that is my plan for the tools.

Last resort would be a spot rental at a flea market.

I don't let anybody come to my house to "look things over."

Re: What to do with all my stuff

William Duffield

My local woodworking association has an on-line auction of woodworking machinery, tools, books and wood once a year. If yours doesn't, you should encourage them to look into it. It is a good source of revenue for the club, and for your estate. You might also consider donating the books and magazines to the club library.

Some clubs also have a "tool crib" from which they loan tools to members.

Magazines and even veneer offcuts often show up on the "Free or a Small Donation to the Club" table at monthly meetings.

Re: What to do with all my stuff

Stuart Johnson

I had a good but not complete set of FWW that just took up space. I posted here to see if anyone wanted and specific issues then donated the rest to the local senior center. They were happy to receive them.

Re: What to do with all my stuff

John Veerkamp

When I downsized I basically donated my wood @800 bf to a local HS vocational program. It was worth some money but making sure it went to a deserving cause made it a great choice. It was advertised thru a woodworking club at a price to exclude opportunists as first come served. Pick up at my shop. The shop teacher showed up with students and cleaned out everything I didn't want. A real good feeling about the transaction .

Re: What to do with all my stuff

John K Jordan

My lawyer included a memorandum clause making a hand-written document part of the will. In it I designated several things, such as where wood and tools should be offered, such as a club or other organization.

Re: What to do with all my stuff

Bruce, a MN Galoot

I am helping a young friend get started in woodworking, and he's starting from zero. I gave him a complete set of Woodsmith magazines, about ten years' worth of Shopnotes, and on permanent loan my set of Tage Frid books. Plus, he got a couple planes and some really good Berg chisels.

Re: What to do with all my stuff @Bruce

Thomas T Dunlap

I'm in the same boat as the OP. I have some things that your friend might find useful. Drop me a note

Re: What to do with all my stuff @Bruce

Bruce, a MN Galoot

I’ll do that. You met him last year in Medina.

I feel your pain

Ellis Walentine

We are six days away from settlement, as we sell our beloved home of 45 years. We've been paring down for the past two years, but now, at the end, we're still finding stuff that needs to go, and we still have a storage unit with half a ton of books and magazines to dispose of. It's heartbreaking, especially for hoarders who actually enjoy their possessions, to just consign everything to a dumpster, but that's what it's come to for us.

Among other things, we have...

- had a big wood and tool sale (2 years ago)

- had a big "moving sale" (recently)

- donated books and DVDs to the local woodworking guild

- given away machines that I couldn't sell

- scrapped an 1800-lb industrial pin router

- packed my most precious exotics and turning blanks off to our new home in FL

and to our son's place in Oregon

- sold my molding plane collection to a dealer

- thrown a bunch of usable stuff in the dumpster

- burned wood that I would have ordinarily saved until the bitter end

When the deal is settled, I will still have a handful of machines and hand tools at various locations -- maybe never to be used again -- and maybe a thousand or so feet of miscellaneous valuable but unnecessary lumber still hanging around in a little storage building we still own. I doubt I'll live to see it all totally dispensed with. At that point, it's my kids' problem. There's only so much you can do, unless, like you say, you have infinite time and patience, and tolerance for taking losses just to keep the stuff in good hands.

Good luck.

Ellis Walentine, Host

Re: I feel your pain

Howard Pollack

Ouch!!!, Ellis. I can only imagine how that hurt. The tools, the wood, and your home! Sorry you've had to go through that.

-Howard

Re: What to do with all my stuff

TomD

I think that this is a problem that needed to be addressed at the outset of the hobby. And kept up with along the way. But that is not how I do stuff. My model is more like that I compare how I waste money to people who buy a new car every 18 months or smoke, or buy Apple products.

I just got rid of my complete collection of FWW, I threw it out, and before I did, I went through the collection, and clipped the articles I most liked. And I was later given the digital version by a friend who was done with his. I got a lot of enjoyment going through the mags again. Same with American Woodworker. Minus the digital versions. And woodenboat. I also tossed all my Woodworkers, and got the digital version of those.

If I needed to feel good about it, I might consider Rob Cosman's Warrior charity. I don't know if he passes on tools, but probably someone does. I'm not a huge fan of some of the recent wars, but that seems like all the more reason to help people who were out there making an effort.

Home woodworking is pretty faddish, so I don't know if there is much point in passing on media. Back in the 70s when I started adult woodworking, the magazine seemed to be slanted for people who wanted to do their own design work, and become designer craftsmen. The current thing is based on building an all hand tool workshop as an excuse to own everything in a tool catalog. It is going to be rich when those guys age and hit the market with a tsunami of identical bespoke hand tools. But I think much of the stuff I have accumulated is going to seem pretty ridiculous to others.

I tried to sell a Harrison Union Graduate bowl lathe a while back, and it was clear nobody wanted it at a reasonable price to me. I paid at least 4K for it, and selling it for less than 800, say, just isn't worth it to me, I have kept it another 20 years so I feel that I got my use out of it rather than wasting time trying to sell it to someone who wants to pay so little you know they probably can't afford the other costs. I live in a port town, and the fun thing about that is watching the boat musical chairs. The boats move from yard to yard, and they never hit the water. And the same is probably true of all the stuff we give away to "good homes", etc... The people who have the determination and smarts to do this stuff, can find the tools, and don't need my help. And the others are probably wasting their time, on average. So in passing stuff on to a good home, one is looking for that tiny percentage of people who are really competent, but unable to make it happen without outside help. That is a rare animal. Not a lot of point in passing stuff on to people who are most likely just going to have an accident.

The right thrift store

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

See if your local Habitat ReStore takes books and magazines (not all do, and mine keeps going back and forth on the subject). If not, look around at the thrift stores in your area and see which one feels like the right place to support, for you. They may sell them for not much money each, but you'll be supporting your good cause, and some (probably young or at least starting out in woodworking) person will be thrilled to find them there. Most thrift stores, you can rely on the bookshelves being just plain littered with mysteries and romances but not much else.

Re: The right thrift store

Roy

Thanks for all the replies. Some very thoughtful courses of action to take. I think what is really painful is going through all the hassle of trying to find a buyer and then not being able to get a decent price. Probably better to donate to a worthy cause or individual.

Roy G

Re: What to do with all my stuff

CharlieL

It's a hard decision, and one that I've been also contemplating for several reasons.