wkfinetools site going off line 7/31

[C. in Indy]

Well, this is something I didn't hope to see, but I well imagine Wiktor has his reasons:

It is time to say Goodbye!
It’s been thirteen years since I started this website in July 2005. It was, in many ways, an interesting and satisfying project for me.
I met many interesting people, and some of them became contributors to this website. I also learned a lot about old woodworking tools, their history, and use. The site was also a platform for me to continue and publish my research about the history of various industries and toolmaking companies.
However, it is time for me to close the doors and take this website offline. There are various reasons for this decision, too many to discuss here. This site will go dark on July 31, 2018.
Thanks, 
Wiktor A. Kuc

[Laid-Back]

This will be a sad loss

[Bill_Houghton]

Well, dang!  He's been such a resource.  I'd best find time to pull off the stuff I can't find elsewhere, and send him a thank you note.

I wonder if anyone will "adopt" his vast array of resources, as several folks did with the Rose Antique catalogs?

[Alan S]

He does deserve a big thanks.  His set of Bob Smalser articles alone would be a significant contribution, and there is so much more.  I hope someone can host the whole thing.

[Blacky's Boy]

Wow, that really stinks! There are a lot of great articles hosted on Wiktor's site. Heck, I think there are a couple of mine on there as well.

[jeffreymace]

Hey all,

I do some tool restoration and am a novice but avid woodworker. I was searching online about Wiktor Kuc's website closing down and came across this thread. I, too, was disappointed to see the site going down. It's incredibly valuable.

This morning I spent a few hours thinking about solving the problem of a website popping up, amassing a valuable set of information about historic tools, and then shutting down. I've done a bit of website work in the past. Today, I took a few hours and launched http://wiki-tool.org. If anyone has ever used Wikipedia, I used the same open-source software to launch WikiTool. My hope is that over time, people fill this site with valuable tool information for all.

For now, I'm funding this site. It's not burdensome, I think it ran me $50 to get going this morning. In the coming months, I hope to do two things to solve the 'ownership' issue associated with domains, hosting, and funding. First, I'll either set up a non-profit or find a non-profit to steward the organizational matters and prevent any individual from 'owning' the content. Second, I'll put in some donation plugin that allows the site to take donations and self fund.

Would be interested in hearing your thoughts, comments, etc.

[Greg Jones]

Looks like it is already offline, so if you were waiting until 7/31 to grab an article it is too late.