Musing about doing as I'm saying, not as I'm doing.

I believe in a "fair crack of the whip", if the tool is worth x he should have paid x but that`s me. I discussed this with my wife a while ago who said she would leave the workshop as a shrine :), seriously though, the receipts are all in a file, between herself and a friend the tools would be sold for what they are worth.

"Arch" wrote:(clip)He had offered the widow of a recently deceased woodturner $8.00 for his Glaser and Sorby bowl gouges and she accepted. She is not too well off, but he saw nothing wrong. He was smug and even laughed during his gloat. (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I think that's disgusting. Maybe some of the people who witnessed the gloat, or otherwise know what a S*** he is will have a chance to get back at him. One thing not to do--when he dies, don't punish the widow. She's been punished enough. (And I haven't even met the guy.)

On the wall of my shop is a sign Grandson 1 gets auto tools Grandson 2 gets woodworking tools The 3rd borrows what he needs I just hope my kid stops having babys...... Jr

Tough question, about did he rip off the widow.. Seems that a lot of folks that have money got it by being cheap and wheeling and dealing, but there's a place for that.. IMHO, if the tools were marked that cheap, I'd sort of ask the lady if she was SURE... It sounds like she had no idea what she was selling.. OTOH, maybe she didn't care and just wanted them out of sight and mind..

My will says that my wife gets everything and if she wants to share the tools with our kids, that's up to her.. She probably knows the value better than I do, I buy the low or mid range stuff and she buys the more expensive stuff for me..lol

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Watch your back..lol I figure that between life insurance and tools, I'm worth a hell of a lot more dead than alive..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

"mac davis" wrote: > Tough question, (clip) if the tools were marked that cheap, (clip) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Mac, did you miss this line in the original post: " He had offered the widow of a recently deceased woodturner $8.00 for his Glaser and Sorby bowl gouges and she accepted." Not a touch call at all--the guy is a cheap, dirty bastard.

Hi other Leo I read that part Leo, and that's where the real difference comes in, to go in and rip off someone vulnerable, and than have the guts to gloat about it. A dirty bastard, yes a real low life, scum I'd call one like that, equal to someone that comes in and steals your stuff.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

I have no doubt that you're right about the guys character, Leo.. I'm just saying that IF the tools were marked/offered for too low a price, I'd ask if they were sure, but a lot of folks would just figure that it's a good deal and gloat.. I've been called an idiot before for asking folks if they were really sure on pricing something if it seemed too low.... Guess it's all those years selling real estate..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

"mac davis" wrote:in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Mac, I understand now. Let's jump from woodturning and ethics to what may seem like a trivial grammatical point. If you had said, "If the tools *had been* marked/offered at too low a price," I would have had no quarrel at all with your response. I agree with that version exactly. By the wording you used, I got the implication that the tools might have been MARKED at those low prices.

I am a curmudgeon, who hates to see the subjunctive mood fading from the language, and this is a case where it did make a difference. Usually, I admit, it DON'T.

I shop at flea markets regularly, and I have sometimes offered more than the asking price for things, when they were REALLY worth it. The result is that, over time, these vendors have come to know me, and I get bargains.

IOW, ethical practice is a good gimick .

Well, that's probably still a long way off for me, so my solution is to have put a large enough insurance policy on myself so that if something untimely were to happen to me, my wife would not have to worry about money from my tools or any other source for quite some time. The life insurance in question might be overkill, but I figure that if I should happen to die young, there's no reason not to leave an independantly wealthy widow.

In a longer term, I try to find good homes for any tool I've replaced, going more for getting them into the hands of someone that will use and appreciate them more than by figuring out thier actual value. I figure I've already got my money's worth out of most of the tools I own, and can afford to let them go cheap, provided I already have the replacement. Once I get too old to enjoy using them, I intend to find a young woodworker and/or machinist to pass them along to before I go- and if I can't bear to part with them for old times' sake, I'll draw up a will to that effect.

The last thing I want to think about is a lifetime's worth of accumlated tools being divided up and auctioned or sold at a garage sale to become somebody's gloat- I'd much rather let them all go together for nothing, and know that they're entering the care of someone who needs them and will use them.

this is timely - I've been building up my metal working tool kit, and I see a lotof auctions on ebay that say "my father was a machinist, don't know what these are" - so, here are some things you can do

1. make sure someone in your circle of friends/family actually knows what hte stuff is, and what is very expensive and what is not - in this case I have one very technically minded daughter, but it could be anyone

1. make some written arrangements

2. if you are infirm it's best to dispose of while you are still in control - though that is a distressing thought