regrets

[Frank Fusco]

My father was a professional wood worker. When he died I got all his tools. Among them was a very large belt sander. It had a 4" belt and roughly resembled a steam locomotive. I remember, as a kid having to use that thing and hated it. I was a skinny lightweight and that monster was almost more than I could control. Did I mention I hated it?
Well, when I started setting up my shop, one of the first things I did was take that hated machine to the trash and dump it.
Now, many is the time I have regretted doing that. I've passed up doing several projects because I don't have the proper means of sanding large surfaces. It would have done no harm sitting on a shelf until I needed it. Oh, well.

 

[Bill Arnold]

Bummer, Frank.

I kinda know what you mean, though. I inherited my father's tools that included a ShopSmith, a Craftsman RAS, and many other items. As I got into building more furniture, I wanted a good tablesaw along with other tools, but was limited to my half of a 2-car garage. So, I donated them to a trade school that taught woodworking. They were happy to get the stuff, but now that I have more room, I wish I had them back for the memories.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

A friend gave me his dad's belt sander. It's kind of an odd size, 4" wide but not super long. I took it apart and re-packed all the gears and bushings (yeah it's old enough there are no bearings just heavy brass internals , the outside is cast aluminum though so I reckon probably early 60's).

I told him when he gave it to me that if he ever wanted it back all he had to do was ask, and that if I ever got rid of it I'd give him first dibs if I could find him.

 

[Chuck Ellis]

My dad was a carpenter also and had a supply of hand tools... when he passed my step mother said to come get whatever I wanted... I wasn't into wood working at the time and knowing some of the tools were years old, I passed.... she sold all of them in a garage sale. Now if nothing more than for the nostalgia of having my dad's tools, I regret saying no....
I did take his little pocket tape measure, a little stainless steel case with about a 6 or 8 foot tape... It's part of my normal pocket contents... and I think of him every time I pocket it.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

I inherited most of my granddad's tools, and still have a bunch of the hand tools, although none of them are very good. One of the hand power tools was the all-metal 1/3 sheet sander that he let me use for my first woodworking project when I was about 6 years old, a little maple cutting board we made one afternoon for my grandma. I still have the sander, and ended up with the cutting board as well. I don't expect to use the sander again since it's not double grounded and the power cord is probably about 70 years old. (I could replace the cord, but I have better and safer sanders now.)

I also got his old tablesaw and 14" bandsaw, but when I moved to California I didn't have a place for them so I loaned them long term to a friend who was more into woodworking that I was at the time. He ended up using both saws a lot when he started working as a carpenter/cabinet maker. When I moved back to Albuquerque he asked if I wanted them back (he was retired by then), and I assured him that I didn't need them since I now have better saws than those ever were. I'm pretty sure my granddad would approve of my friend owning them, since they put a lot of food on my friend's table over the years.