What to do with my tools

[Ed in Tampa]

Well I am reaching the time where I need to decide what to do with my tools. None of my grandchildren seem to have any interest in woodworking and they do not have a place to do it anyhow. I do not see many young people getting into woodworking and none that I know of so what do I do with my tools? I have a nearly complete shopsmith workshop, missing the jigsaw and I have delta planner but nearly every other tool and accessories.
I would donate them but I think people care for things proportional to how much they have invested in them and I would hate to see my SS just left to rust. I would like it to be used not just collected! I would love to run into a young person that has a real desire to get into woodworking, has a place to store and use tools, that I could sell (cheap) my tools to.
Any ideas!

[edma194]

I will have to face that someday also. I guess looking where woodworking is actually done might turn up something. There are turning clubs but I hear they can be standoffish about Shopsmiths as lathes. Around here there are boat-builders, individual, institutions, and commercial shops. Maybe someone in that group would want to use my tools. Some trade and technical schools might also be interested. They are probably more interested in CNC equipment and 3D printers but some are likely to maintain a woodshop even if they mostly are cutting plastic these days.

[dusty]

Ed, you can always put that stuff on the market. Sell it and recoup some of your investment. Donate what doesn't sell to somewhere like Habitat for the Humanities or Goodwill.

If no-one in the family will use it, once you quit using it it is just stuff.

[Ed in Tampa]

Dusty I thought about Habitat but I figure they would turn around and sell the stuff. Once it leaves my hands I lose control I would prefer it to be in the hands of young wood worker. I was in a wood working club that had a fellow woodworker die, they held a more or less closed auction of his tools. Almost all the tools went to club members but the way some guys bid to spike the prices turned me off. The young guys that could have profited from the tools were out priced. Besides most of those clubs are gone now. Schools have shut down their shops and commercial shops are pretty much stocked up.

[ArtTrek]

Ed... There are community website pages in which people offer a wide variety of things for exchange or outright giving away. You might think about inviting proposals on how people would use your gift of your tools. Describe the tools, your love of them, and your hope for the recipient and then invite proposals. Could be interesting, fun, and rewarding...

Art

[chapmanruss]

Ed,

I understand how difficult it is to give up control of the tools you have enjoyed over the years. Hopefully you can find that someone or several someone's that will enjoy and continue to care for your tools as you have. That would be the best outcome. Having restored and resold a lot of Shopsmith tools that has been my hope too. My last restoration was a 75-year-old Model 10E which was going to a 75-year-old woodworker. I hope he is enjoying it. The people I have sold my restorations to seem excited about getting them. Two I have sold I found being resold but there are reasons that can happen. The first was within a year but the person had medical problems and was no longer able to use it. The second was a person, in his 30's, who upgraded from the Model 10 I sold him to a Mark V. In both cases I hope they went to someone who would care for it and enjoy using it. Unfortunately, once they leave your control you can no longer determine their long-term fate.

At some point I will have to face the same thing with my collection. My son would like to have some woodworking tools when he has a place to use them. Even my daughter would like to have a basic Shopsmith to use on occasion. As for my grandchildren they are mostly on the younger side and their interest in woodworking is yet to be determined. I don't believe that combined they would want to take on my entire collection so at that point I will have to find other interested parties to enjoy using them.

Ed,

I hope you can find the right people who will enjoy getting your Shopsmith tools.