Planning for our Estate Sale

[C-Bag]

Recenty a house in my neighborhood went up for an estate sale. The family did not want to deal with moving machinery out of the basement and listed the hose as a handyman special with included shop tools, fully furnished. It sold real fast. They just went thru the house and removed obvious junk and all private paperwork type stuff and anything else that a family member wanted. The rest went with the house. They got top dollar for the house and no moving or selling required. My family has already decided that is the plan for when I kick the bucket.

Never heard or seen that before. Sounds like a plan!

 

[matthewsx]

Three thoughts here.

1. If you care about what happens to your stuff when you’re gone deal with it while you’re still able.

2. Videos of what you have will not only be more useful than written lists, but are also important if you ever need to file an insurance claim. Just make sure they are stored somewhere else.

3. How about a hobby-machinist.com foundation that members could donate to and would sell/distribute machines and tooling to support the hobby.

John

 

[Boswell]

While I am not in a hurry to figure this out, I told my wife to donate it all to the local makerspace. That way it might get used. Heck, my collection of tools might be enough to stock a new makerspace.

 

[silence dogood]

After going though more than once of cleaning up, sorting out, and unloading stuff after a person passed away it makes one think. After a few weeks that ends up a few months that ends up a few years can be emotionally and mentally draining. One thing that can help is to dedicate the bench that the machine is on to that machine's tooling. When I got my mini-mill, I built a stout bench to hold the mill and the mill's tooling, I liked it so well that I mounted my horizontal band saw on a cart that holds cutting tools such as hacksaws and nibblers. I am now in the process of rebuilding the lathe bench to hold the lathe tooling. That way the machine and it's bench will be given or sold as a unit. Hopefully this will get a better price or a least a home for the machine instead of it going to a scrap dealer. My wife is doing the same thing with her sewing (hey guys, sewers are just as bad as we are).

 

[mmcmdl]

I am in the process of getting rid of everything machine shop related . I can't pass skills or interest down thru the children . I'm keeping anything that is household related , more on the wood working line . It's painful to see things leave that have made a living off of , but it sure is nice after they are gone .

I'm a machinist by trade . It used to be a fun and somewhat rewarding trade . It is no longer either . I'm am now a data entry clerk answering to desk jockeys who have masters degrees in chart making . I can't work without a chart , so let's have 20 meetings and make a chart or 2 .

This $hi* really makes me sick and I'm throwing in the towel . I refuse to bust my arse baby sitting people who don't want to work , are never repremanded by bosses who coundn't give a rats butt about anything .

I left 4 notes on our board addresses to my manager last night . I took pictures and sent them to him saying to call me . So , as to now , no response , which doesn't surprise me one bit .

The best way to lose a good employee is to reward the bad / non-caring employees . Just hire a few more managers and buy some more whips to lash the few who care harder .

Rant over .

 

[nnam]

I am in the process of getting rid of everything machine shop related . I can't pass skills or interest down thru the children . I'm keeping anything that is household related , more on the wood working line . It's painful to see things leave that have made a living off of , but it sure is nice after they are gone .

I'm a machinist by trade . It used to be a fun and somewhat rewarding trade . It is no longer either . I'm am now a data entry clerk answering to desk jockeys who have masters degrees in chart making . I can't work without a chart , so let's have 20 meetings and make a chart or 2 .

This $hi* really makes me sick and I'm throwing in the towel . I refuse to bust my arse baby sitting people who don't want to work , are never repremanded by bosses who coundn't give a rats butt about anything .

I left 4 notes on our board addresses to my manager last night . I took pictures and sent them to him saying to call me . So , as to now , no response , which doesn't surprise me one bit .

The best way to lose a good employee is to reward the bad / non-caring employees . Just hire a few more managers and buy some more whips to lash the few who care harder .

Rant over .

I also recently quit my job, changed to another career.

 

[ACHiPo]

I am in the process of getting rid of everything machine shop related . I can't pass skills or interest down thru the children . I'm keeping anything that is household related , more on the wood working line . It's painful to see things leave that have made a living off of , but it sure is nice after they are gone .

I'm a machinist by trade . It used to be a fun and somewhat rewarding trade . It is no longer either . I'm am now a data entry clerk answering to desk jockeys who have masters degrees in chart making . I can't work without a chart , so let's have 20 meetings and make a chart or 2 .

This $hi* really makes me sick and I'm throwing in the towel . I refuse to bust my arse baby sitting people who don't want to work , are never repremanded by bosses who coundn't give a rats butt about anything .

I left 4 notes on our board addresses to my manager last night . I took pictures and sent them to him saying to call me . So , as to now , no response , which doesn't surprise me one bit .

The best way to lose a good employee is to reward the bad / non-caring employees . Just hire a few more managers and buy some more whips to lash the few who care harder .

Rant over .

Sorry to read about your frustration. Sounds like it may be time to move on, or at least have a "come to Jesus" discussion with the appropriate people (in an emotionally intelligent way, of course).

It sure seems to me that there's a need for skilled artisans in this country. I know our company has made many suppliers, sub-suppliers, and sub-sub-suppliers pretty darned wealthy supplying parts to the semiconductor equipment industry. We value quality, speed (especially prototyping), and integrity and pay for it. We also require charts, and processes, and things that may be frustrating.

Your post makes me think you're looking for feedback, so forgive me if you're not and just venting. One question you might want to ponder is "what is it that you want to do that you're unable to do and why?" I'd encourage you to think about that, and if/when you start thinking about the jerks that don't do this and don't do that, keep asking the question "why?" It's not a pleasant process, but it can be productive. Why do the desk jockeys need a chart? What story do they need to tell? Where are they coming from? It's tough, but also valuable, to put yourself in others' (especially people that determine your environment) heads/shoes/whatever.

Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss further. If you think I'm full of it, that's ok too.

Wish you all the best, and send your good stuff to Pleasanton, CA!

Evan

 

[westerner]

donate or give away to the right people now.

I have/had several members of my family who when I visited would beat me up with incessant demands to declare "what do you want in here".
When I was young, I did not recognize what they were doing.

I feel such sympathy for the idea now, that when I do find that estate sale with good stuff priced at pennies on the dollar, I simply cannot pay that price.
I will up the price or offer, or I will offer my idea of real value and walk away.

It is a tough gig for ALL those involved.
Do whatever you must to make it easier on your heirs.

 

[HMiller]

Prepay your funeral. Make sure your wife has enough to live on and hope it goes cheap to someone who will appreciate it. The kids shouldn't need an inheritance so why leave them a vacation.

Now if you are not sure the wife can make it and life insurance can't make up the difference then you need to do all you can to get top dollar. Otherwise it is just things, these inventor lists others have talked about just take away your time having fun on the machines. Quit think about the value of your junk and start wearing it out so it is worthless when you are gone.

 

[7milesup]

Very interesting and timely subject. As some of you know I came very close to not being around any more (Glad to be here). It has started my thought process on what should be done with my assets and what some of this stuff is worth. I also fly RC helicopters and aircraft, and some of those have value, although not much.
I agree with the video format option. In fact, if one could walk around the shop and point out what some of the equipment is and what the potential worth is, that would go a long way to helping the remaining family members out. Also, it might be interesting for your family to "hear" you one last time in an environment that you enjoyed.
The one thing I would not do is start selling stuff off just because you are getting of the age that "something" might happen. If you are still able to physically go out to the shop and enjoy the process, by all means, keep on doing it. "Something" can happen to any of us on any given day.