What made you become a Home Shop Machinist?- The Dark Side

I plan to always have the name of a trusted auction company available to my wife. Besides, if she should go first, I'll need to know how to get rid of all her crap too!
 
you guys bring up some very good points, the stuff that you and i treasure is just junk to other people and will be got rid of as such when we pass so wills and trusts are VERY IMPORTANT! as i see all you guys know that. Dave J. sorry to hear about your condition i lost my dad 15 years ago at the age of 48 to lung cancer there are not very many good things to be said about a terminal disease like cancer other than it gives you a little time to plan unlike heart attacks,strokes etc. and get some things in place and say what you need to say to who you need to say it to good luck with your treatments i hope it all works out for the best for you. good luck Chris .
 
Hi everyone great Pst here. Recently I have been fortunate enough to "rummage" through a persons shop who recently died, I knew him and I know his brothers even better...good people. They had absolutely no clue as to what things are worth...ie. craftsman 10x36 lathe w/milling attachment,3+4 jaw chucks etc. was sold for $100 before I got there to guide them. My advise take photos of each item and what "goes with it" with a realistic price they should ask for it. Let your loved ones know where this photo/info. list is in case of death. Plain and simple, if you dont take care of you tools someone else will

Mark
 
I have done this for a few of my aging friends and clients, arranged to sell off their shops at a commission.

If the items are put out for a garage sale, the widow is lucky to get a nickel on the dollars. If she goes the garage sale, CL or other route, she deals with people coming in and many will try to scam things at lower prices. This can be very stressful, plus she often does not have a clue what they are, what they do or even more importantly what they are worth.

My route is to take the shop, minus any items that were prearranged to go to heirs and put them on consignment. Tools are checked out and fixed up where necessary and then the widow gets money form the sale. I can generally get a good return on the dollar for the widow or the estate.

Myself, like Tony has stated, I have an inventory list that has been made of my tools. Make, model, serial number, description, and replacement cost or purchase price. and date of purchase if known.

After making the list I ended up adjusting my insured value with my insurance company by a sizable amount.

Mean while, if I see something that I need for the shop, I get it. The kids can fight over it when I am gone.

Walter
 
my shop is a tribute to my dad who could make "anything out of nothing" amazing talent but was one of those depression child and never "wasted" a dollar . So he never had the machinery necessary. We did have an old lathe ( about 9x36) I traded a paint job for. It had teeth missing on the gear so only had the 3 flat belt speeds, but my dad could work wonders on it.
When he died I had a hard time of it, and scrapped the lathe cause it hurt just to look at it.
I've gotten over that and I am putting together a shop he would have dreamed of. I have little machining talent but my son is a machinest and he helps me along.
I have already passed on to my son the family farm we live on, and the shop and equipment are already his. I suspect when I am gone he will make the same arangement with his son
My son calls the shop "Grandpa's place" with dads toys. If you can pass your stuff on down the line while you can enjoy the use of it with, your son and grand kids, do it . Makes every dollar spent on it priceless!
 
Mayhem said:
Whilst I am (hopefully a long way off turning up my toes - I'm 39) I have started an inventory of my tools and equipment. I inherited most of my father's tools a few years back (he was a career mechanic) and I wanted to ensure I had a comprehensive list. Initially I used Excel but then decided I wanted something more usable.

So I wrote an Access database, which allows up to 2 photographs of each entry and several documents (user manual, exploded diagrams etc). It has taken me a long time to develop it and I have had to get a help from others on an Access but it is now running pretty well. I haven't designed any reports yet but there is a really nice search function. I find it really helpful when I want to know if I have a certain size tap.

I'd be happy to make it available to anyone who wants to use it. It will take me a little bit of time to write up a basic user guide. Also, the database is split, so when I do develop reports or make upgrades the front end can be updated and the data stays safe in the back end.
Click to expand...

Mayhem

Sounds like a good way to inventory the tools. I would be interested in trying it out.

thanks

Walter
 
Count me in also. I have some friends who are Access friendly. Maybe a report viewer could be developed easily. Lots of open source stuff out there.
 
File size limit is pretty high, so I imagine it would fit. An exception could be made if necessary.
 
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