My husband and I have been discussing this very thing. His tools are plumbing tools and a few carpentry tools. As our youngest son is a plumber also and runs our shop, he will inherit those trade tools. The oldest son will get the carpentry tools (he does a lot of woodworking like you). He will also get my father's small woodworking tools.

Do you have younger acquaintances that are heavy into woodworking? How would you feel about leaving them tools that they may not have? Have you thought about any of your local public school woodworking classes (if they have any in your area)? I know schools are extremely underfunded and would probably be most appreciative of some of your tools. How about seeing if you could find a young person just starting in woodworking that lives close by that you could take under your wing and mentor. If they showed promise you might consider leaving them some of your tools.

It's is a hard decision to make about things that are meaningful to us if we do not have a offspring that is interested in the same thing. Best of luck with settling on a solution that feels right to you and your son.

The members of WoodNet(www.woodnet.net) have helped families deal with that situation many times. From suggesting prices based on pictures to a member driving 400 miles round trip two weekends to survey, catalog, and price tools for a members widow,

The reality is that the value of a woodworking tool is much like cars, the value drops immediately upon purchase. Hand power tools are roughly about 25% to 40% of purchase price within 5 years of purchase. Beyond that, the tool may have little resale value. Large tools(good table saws/jointers/etc.) are generally about half the retail.

Hand tools can be worthless or very valuable.

Best suggestion, join WoodNet. It is free and woodworking specific. There are a lot of very knowledgeable folks there, both for power tools and hand tools. Folks love to share ideas, stories, project pictures, and generally have a good time.

Interesting topic.

I have picked up a bunch of tools from two different shops that will be in our woodworking club's auction this weekend. In both cases, the owner has gone into assisted living with early and late stages of dementia. One shop was just some of the large woodworking equipment (most of it 240V Delta, the other was a lot of smaller stuff and Craftsman brand equipment. The second case, the son was from out of state, here for just the weekend and wanted to see it go to a good home.

As president of the woodworking club, I get a lot of calls from widows and heirs. The market is reaching some saturation level as younger people are not, in large, getting into woodworking and older people have what they need other than more room. I have been referring them to a local distributor that takes in shops like this on consignment and sells them in the back room of their showroom. That's about the best I can do.

There is also a local auction house that conducts their auctions online. They have a wide client base, so they often get top dollar, but they get 50% commission. Still, I saw a used Harbor Freight box that had wear and tear go for $100 while a brand new one was on sale for $79 at the same time.

Thanks for all the tips. I will begin a database in Filemaker and discuss with my son what he would like to keep.

I'm also going to check with the local high schools. Or find a young, deserving person that is interested in woodworking.

Handymac, I went to sign up with woodnet, only to discover that I was already a member....I forgot.

my father in-law donated his tools to a shop class for teens trying to learn a trade. i know they were given to a worthy cause.

Awwww...
Most of my own woodworking tools pretty much came from a friend's father's workshop. He was too infirm to get up and down the stairs, and pretty much gave his tools to me. He was excited that I was teaching myself and was actually going to use them. He has since passed.

I read this because I have no kids and no relatives not only in my area, but who have a clue about making anything with their hands.

I worry about my extensive Japanese maple collection. My incredible collection of interesting, unique ornamental plants. I worry about my woodworking tools. I am sad that probably no one will like my home because my aesthetic is definitely not the norm.

I have a file on my desktop titled, "If you're reading this, I must be dead."
In it I'm listing how to contact people on the MidAtlantic Gardening board here for my gardens.
Different boards where I'm very active.
Where family heirlooms are, why they're heirlooms, and from whom.
What artwork is valuable and/or family.
Where the life insurance policy is to cover the care of my cats with a friend.
Where to donate my life-long collection of quilting fabric.
Online accounts and passwords.

I was working on this today when I took a break this morning and read this thread. Sad, isn't it? That there isn't anyone lusting after the things that let you create.

My husband has not only tons of woodworking tools, but he's a jouneyman mechanic with two plus tools boxes full of everything you can imagine. Should he be killed or die, I would be left with things I have no clue what they are, especially the mechanic tools as so many of them are specialty tools. I would have to have someone come and help me figure out what the stuff is.

I did have someone tell me years ago that tools always are the first to go at garage sales so there is high demand for them, and it's not like screw drivers, wrenches and the like wear out.