***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY*** *LINK*

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

Joe Fleming

Easy - ignore it.

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

Dick Coers

I've reinvented myself many times over 63 years. None of my career choices, over my 43 working years, lasted longer than 15 years without a change. The upcoming changes could present a really difficult challenge if I want to wrap it up all nice and neat for the family. But, I'm not going to shut down too early and then sit around playing cards to finish out. So the likelihood of an ugly job for the kids is highly probable. But getting pennies on the dollar won't affect them nearly as much as it would me. Hope they understand, they know me well. All the wood will be the worst challenge for my family. I wouldn't be surprised if some of it won't go to fire wood, sure hope not! Over the past few weeks, I've spent more time on a bicycle than in the shop. First time anything else has taken a higher priority in 40+ years. Maybe I've started the transition and didn't even realize it. Now my Dad died at the age of 61, in the combine seat heading to a field. He sure was able to side step any such exit strategy situation. There is always that possibility for any of us, an unexpected exit strategy!

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

john lucas

I'm just going to hang in there as best I can. I have been pretty much a super athlete most of my life. A runner, bicyclist, swimmer, rock climber, gymnast, etc. It's been really hard letting go of all of that. Had to quit running 30 years ago. Still bicycle and swim. Quit rock climbing at 60. Not at 66 if I sit more than 5 minutes I can hardly get up. Everything is getting much harder to do including lifting the tailstock on my Powermatic. Back problems are setting in. My feet hurt a lot. I've done something to my shoulder and can barely do 10 push ups. I use to do 50 every morning just a few years ago.

Now as to the shop. My Dad is 90 and is dying. We hope to get maybe another year if we are lucky. He had to sell all of his woodworking tools after he had a stroke. Just couldn't remember how to do it. It was sad. I have the nicest shop I've ever had and will probably down size down the road. Smaller tools, smaller space and smaller projects. I've seen what other turners wives have gone through trying to price and sell their husbands tools. My son isn't interested at all. I talked to a friend the other day who is an estate auctioneer. That's what I'm going to do. They just come in, place everything out where it can be seen and sell it, and take their percentage. It's not as much money as what the stuff could bring but in basically 2 days it's all out of the shop and your spouse or relatives have the money. couldn't be simpler and seems to me to be the way for me to go.

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

Dave Paine

A very good topic for a survey, just not an easy topic to consider.

My local wood turning club had 3 members pass in the last 2 years. Ages 60's to 90's. No planned "exit strategy".

The wood turning club has a program where we will help the family to sell the shop contents. Volunteers review the contents, determine prices, then we post the date of the sale on the club web site. Two of the club member families asked for this assistance.

I have pondered what will happen to my shop but no deep thoughts or plans at this time. The wife does not share interest in my hobbies. No children. The only family in the country is an older sister with no interest in my hobbies. Also she lives across the country.

I hope I do not have to down size but only time will tell.

Like many others, I have become more aware of physical issues/constraints. Most of my machines are on mobile stands. I purchase mobile tool storage carts so easy to move around due to shop space constraints. I made a large wood storage rack with casters.

Any time I have to move a machine or cart I am glad for the casters.

I will need to give more consideration to potential plans for when I will be unable to make projects in the shop.

It is sad to think about the small amounts of money generated from selling the shop contents.

I look at the members of the turning club. I do not see many young folks coming into the hobby which makes me wonder how many people may have potential interest in my shop contents when the time comes to sell some or all of the contents.

carpe diem

Mike Potts

"While we're talking, envious time is fleeing: pluck the day, put no trust in the future"

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

Joe Fleming

I'm not thinking about the exit, but for those of you that are being proactive, give me a call so I can help you clear out the goodies!

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

Braden

Fascinating, to force the self awareness of inevitable decline and its consequences on our community.

Although I am only in my thirties, a bout with cancer in my twenties resolved my invincibility complex early and makes this exercise easier for someone my age.

As my shop tooling gets better and better, I try and keep things simple. If I replace a tool in an upgrade, get rid of the old one. This is more due to space constraints, but works to the same end. I am also using wood faster than I can collect it. Most of this wood is in log form and can become firewood anyhow.

My wife and I have already talked about what is worth anything in the shop. It doesn't amount to much worthwhile effort trying to get top dollar for it all.

One large piece of encouragement on the topic:

Some previous threads were building up on the topic of woodturning not being popular with a younger crowd and worrying that only retirees were keeping up the craft. Every time a well-outfitted shop hits the used market at greatly reduced prices, this creates an opening for someone to discover the craft or really grow as a turner due to an equipment upgrade. My skills have jumped significantly with each lathe upgrade and I would never have been able to afford my current lathe if it didn't come at a deep discount used.

It may ease the mind on the topic of your shop being greatly undervalued compared to the dollars you put into it once you're gone , but if you bought quality tools, those with an eye for quality will find them quickly and the craft will benefit.

If your $10,000 lathe is your life insurance policy for your next of kin, then this does not help.

a funny related topic

john lucas

As anyone knows who has visited my shop I am a nut for jigs and also love to have strange tools that help do the job.

I had a dream one night that I had passed away and was watching the auctioning of my stuff. I remember one guy bought a box full or really cool router stuff only to pull out a couple of bits and throw away all the little jigs and cool things I had made for the router.

In another instance they simply threw out a lot of the wooden jigs that I built for the router, circular saw.

And even worse, a guy bought my collection of moulding planes that I worked very hard on tuning them up to make them usable. He screwed them to the wall in his 60's era paneled din as decorations. AAAAAAHHH

Re: Not so much a strategy as.....

Jesper, Denmark

...a realization that the time to move on is nearing.

Alone in a biggish house and garden and 1000 sq.ft. shop means that I am getting further and further behind in getting things done,that I think should be done. Two cancers over the last five years and a giant parastomial hernia, which needs to be operated in fall has finally made me realize that I need to lighten up on the daily tasks.

I bought an apartment in town, and put the house and shop up for sale. The apartment needs no maintenance other than normal cleaning, but has no shop space available. I am hoping to find a suitable garage shop in the neighborhood - maybe, but another thought is to locate a communal shop/club/charity to donate the tools to, where other seniors can congregate and have the benefit of both the tools collection and my experience.

I don't really need the money from a sale of the tools, and I would rather donate the lot to a worthy cause/individual than go through the painful process of dealing with the cheapskates haggling over pricing of "stuff" that I have taken good care of over many years.

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

Don Orr

While I am not as old as many here I am not young either and my wife is older than I. My local woodworking/woodturning organization has a lumber and tool auction each Fall to benefit our education fund. My plan is to donate my shop contents to them-assuming they still exist when I pass. Need to put it in writing. As for my wife, she has WAY more stuff than I do. She is a potter and quilter/seamstress. Complete pottery studio with kiln and several high-end sewing machines (the cost of which could outfit my shop with new equipment several times over). She's leaving it all to me. ;-) Our home is a small single level ranch with only a couple steps up and into it so we hope to be able to stay there for as long as we can.

As for downsizing, I sure hope to be able to play in the shop for a long time to come. I know there will come a time when I can't do larger projects so I may start to sell off or give away things as I can. No kids or family but I think someone would want what I have accumulated. I try to buy decent tools as much as possible and have a lot of good stuff. Lots of interesting lumber and turning blanks that I hope would not end up in a woodstove. Straightforward auction is a definite possibility too. Not fun to think about but necessary.

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

Keith Tompkins

I am 63, but I don't think of myself as old, even middle-age. I had a severe case of Lyme Disease since my mid-thirties which really put a damper on many activities. I finally discovered a remedy in my late 50's that gave me a new lease on life....this is the first year since I haven't played fast-pitch softball on an over 40 league. I feel like a kid again. I still ride my motorcycle, but I definitely feel the difference from my youth...I KNOW what's going to happen if I wreck the thing! My dad died at 62, so I am very aware of my mortality; I try the get the most from each day. I try to pass on the accumulated knowledge from 40+ years of woodworking/turning If, and when I no longer can work, I think I will be content knowing I did OK. No regrets. I guess my family will auction of my stuff?

Re: Not so much a strategy as.....

Brad Vietje

Terrific idea to donate to a local shop for you and other seniors to use, and to share your accumulated knowledge. I hope you can find a way to make that happen, so you will be able to continue woodworking, meet other people, and create a legacy that will live on after you are gone. Great idea.

Along similar lines, I just contacted a "makers space" that has a pretty nice shop set up, with the notion of perhaps donating one of my lathes and possibly offering classes. They already have a nice lathe, and they asked me to stop by and discuss offering classes or mentoring youth.

Safe spinning,

Brad Vietje

Newbury, VT

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

Brad Vietje

At 56, I'm hoping I have many years of productive turning left, but I'm not the athletic 35-year-old I used to be! With rotator cuff injuries in both shoulders, an a pair of meniscus tears in my knees, I'm having difficulty with sustained exercise and getting back in shape.

I've never had a heated space for turning, and it's getting very difficult to hold cold steel during winter months. To compensate, I have a 2-stage plan.

Stage one has been to get started in traditional Swedish spoon carving, which I can indoors during the winter with minimal mess. On sunny days I can sit in one of our 5' x 6' picture windows and work in the heat and light of the Sun, or just hang out near the wood stove in poor weather.

Stage two has been to convert our old house into a woodworking shop. This building has a wood stove insert in a huge fireplace, and while it was a chilly home, it's plenty warm for a shop space. Instead of just a turning shop, the plan is to outfit it with human-powered woodworking tools for all manner of green woodworking. Having a warm space will allow me to pursue woodworking through the winter, which should benefit my health and fitness, as well.

Since I now find it harder to move big, heavy chunks of green wood around, one great benefit of this new shop will be the huge crane built into the building (it was built around 1890 as a slaughterhouse, and they used a large "carcass hoist" to butcher farm animals, and it is still there. My Powermatic lathe will sit directly below the crane, so when I go to turn a lampshade out of a 200# hunk of Big Tooth Aspen, I won't have to muscle it up onto the lathe.

Here's the crane, consisting of a 9' diameter wooden pulley mounted on a 10" diameter shaft that's 12' long:

The ceiling fan and light will need to be be removed. A rope with a knot on the end passes through a hole in the shaft and wraps around a number of times, and I'll replace the iron hook shown with a set of iron tongs on the other end to haul heavy log sections up to the lathe. The space behind the wheel was our sleeping loft for 5 chilly winters.

Reducing clutter in the barn will be a lot easier after I move all my woodworking stuff out of the barn and into the old house/new shop. When my dad died at only 71, he left behind a large shop stuffed with tools and wood, and a barn full of antiques he had collected. I don't think he expected to die so young, and probably figured he had plenty of time to sell off his collection to support his retirement. I hope to learn from that, and get rid of a lot of the junk I have collected. We can't take it with us, and we shouldn't let our stuff rule our lives.

Safe spinning,

Brad Vietje

Newbury, VT

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

John Spitters

Our club just held an auction for the family of a member who recently passed, overall the sale went well.

I'm not certain, perhaps it was the families or the deceased members wish but the auction was only advertised to the club members.

This turned out to be a great opportunity for club members but I felt that if the word had been posted to other turning clubs the family may have benefitted financially. Especially with the sale of his lathe a Stubby 1000, which should have sold for near double, a great deal for the buyer but not so much for the family.

Overall though the auction went well and most every turning related item sold and was removed that day.

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

Jorge Castaneda

At first sight, before even reading the post, I saw a huge pole lathe on the works...

Re: ***SURVEY #100 -- THE IDES OF MAY***

Jorge Castaneda

Ellis, for a decade now I have been giving away my best tools that are not in use anymore, most of them to promising bright young people, mostly females in several fields, boatbuilding, furniture making and woodcarving. I do not horde expensive wood and as I don't want to leave a lot of stuff to get rid off, I give it away along with some knowledge. I have also a heir to my photographic equipment and knowledge, again a bright young female.

The rest of my stuff, I have been dumping junk tools at the metal pile at the dump and yes, I will start selling some as well.

To accommodate my diminishing vitality, I started a few years a switch to green wood work and a pole lathe will be created in my spare time (Ha!) this summer, also carving spoons and perhaps some sculpture, but I prefer from way back, to create utilitarian objects rather than dust collectors (art). And as I love wood, I like to see wood, so little to no decoration.