Now you know Arch, this is one your real "food for thought" winners.

I have been thinking for a long time what will happen to my tools when
I am no longer able to use them for whatever reason that might be. I
have been using/collecting/and working tools for about 35 years.

I am a contractor; I have too many tools. I have 4 lathes of
different sizes (wtih an embarassing amount of tools), a couple of
bandsaws, a nice radial saw, a table saw, a few large routers (one that
lives in its table), 4 compressors, 17 nail guns (crap!) about 60
clamps of all sizes and kinds, a jointer, a board planer, 4 compound
miter saws, a large stationary sander, hundreds of feet of extension
cords, pneumatic tool hose, and too many small tools to count like
drills, saws, etc. You get the picture; that's just the woodworking
stuff.

A literal lifetime of accumulation.

Why not take the "club approach" a little farther, and give the tools
(they want) to the club? Used tools have little value most of the
time, and if stuck with them I am thinking my significant other would
be much more annoyed than anything else. I would gladly sell them for
a lot less than they are worth (when I am finished with them) to
someone that would use and enjoy them.

I have no children, and few relatives. None have a passion for
sawdust, so at this stage I think giving/selling cheap/ or bequething
them the tools would be a waste. And it is terribly hard for me to
think that a tool that I enjoyed using for a few years and one that
made me money would be trashed.

I am thinking of my own father who determined that the highest and best
use for his wonderful old radial saw - about 35 years old - was to cut
firewood small enough to fit in his potbelly stove
that he warmed his shop with while watching TV in the winter time. It
was like a swiss watch, all machined and cast with no plastic.

He sold it to a guy that "took it off his hands" for $100 since he said
he might be able to use it, but at least he could get it out of my
Dad's way for him. He talked my Dad (a little over 80 years old with 5
strokes under his belt) that he was indeed doing him a favor, and the
$100 was because he was a great guy.

I see this all the time. But now I am thinking, how many guys would
like to turn on a Jet mini, little Carbatec or a Nova 3K variable? For
some, they would certainly scoff at this. However, many in our little
group have families and college ahead of them or are on fixed income,
so they don't have the luxury of buying something to try it out.

We took a blind survey a few months ago, and the leadership of our
group was aghast to learn how few had Oneways or Powermatics for their
hobby. No one in our group is more than a really interested hobby guy,
so while there are a few white and mustard colored lathes, there aren't
many. I was the same with scroll chucks. I take it for granted as I
have two... but some in our club have none.

With the financial burdens of some of these folks, this is not likely
to change.

While the general carpentry tools could go somewhere else, it seems to
me at the least that the club could use the lathes for demo work, or
our open workshop days and then also have a lot of the necessary tools
to turn/sharpen for some to try out.

Hmmm... the wheels are turning, Arch. Nice one.

Robert