Selling old engineering tools - how to go about it?

[Paul_B]

This is not bushcraft but there seems to be a lot of practical knowledge on BCUK so I thought I would ask here first.

My FiL is a long retired mechanic and engineer. He started with car and truck mechanic and ended up in the oil and gas a s fitter / engineer on large diesel gensets and the like. Being fully apprenticed he also has engineered steel gauges that he had to make himself. These I doubt have any value or are worth selling on but there are a fair few measring tools such as the manual mitotoyo verniers and severl different LS Starret micrometers. All in imperial of course so quite old now. The Starrett are possibly american bought in the 60s by my FiL.

Is there a market for these tools and what is the best way to sell them? All working and should be in good nick even if not used for a while. No boxes except for the mitotoyo verniers. If there is nowhere better to sell them I might just offload on eBay and sell for a similar price to what is on there if there is something that is close to what I have.

 

[matarius777]

Rather than using a 3rd party, I would use eBay. Gauge your price by seeing how many other identical items are for sale, check their condition, also check to see what has already sold and at what price. Next, if it looks to be a popular item and there aren't any others for sale, might be worth going for the auction but if there are a lot of others for sale, go for "buy it now", pitching your price slightly below the competition. I find plenty clear pictures from every angle can sell your item even when there are a lot of others for sale. People like to be able to see what they're buying, if there are any defects, say what they are with a clear image as well. If you're actioning it, if it doesnt look to sell well (going by the already sold page, don't start with a low starting price. There are various vintage tool collecting groups on Facebook if you have to identify what something's for, some may allow selling.

 

[Stew]

Make sure you allow international sales on eBay. A lot of people are put off by the idea but I’ve sold loads of old tools for a high price that all ended up overseas - you just post it to the eBay depot who then post it on to the destination country.

 

[slowworm]

I've picked up a few tools from the various auctions. There are some auctioneers that specialise in tools as well. Even if you don't use them you can often see historical prices which would be helpful for setting your own prices.

The Easylive site is good for this, you'll need to register an account but then you can go to www.easyliveauction.com/price-guide/ and search for prices (and see auctioneers) there.

I still use imperial measurements for some tasks.

 

[demographic]

As I clicked on this thread I had the image of vernier calipers in my head.
Unfortunately I'm after metric though.
If you're putting them on Ebay I'd include Liberia and the US as countries you'll post em to cos the US still uses Liberias measurement system.
Ahem... something like that anyway.

Keep any item you think you might use, there's something very special about using a tool that's already had a lifetimes worth of use and is still capable of doing another lifetimes work.
Especially when the previous owner was a relative.

 

[Paul_B]

Just realised there are a a few Starrett Depth micrometers. They are more expensive than normal micrometers. I also read a bit and some sources say that the only two brands that you can guarantee a quality product through their production range is Mitotoyo and Starrett. Some of the other noted brands were good but dropped off in quality or their quality rose and dipped over time. One source basically said you can only be sure that Mitotoyo and Starrett will be good if bought used. Subject to damage and mistreatment of course.

Now I just need to get them all together and especially dig out and sort the depth gauge rods too. Unfortunately no cases for the Starretts only the Mitotoyos. Looking on Amazon Starrett depth gauges sell for £280 to £680 depending on the extras with it. Used I have seen about £60 for a micrometer. Pricing will take a bit of research I think. I hope it is worth it.

I guess the imperial will be an issue for europe so I might have to sell to USA. I have dealt with ebay in my last job where I ran the ebay shop. We included UK delivery but when we sold overseas we often delivered to the same address down south for onwards shipping paid for by the customer. It might pay to sell to USA as well. That is a good call @Stew thanks.

@slowworm If you want any imperial, analogue micrometers from a good brand that have lived in a padded draw of a Kennedy toolbox. Feel free to make an offer!!

I know from past jobs that USA has been on a slow journey to metric. I think I had 15 years dealing with USA and Canadian customers. The Canadians were the first to change but even the Americans changed in the end. Classic case of drawings starting to be supplied in only Imperial, then imperial with metric in brackets, then metric with Imperial in brackets and finally metric only. Having said that when I stopped dealing with Americans most had gone to metric only with some older engineers putting imperial in their emails but metric only in the drawings. That was about 15 years ago. Although the Texan company was resolutely Imperial only at that time. Considering who their only customer was I find that worrying personally. Afterall wasn't it NASA who nearly lost a satellite once because they cocked up with the navigation when they converted back from metric to imperial!!

PS I made a conscious effort a good few years back to fully convert to metric. Until then I still used feet and inches for human height with miles for distance or mph for speed. Unfortunately I still use imperial for speed and distance due to road signs and speedometers in cars. I wish the UK would legally change it all to metric.

 

[Paul_B]

There are a few calipers, as in like compasses for drawing but they have curved out or inwards tips depending on whether they are for measuring inside or outside dimensions. Not sure they will have value for selling on. Same with the various hardened tool steel blocks my FiL made at the beginning of his career.

Just like slip gauges in that they have two opposing faces which are highly polished with perfectly parallel faces. Apparently machined to very, very fine tolerances as you'd expect. I think there were other blocks with holes in for measuring external diameters of something. It all looks like scrap metal but if you know about it you can spot features that show it was finely machined for a purpose.

PS I am also thinking of refurbing the Kennedy Toolbox too. Good ones are worth a bit. It has a bit of rust that I think needs dealing with, some undercoat/ primer sections and perhaps touch up paint. Also the hinges and like need a bit of penetration and lubrication too. I think that will come up good if I put a bit of work on it. This will be all new to me though. I am not a DIYer normally but I think I might like it with it all being from an engineering source. If you follow my thinking.

PPS Some of this kit might have come from USA too. My FiL was over there in the 60s doing the VW thing working his way down the coast as a kind of long, working holiday. A car mechanic and other jobs.

 

[slowworm]

If you want any imperial, analogue micrometers from a good brand that have lived in a padded draw of a Kennedy toolbox. Feel free to make an offer!!

I would be curious to see them listed but I tend to pick them up cheaply whenever I see them and probably have more than I need.

I mainly use mine for reloading, many of the reloading manuals are American and still in inches.

 

[Pattree]

. I wish the UK would legally change it all to metric

Me too.
We won’t of course, it’s far too expensive to change all the alloy road signs.

While we’re at it can I drink litres please.

Back in 1984 I went Metric - literally. I have a good perception of mm, M and Km.
cm throw me.

That said I have two beautiful micrometers, each with a torque swivel in the handle. This ensures a standard setting to the subject. They are both in thou and I’m perfectly happy about that just as I am with fag packet card for spark plugs.

The old steel adjustable spanners don’t back off like the modern stainless ones do.

I think I’d put a few items on international eBay to see how they went. If a dealer in the States takes an interest then it may become simpler.

 

[Paul_B]

I'm seeing the Kennedy toolbox as a project to get to a saleable state to maximise the price obtained. Then when it's good again I'll decide whether to sell it or keep and use it!

The micrometers and South gauges I don't want. My old job I used mostly vernier and digital ones. My first ones given to me were mitotoyo but when it failed, I lent it out to people too so it got some use, I got given a cheapo one from RS. Never had good ones after that. The mitotoyo height gauge played up. That was a big thing on a thick granite topped table. I ended up with a 20 plus yo large mitotoyo vernier, 300mm or more I think. Weighed a lot!

There was a mitotoyo micrometer, digital but I didn't use it as vernier was accurate enough for our tolerances. You don't always need the accuracy of micrometers.