Way off Topic but need help

[Pressman]

The vast number of people with varied interests who hang out here may be able to guide me in the right direction.
My Dad is 98 and decided that it is time to sell his stuff. The Tractors and trucks we have found an auction to take them to.

But, there are 4-500 individual hand tools, these are old wood working tools; braces, planes, levels - you name it, that he has collected. These will not sell at a local auction for more than junk price, so says the auctioneer.

That means I have to sell them as I have NO room in the town house. While I know what they are I am no expert. I am hoping that someone here can direct me to a source or website that focuses on older wood working tools.

Ken

[William Yanda]

There is an auctioneer in Avoca, NY who specializes in just that. I will PM you more info.
Also, Patrick Leach, leach@supertool.com. and the Old Tool website, which allows sales and may help you connect with interested parties in your area.

[boltaction308]

The best place to start your research is ebay. I just searched for wood working tools and there was over 10,000 results.

Find items similar to yours and see if they are selling and for how much.

I am not saying that ebay is the way to sell your tools. It will just give you a good idea of what they are going for.

[EDG]

Ebay will have the largest number of potential bidders by far - the entire country can participate.

But you have to know how to work the eBay auctions to make the most out of an auction.

[w5pv]

Find their worth,make a list and post it here under the proper forum and you may surprised what you can seel here.

[mdi]

Don't buy the "junk" description until you check them out. Old (classic) hand tools are a joy to hold and use so there definitely is a market for them...

[texaswoodworker]

Vintage tools are far from junk. They are better made than most of the tools they sell today. I have restored a few hand planes over the years. They tend to clean up very nicely. Even if they are rusted, as long as they're not cracked, heavily damaged, or rusted through they can be restored.

There are people who will buy those old tools for a good price. Even if they are a little rusty. Lumberjocks.com has a sell and trade section, and is full of members that can help you.

[chill45100]

For the storage aspect of the problem perhaps a local storage locker on a month to month basis would be a solution. If there is lighting in the locker then you could also use it for some minor cleaning of the tools. Just my random thought.
Chill45100

[Pressman]

A storage locker it may be. I had to rent one for the reloading tool collection when we moved 4 years ago, it was not nice as humidity was constantly wreaking havoc on exposed steel.

I am thinking that eBAy will be the way to go. I did some looking around this afternoon and found the old tools are not as organized by category as reloading tools are. Ebay is all about great pictures and descriptions, the pictures are no problem, the descriptions are. I found another web site: www.oldtools.com that has a good variety of old tools for sale. Their descriptions will be a big help.

The picture is the collection as it is now, there is a lot of work to do, cleaning ect. before the tools are sell-able.

Thank You, everyone for your suggestions.

Ken

[pworley1]

That looks like a gold mine to me, not junk.

[bullet maker 57]

I see a lot of braces. Depending who made them, value can be there. Good luck.

[texassako]

I don't know how far they go for their tools, but you might try Dowd's Tools if you want to try for a lot deal. http://www.dowdstools.com/ . I try to hit their One Old Sorehead & One Nice Guy tool sale each year since finding them several years ago when getting into old woodworking hand tools.

[GrantA]

Don't try to clean them up beyond what a penetrating oil like pb blaster or kroil and a toothbrush would do. Some will sell to collectors, they will want as-is condition, others will sell to users, they will want to clean themselves if needed. ID be interested in some of the tools as well

[rondog]

Find their worth,make a list and post it here under the proper forum and you may surprised what you can seel here.

Absolutely! The guys here would probably buy most of them!

Or, you're in Iowa, maybe those guys from American Pickers would buy the lot. Or advise you how/where to sell them locally.

They damn sure aren't "junk"! Wow, braces, planes and clamps galore.....your dad must be a collector, there's a lot more there than just a "user" would need. I can't imagine what else must be in that shop.

[GoodOlBoy]

Absolutely NOT junk! And THANK YOU for not just dumping them or scrapping them. There are not NEARLY enough surviving hand tools left in the world.

Let me add another piece of advice on selling them. Look for ANY spoke shaves. They are like draw knives but with a much shorter/narrower blade. Primitive bow builders need them and treat them like the rusty gold they are. Don't get me wrong. Everything in that picture is a gem to me, but the spoke shaves in particular are one of the many pieces that fetch real good money in the right hands.

Again thank you for not just letting that treasure trove go to waste. Even if I personally never get to touch a single piece of it somebody somewhere is going to treasure it!

Richard

[dikman]

Good grief! That looks like a treasure trove of olde stuff! I'll bet there are collectors out there who would start salivating at that photo. Definitely don't clean them up, contrary to what anyone might tell you they're potentially far more valuable as-is.

[labradigger1]

As stated above, they are not junk. Myself, I prefer hand tools such as spokeshaves and large no. 8 type planes. To me there is more quality and pride in flattening a large slab of wood with a hand plane rather than an electric planer.
Lab

[firebrick43]

While not junk large collections of common tools brings problems for many like you. I have seen many of a family member spent way to much time trying and expecting a lot of value over common items. While a uncommon plane or brace may bring 1000$ many won't bring 25$.

Friend of my fathers spent 10 years liquidating his fathers "collection" (his dad was really a hoarder. Collectors seperate the chaff from the grain). He lost a lot of quality time with his family over those years trying to clean it up and get the value his mom knew was spent on all that treasure. At the end he confided he should of just hired and excavator to shove every thing in a hole a buried it.

An auction house that has regular consignment auctions is a great way to liquidate a collection like that. Break it up into lots. Such as a quarter of every tool type and take it to several auctions. Farm auctions are not the best for these types of tools. Don't take the whole collection at one time or your items are competing against each other. Maybe read up and look for uncommon high dollar items but remember just because it old doesn't mean it has high value. Sell those high dollar items on ebay and the chaff at the auction house.

[jmorris]

Most auctions I have been too I was always glad I was not the owner.

Sorry your Dad has to live through it but that is better than the alternative.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Sounds to me that the "local auctioneer" is only out for a fast and quick type of auction at your expense. There have to be other auction houses in your area that are probably a bit more customer friendly. There is an auctioneer in my area that just wants to group many things together to sell and then move on to another group irregardless of the value of the items. Robert