matto Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 for the new year i am doing a shop inventory and am tring to put a value on stuff, for my own knowlege and insurance. how do you all value your stuff; leg vises, forges, anvils, hand tools and so on? you see so many different prices on things. most all of my stuff has been restored and displayed or put back into use. i think it is all worth more than what i bought it for do to time in restoring. so was wondering how you all value your stuff, matt o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Generally, for business insurance you want replacement cost new. Get a catalog and a camera, and document every last widgit. Put a printed copy someplace off premises, like a safe deposit box or an organized relative. Wouldn't hurt to place some sort of mark on everything while you are at it. Makes ID at a pawn shop or scrap yard real easy. Even though you may have bought junk and fixed it up over a long period of time, if a calamity happens, you need to be able to get it all replaced PDQ, or go out of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 good thoughts john did not think about puting id marks or stamps on thinks while i am inventoring them. i have a 141# hay budden farriers anvil that has two old owners names and dates stamped on the bottom of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigred1o1 Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 just as a side note about 11years ago i had a bunch of tools stolen from me where i was working and it was covered under their insurance as i tend to be as frugal as i can be i buy most things with the exception of safety equipment second hand with that being said i had about $800(not counting time invested in finding used good tools cheap) bucks worth of stuff taken i had a fairly complete list and i told them roughly what i had spent on things there response was thanks and find out what the replacement cost new is and we will pay for it i ended up with a check for $3500 and besides from the stress and aggravation I kind of wanted to thank who ever ripped me off as they got the short end of the deal so all in all John is 100% right if possible mark things where it is not visible unless you know where to look most of my power tools that leave the shop are marked with my name on the outside and when i can i put a second marking inside as most tools you can pull about to replace a cord you can find a spot to etch a name just my rambling pennies thrown into the ring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Where would you start valuing tools that are not made any more, like post drills, leg vise, .... Yes I can check e bay, but the prices are at each exstream, example $500 post vises, so where is a good place to start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewayforge Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 I would go look on Centaur Forge or one of those sites. Here's one: http://oldworldanvils.com/postvises/index.html priced at $700 new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Before you take photos of everything, look for serial numbers, make and model numbers, write it down on a piece of 1-1/2 inch tape and place it on or near the item to be photographed so it shows up in the photo. Also indicate where your ID mark is placed on the item. When anything happens, you have a full list to copy and give to the pawn shops, police, etc. as well as the insurance company. Do not update the replacement cost only one time and think you got it covered. Update the replacement costs annually, and show where you got the price, internet, store, etc. Again insurance will (or should) check to be sure it is the current price and replacement value. And keep a note book at the shop door and write down each new item that comes into the building, or that you make. You can easily forget that you replaced the grinder 11 months ago with the upgraded more expensive model. The note book will act as a guide during the annual update. How do you price the one off tool used for just that one job? What about the jig that you spent a couple of weeks designing for the BIG job you did. It saved you untold hours of work and now is somewhere, maybe in the corner, waiting. The big issue is how to place a value on the tools, jigs, etc that you make ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 thanks ridgeway and glenn i will check out old world anvils and centar, kayne and son, pieh, and others. i am thinking time and material cost on made tools and jigs, i might add 10% to that for business expence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 When you figure the time and materials for shop-made tooling, price it as if you were making it for some one else. That is to say, your shop billing rate per hour and replacement cost of new steel, not what you get to take home after taxes and scrap metal price. Here is where a little pride of ownership pays off: paint everything. First, it make for a better shop environment for you to work in, second, it looks better for your clients (and insurance agent) to see, and third, it makes it harder for some scumbag to sell if it looks like stolen merchandise and not rusty scrap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matto Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 john, the painting is where i some times have trouble. but everything i get gets cleaned, repaired if needed and at lease a coat of oil based poly. some things just look good naked ;) . but i do repaint a lot of my tools. a lot of guys harp at you for painting things but it is mine if i want it a certain color i will paint it that color. if you want it a different color or think it should be a "factory" color get your own. just my two cents on that. as for shop environment, i or anyone that works in my shop will always put tools back where the go not where they found them. if i left a tool out or put it in the wrong place it one does not happen very often and two it is mine i can do that. you will get more respect from me by seeing something that i have left out and just putting it in its home or if you don't know where its home is asking where it goes and then putting it away then complaining that i left it out. the other thing is cleaning up after you are done with a project. well more cleaning up every night before you/we go home. it is a lot happier work place if you come in in the morning to a neat and clean space than one that has 5 years of slag, scale and other dirt all over. and you don 't have the problem of spending half the day looking for a tool that should be hanging on the wall when not in use. plus business wise the client gets charged some in hour for clean up and making jigs or tooling for that job. it is all part of the end product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 You should see Jerry Darnell's shop. The man does excellent work, and is a great demonstrator. But if the clinker and scale gets much deeper, you might bump your head on the rafters. It looks like Pompeii, every surface has a thick coat of ash, shapes appearing thru the fog. The far of the masonry forge is a scree slope, level with the table, buried in debris from cleaning out the firepot and just pushing it over the edge. Forever. I have heard that Daryl Meier once bid on a stump & anvil in an old shop. He asked the auctioneer exactly what he was bidding on, the answer was stump, anvil, and all the tools on the ground around it. After the sale was over, he got out a rake and shovel, and filled a bucket up with tongs and hardys unearthed from the accumulated scale on the ground around the forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picker Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I would also suggest memorializing your stuff in photos, and videos, then upload them to photobucket or other off site source for reference. Even on to a flash drive that you might secure in a safe deposit box or home safe. Insurance companies are in it to say "no" to your claims unless there is some evidence of it's actual existence and ownership by you. I have all my musical instruments photographed, or on video with me playing them, and saved. Most of my tools are photographed with my touchmarks on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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