Woodworking Legacy - What's yours? (Long)

[Hank Knight]

This topic comes up from time to time. I've ignored it in the past, but I need to deal with it. I would appreciate your thoughts and input, especially from you older guys.

My daughter, my only child, is an artist and a teacher. She teaches studio art (painting and drawing) in college. She has enjoyed projects we have done together in my workshop, but I don't think she has the interest or inclination to become a serious woodworker. Her husband, my son-in-law, is a computer wiz and a theater techie. He does light and sound for the Kennedy Center in D.C. His craft skills tend toward construction applications - he's a "get a bigger hammer" kind of guy. My grandson is 20 months old - a little early to determine if he has any aptitude for or interest in woodworking.

I have been interested in woodworking all my life. Over the years I've built a pretty complete woodworking shop equipped with high quality machinery, power tools and a lot of excellent hand tools. I always operated on the premise that you're better off in the long run if you wait until you can afford the best, so most of my tools are top of the line. I love them. They have given me a lot of pleasure over the years. I would like for my kids to appreciate them.

My quandry is what provisions should I make, if any, for the disposition of my shop when I'm gone or can no longer enjoy it. The gritty bottom line is that I won't be here, so it really doesn't matter. Nevertheless, I have some concerns. I cringe at the thought of my handmade Chutaro Imai laminated white steel slicks being used to open paint cans, or my pristine set of Bedrock bench planes rusting away from neglect in some unheated garage somewhere, or my tools being sold at an estate auction for 10% of their true value to people who have little idea what they are. How do I pass on an appreciation of the historical, cultural and material value of these tools to my kids? The answer is that I probably can't, but I feel an obligation to try. So I have a plan.

This year my project is to compile a thorough index of my workshop, complete with photographs, descriptions, comments, relevant instructions and a valuation. I will begin with my shop layout and locations of all machinery and tools and I will organize the machinery, tools, equipment and supplies in groups by type. I have kept most of the purchase information and manuals for my tools in ring binders and much of the original packaging and boxes. This should be helpful in evaluating the shop for estate purposes or liquidation and for packing for a move. In the commments, I will discuss any unique or significant aspects of individual tools so they aren't overlooked. For example, I think my kids need to know that that rock in my sharpening drawer is a very fine $500 natural Japanese Honyama finishing stone, and that my drill press is one of the first pieces of equipment sent to the Savannah River Nuclear Facility when it opened in 1951. My plan is to keep this document in a file on my computer and copy it onto thumb drives for attachment to my will and distribution to my wife and kids. I hope this will provide some insight and guidance for my family when the time comes to relocate or dispose of my shop. I think this is about all that I can do to quiet the anxiety I feel growing in my heart about this.

What do you think? Am I overthinking this? Am I being overly sentimental over a bunch of cold iron and steel? Am I acting like a fussy old maid? Do you have plans for your woodworking legacy? What are they? I would appreciate your thoughts, suggestions and comments.

Hank.

[Arlin Eastman]

Hank

I do not believe you are overthinking this or being overly sentimental.

Both of my daughters are not woodworkers but my grandson is nor are either of my SIL's.  So I plan on giving all of my stuff to the Vet center I am almost done with and save some of the stuff for my Grandson when he gets older.  I will also leave some of the stuff in the garage so when he comes over to visit he can use it then.

On my woodworking legacy all I hope to do is have at least 1 Vets Arts & Crafts center in every state that is close to a lot of retired vets and hopefully active duty and disabled vets also.  I know I will have to find out just where that is in every state to get it done.

Friday I just talked to the Chamber of Commerce lady I am working with and she talked to the city and we now have a 12,000sf building to get everything done in.

So for legacy I just want to be known for helping the disabled and anyone else who wishes to learn woodworking, painting, photography, clay, porcelain, machining and welding and maybe a few others before I die and after I die and to teach others to care about their fellow man.

[Bill Holt]

Hank, you have put into word some of my thoughts.  I'm 71 so I think I have a few more years to enjoy my shop.  Our son is very good with construction tools but has no interest, at this time, in having a shop.  Our daughter and son in law have no interest.  Of the seven grandkids, one loves to spend hours and hours in the shop.  He has little interest in hand tools but is very creative in general.  If I should be so lucky to be able to use the shop another 15 years, I think my power tools will be worth very little.

I do have a nephew interested in woodworking and I would be very happy to pass my power tools on to him.  As for the hand tools, I'm afraid they will likely rust away.

Another concern, if my lathe goes out, do I replace it....with what?  Planner?  Dust collector?  By now, all the power tools have proven their value, but a new replacement - will I have time to prove its expense?

I do like your idea of recording facts, use, value, etc. for the hand tools.

[Admiral]

I take a different view. I rarely buy new tools. I hunt, and recognize value. I've accumulated vintage and LN and LV tools for less than their market value. I take the view that at my estate sale, some folks will get bargains, just like I did at other' sales. What goes around, comes around, so I am comfortable with whatever my heirs decide to do with my shop, And anyway, I'm dead!

An unusual point of view, but it's mine, LOL

[Handplanesandmore]

"Am I overthinking this?"
Can't really say if you are or you are not as you are the only one who can decide.

But it is a resounding yes to me as I would not worry about such things about my shop. When I am gone, I wouldn't worry how much value my estate would recover from my tools or collections. 

It's fair to say that my tools and valuable stuff will be long gone (unless I kick the bucket without any warning, for example, in an accident or from an instant & massive heart attack) before I am near my dying time. If you plan to work till the last minute of your physical life, that's another story but I don't. 

I have enjoyed my woodworking journey but it is just one of the many in my life and when I am past 70, I don't foresee myself spending any more time in my shop building. Other than keeping some basic tools for repair work, I will have sold or given away the majority of my power and hand tools in my late 60s/early 70s. I admire those who keep on woodworking in their late 70s or early 80s. Definitely not my plan -- whether physically capable or not.

I do keep a video record of tools for insurance purposes only.

Simon

[daddo]

My dad, step dad, father-in-law and another man I called dad, all diddled in woodworking. My step dad the most. He also welded and did all the home repairs and auto repairs. I learned a lot from them all and enjoyed my time with them and I do miss them all. I miss having someone to share it all with and sometimes I have thought of just giving it up. It seemed I depended somewhat on the ambition for it others had- it made it interesting and a little competitive in coming up with ideas. There was always someone who appreciated the work it took to make a certain project.
Family passes away and friends move. My kids never got involved. They had band, school, scuba diving, learning to fly, work, volunteer firefighting, and of course friends. Then moving away to college ......marriage.......... We have great kids and that makes me proud.

  I have built all types of furniture and done just about all types of woodworking there is in one form or another. The same with metalworking. I have overhauled a few engines and completely restored a couple of old jeeps. I surprised my son when I helped him replace the clutch in his Honda Civic- he thought perhaps I was all talk.  I repair everything in the home except electronics.
If I need the tool, I go get it.  But nothing can replace someone to share it all with.  

 My kids are starting their lives- I am the last one. There is no one to carry on my knowledge.  I do help them over the phone when something needs to be fixed or advice on how it should be done and who to call.  They do mention they wished they had paid more attention in my shop and my advice to learn- or have to pay someone else.

  They won't know what to do with my shop when I'm gone. The machines and tools- just in the way.
  I started when I was 16. That was 46 years ago and I loved every minute of it.

 My legacy?  It will be; "I wish dad were here- he could make or fix anything".

 Therapy session over.

[Admiral]

Well put.

[wjt]

I read your post and it reminded me of a letter I sent to my daughter a while back. I told her it was for our 3 year old granddaughter sometime down the line. My father passed away 20 years ago.

Here are a few excerpts from that letter.
________

Your great grandfather was not a woodworker in the sense that he didn't build fine furniture. He did, however, build things from wood.

A lot of panels for confining livestock.

Bunks for feeding cattle and troughs for feeding hogs.

A flatbed for loading bales of alfalfa and straw. This was made from beams salvaged from an old house we tore down.

A hay rack that fit on an iron wheeled running gear that was salvaged from some piece of equipment no longer in use.

We broke bales of alfalfa into the rack which was pulled into the cattle yard where the milk cows could dine at their leisure.

He built an addition on to our house.

He built new cupboards for Great Grandma's kitchen.

And a dog house for our long hair collie – Charlie Joe

The dog house was a miniature house with studs, rafters and shingles. It was large enough for us kids to go inside which we did to place burlap bags full of straw for Charlie Joe to lay on. It was a marvelous structure painted white with green trim. To my knowledge Charlie Joe never entered it. He would sleep outside the entrance and look in occasionally.

The 'tool shed' we had was a small building maybe 10' square that had no door and about as many holes in the siding as boards. When the snow came in the winter time we would have to brush or scoop off snow from the workbench. The better tools were kept in boxes so they were kind of protected. But things were accomplished.

All of these things are long gone.

The last year your Great Grandfather was alive the nursing home activity director helped him make a little plague. It is a dog in copper relief. The features are pounded out with a hammer and then nailed to a simple two part wood backing. It has hung in my shop for several years.
_______

All this is to say it is not the tools that are the legacy but what you do with them in the things you make and the knowledge and appreciation of the makers that produce them.

[Adnick]

Would have loved to have had the opportunity to keep my grandfathers tools, but they went to his kids.

Due to my physical condition my Wife and I discussed this at length, decided to pick it a few keep sakes for the kids and then she would sell some of the high dollar items and give the rest away.

However that sort of changed with a new daughter in law that has a passion to learn woodworking and a granddaughter, who so far, would rather build something in the wood shop than play on her iPad.

Plus the biggest problem, what's the stuff really worth? That's the main reason I went ahead and identified the family keep sakes....

Good to have a plan,

Andy
mos maiorum


mos maiorum

[museumguy]

I think of this very topic quite often, in a slightly different aspect. My Dad and I were never real close. We did a few things together up until I was 18 and my parents divorced. Those few things that we did do together, are some of the best memories I have. He passed away in 2004. My daughter and step kids never knew him. He had a tool chest that he hand made many years ago. I thought that it was long gone but found out that my sister has it and is willing to give it to me. When I looked inside, the joy of seeing it was overwhelming. Most of his tools are still there. Now, my quandary. What do I do with my Dad's stuff ? My daughter will probably sell it for drugs. My step son is a carpenter that wants to be a furniture maker. Would he even appreciate something that belonged to a man he never knew ? My step daughter wouldn't appreciate my Dad's stuff. I've talked to my wife about this on a few occasions and I have no real answer. As for my tool collection, all I ever told my wife is that except for a few special tools, she can sell the rest for a small fortune, lol.

As to the original question, no, you are not over thinking it. We all think about it to some extent.