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I Forge Iron

What did you do in the shop today?


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It hit 122F at my place yesterday, and today is supposed to be another scorcher......already 108F at 10am.  It is windy at 29mph and 8% humidity, so going outside feels like a hairdryer to the body. Absolutely no relief from the wind.  Would be a good day to do sundried tomatoes as it only takes a day with this kind of weather. 

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17 hours ago, Cannon Cocker said:

 I am the latest custodian of my great grandfather's anvil. 

I love that terminology, the latest custodian. 

Makes me wonder, there is only myself and my brother in our family line. Neither of us have kids and at 48 I'm not planning to start. I would hate to think of my anvil going scrap when I'm gone. Hopefully a long way down the line but still worth thinking about. 

Sussed it. If I don't find a good home for my forge when I'm too old to use it or I go suddenly I have a plan. 

We are due to update our will and when I do the executor will be instructed to come to this forum, read it a bit to find out who the shall we we say senior posters are at the time and they can decide who is deserving of it being gifted to. 

Ideally someone enthusiastic with developing skills but not having much equipment. 

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Dear Dax,

Just make sure that you use a good solicitor to set this up and whoever you nominate as executor understands your intentions.  Also, make sure you nominate secondary or tertiary executors in case the first executor pre-deceases you.  A good solicitor should be able to go over all the contingencies with you.  You may want to designate a portion of your estate to cover shipping.  Or, alternatively, you may say that the recipient must be in the UK and be willing to come to Leeds to pick things up.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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I had not thought about shipping. I will ponder on it, I would rather it remains in the UK because there seems to be a lot more available in the states but then there are a lot of members in other countries too and at the end of the day a couple of grand from my estate for shipping is nothing in the grand scheme of things. 

I already have 2 executors set up, one is 27 and the other is 18 so I should be covered there. 

It was an off the cuff idea yesterday but the more I thought about it over night the more I love the idea. I will be discussing it with the Mrs tonight and making her aware of the idea. Unfortunately if I go first she will want to sell up but I will do all I can to make sure my toys go to a good home. 

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I do a certain amount of work with estate planning in my job, and one thing I always say to people is "Make everything super clear, because you're not going to be around to answer questions!" At the same time, you have to make sure that you're not locking your executor into doing something that was possible at the time you make your plans, but no longer is at the time of your death.

I would personally suggest contacting BABA, the Worshipful Company, the Hereford College of Arts, etc and see if they would be willing and able to eventually help your gear find a good home. If you can establish a connection in advance, that would make things a lot easier for your executors.

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I've been to several shop dispersal estate sales run by local blacksmithing groups; one was at a smithing conference and the other was sold within the group.  I felt the pricing was fair to both sides and the equipment went to people who would be using it not trying to flip it for a greater price.

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Our local group recently was the benefactor of an entire shop- anvils, vises, swage blocks, machinery etc, on down to the little bits and bobs found under benches and in dark corners. They advertised ahead of one of the regular meetings  and set the big stuff up as a silent auction, the smaller stuff was set out individually or small lots as appropriate for the 'Iron in the Hat" style auction, and a few random pieces set up as door prizes. Everyone went away with something, with the receipts going to the group. This was actually the last meeting we had, in Feb. Everything else has been cancelled, including the Aug. regional meeting we were going to have at CMA in Johnstown. Grrrr...

Steve

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Sounds like a good way to do it, Stash.  Yup everything in the world is cancelled due to the Chinese Virus.  I'm pretty bummed out myself.  "Was" going to my first Hammer In in September.  Arranged the start of my wood carving class around it and made a bunch of other schedule changes in my life and now....................I'm beginning to think life is cancelled!  Frankly, most of the panic has absolutely nothing to do with the pandemic.

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When a long term member of my local group died and we held the sale internal to the group there was a limit to the number of things you could buy first go around as they wanted to be sure everyone could get something to remember him by.  No problem going back for more, you just got back in line again.  Silent auction on the big ticket items as well and as it was a clean to the bare walls deal, after the first hour they dropped prices; repeating till it was all gone.

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Sounds like the kind of sale I'd like to attend.  The two estates I had to get rid of for the family happened when I couldn't afford to buy much of anything more than a piddlin little knife here and there.

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I plan on giving my stuff away while I am still alive. That way I will know it will be done to my liking. But I will also have the written instructions as a backup.

Yes Thomas, underground is smart in the desert. My basement is 20 degrees cooler at the bottom of the stairwell than at the top.

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Frosty,

Don't plan on going first.  Martha was 8 years younger than me and she got a terminal diagnosis in her early 50s.  She made it for another 6 years but here I am 6 years after she passed and 12 after she was diagnosed.  Life is full of surprises, not all of them good.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand." 

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I thought we had balanced things out when I married a gal 10 years older than I was; then I got Adult Onset Type 1 diabetes. (I told her she should have gotten the extended warranty!)  My shop will help fund her retirement if I go first and be a consolation if vice versa.

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18 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

I've been to several shop dispersal estate sales run by local blacksmithing groups; one was at a smithing conference and the other was sold within the group.  I felt the pricing was fair to both sides and the equipment went to people who would be using it not trying to flip it for a greater price.

If I go first the Mrs would sell the stuff and rightly so but if I'm last man standing I want it gifted to someone. 

My Anvil is a London pattern with a 22 / 6 inch face and is 36 inch long in total, that and the swage block cost me nothing but a bad back loading them in to the van. 

Now hopefully I will still be hammering on it for the next 20 or so years but you never know. Hopefully in the next 20 or so years this will still be a fantastic forum full of helpful people sharing their advice and experience to other people and if that's the case I definitely want the members of this forum to decide who my gear is gifted to, that could be all to one person or parcelled out to a few people. If the forum has anything like the caliber of people it has today I know my toys will end up in the right hands. 

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Billy,

Make sure that you leave instructions for your tools to be broken or otherwise "killed" before they are buried with you.  Otherwise you will be unable to use them in the afterlife.  Spirits can't use mortal objects and mortals can't use spirit objects.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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