I Wonder What To Do With My Shop When I Am Gone

I'll tell a story here, maybe it'll ease some minds...
My grandfather was a jack of all trades, brought up farming, you know how that goes. If he couldn't build it or fix it, it wasn't allowed on the farm. He always had a itch to machine things, but didn't have the advantages we do now of Google and YouTube to teach himself. This is the story of just one of his machines. An old shaper, not pretty at all, he bought it at an auction for who knows what, and dragged it home. I think he used it once, and by the tiny drill press vise mounted to the table, I'm sure he wasn't successful with it. Fast forward to '97, and he was so sick he couldn't force himself to the shop anymore. Not long after, he passed, leaving his children to squabble over his stuff, even though he'd laid it all out in his will. My uncle and father ended up with the tools, and the only reason this shaper remained was because it was so big and heavy no one could handle it. Eventually during a clean out, the shaper was moved into the back corners of the main barn, covered with a tarp, and buried by a bunch of other junk by my father. Jump ahead another decade or so. I had found a huge old vise in a scrap pile, it only needed one jaw pad. Pricing having these made was just crazy. One day, I mentioned this to my father, who said "too bad we don't know how to use that old shaper in the barn".
"What the hell is a shaper?" I said. After a brief explanation of what little he knew about it, I decide to see if it even still worked. Longer story short, after some oil, and minor electric work, the old beast roared to life, and that machine made me fall in love with machining. It is one of my most prized possessions, not that it gets used much, since I bought a mill, but I would never get rid of it.

Basically the point to this whole thing is: even though he didn't give the shaper away or sell it off to an already established machinist, it still found a good home, and you never know when your old "stuff" will ignite a flame in someone to learn as much as they can about the old way of doing things. Maybe the person that should get your stuff just doesn't know they need it yet!


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I'm sure they don't, but someone will be pleasantly surprised when I am gone and they are offered a shop, the giving of which will be managed by a selected executor just for that purpose.

I'm 35, and have to admit I already have thought on this from time to time. My 14 year old daughter more than likely won't care about any of my treasures. But it didn't give me a glimmer of hope last weekend when I taught her how to use the drill press and mill for a couple simple operations. She sat there and flung her first chips, with a big smile on her face. Even my grinder&torch happy brother is coming around to realizing what these machines can do. I don't think it's a matter of interest, but being in the dark and thinking you can't do it


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I just realized that I got all emotional and forgot to add the point of my story. You have the right idea to make sure the shop goes to someone that will USE it. That's my point. Too many people are looking for this stuff just to turn it around on ebay and make a quick buck. That's a waste of all the time, effort and expense you put into it. I hate the idea that half of my dad's stuff went that way, and who knows how much of my grandfather's. What a waste.

I think about it more nowadays, I am 57 and still hope to use it awhile longer. My dad stopped driving at 92 and my uncle gave up his license at 97 before passing at 99. No one in the family shares my interest in collectible firearms and I have written instructions on how those are to be disposed of. My son-in-law has an interest in tools and works on his cars and around the house. He does not share my interest in machining and cabinet work.

My grandsons are one and four. I hope one or both develop an interest in my shop the way I did my grandfather's. If either of the boys has an interest, the stuff will be theirs. I have two rollarounds full of Snap-On, my cabinet making tools, my machining equipment, reloading stuff, and my using guns. If the son-in-law and grandsons want any of it, it is theirs. If not, I've suggested to my wife that she have a machinery dealer and gun dealer come and pick it all up for consignment.

As time goes by I've done a better job of cataloging everything and placing values on it.

Much of it will make for a great yard sale and keep my wife busy on eBay for a couple of years.

I mentioned to my wife on more than one occasion that if one of the grandsons wants to be a CPA/cabinet maker/machinist/Smith & Wesson collector, he would have one hell of a start in life.

Best regards.

Bob

There may come a time when those of us who actually have hands on skills will be at a premium.
Mechanical aptitude is something that not everyone has. After all who in this world can disassemble
some non-functional machine, determine what is wrong and make the necessary repairs to restore
function? It would be those of us who hone these skills...

Mark
Any chance that you could find a kid in the neighborhood that you could teach for awhile then decide if you want to give it to him. Some kid that likes to work(hard to find these days), but doesn't have much for resources?

Mark----the best way to find a younger person to will your entire collection to is this---join a local machinist club in your area-(we have twenty members and climbing in our group in Minn--Wisc--Iowa)-------in your group meetings you can observe younger hobby machinists to mentor, and maybe find a good prospect to will your collection to when you finish using it-----they would be close enough to move the entire shop collection to their location-------I am 71 and I need mostly to organize all my small neat stuff that some machinists may not even know the value of----just because we call it stuff doesn't mean we don't highly regard it as very important resources that someone should continue to enjoy when we are gone-----------I'm sure there are many young hobby machinists in this Hobby Machinist Club that would be worthy and proud to be the recipient of your quest,---but you need to find a member close to you that you can trust and choose-------------Dave

Mark---I notice that there is no social group for western Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio------maybe you could start one and see if there are other members in your area to join---we sure enjoy our social group in our area, and look forward to more gatherings-----Dave

I was thinking of donating it to the local Maker Space. If I get a chance to see it coming, I might trade for some makerspace scholarships but otherwise, my wife can make one call and I know they would come and take it all away and it would get used on a regular basis.