Seeking Tax Deductible Hand Tool Donations
I mentioned in my last post that I would be starting to teach hand tool classes at the Chestnut Creek School of the Arts this year. I have added all of my currently scheduled classes and demonstrations to the appropriate pages on the site here. You can click the links here to get to those pages or the Education link in the menu above. Classes are fee based of course, and I don’t set the prices, but the tuition that the school charges is, in my opinion, very reasonable, compared to some other offerings. The seminars are free to anyone who wants to attend and may be especially valuable to you if you are planning to take one of the classes. While the current class offerings are fairly basic and aimed at the hand tool beginner, I’m hoping that the response will be positive and that we’ll be able to offer some more advanced, longer duration classes in the future. If you are interested in any of the classes or seminars that I’m teaching, you can register for them online at the CCSA woodworking registration page.
Which brings me to the subject of this post. The school has a really nice setup that they have put together for their class offerings and their open studio. Well, at least in terms of the machines. They have a fully set up machine area with lots of good quality machines, good dust collection, etc. They were able to build the studio and buy the machines with grants and donations. But their hand tool closet is almost bare. There are a couple of Irwin pull saws, a handful of tape measures, one rusty big box store combination square, and that’s about it. I’m working with them to try and get some of the hand tools they have tuned up, and help them figure out what more they need, and that’s where I’m asking for your help.
For the hand tool classes I’m offering, I am providing a tool list, and the tools are pretty basic. Anyone who has been doing woodworking with hand tools at any level for more than a few months likely has all of the tools they need for the classes. But due to the very beginner nature of these classes, some of the students taking the classes may not yet have their tool kit set up, or may not have any tools at all. So I’d like to have some spares available for students to use if they do not yet have their own, or if theirs are not in working condition when they come to the class. I know lots of hand tool folks can’t pass up a good deal at the local flea markets and antique shops so many of you have boxes and shelves of extra planes, saws and chisels. Well, now’s your chance to put these tools in the hands of a new woodworker and show them what a well tuned hand tool is capable of.
Chestnut Creek School of the Arts is a 501(c)(3) organization and all charitable donations are tax deductible. They do have information on their website pertaining to monetary donations for the woodworking studio. However, there is not currently any way to send tool donations through their web site. So if you want to send tools directly to the school for the hand tool woodworking programs, your best bet would be to contact them directly to find out how to go about doing that and getting documentation of your donation for your tax deduction. Alternatively, if you don’t care about the tax deduction, you are welcome to send the tools directly to me (I’ll be the one cleaning, sharpening and tuning up the tools that the school receives anyway). If you send the tools to me, I will personally clean, sharpen and tune them and make sure they are delivered to the school. I have all the tools I personally need, so please be assured, I’m not taking any of these tools for myself. Any tool that is sent to me will be delivered to the school and placed in their tool closet for use by the students of the school and folks attending the open studio. So if you’d rather just send tools to me, you can contact me via email and I’ll provide you with all of the necessary information to do so.
Here are the specific tools I’m looking for, based upon the classes I’m teaching:
- Rips saws, 24-28″, 5-6 PPI
- Crosscut saw, 24-26″, 8-10 PPI
- Backsaws, 12-14″, 12-14 PPI
- Coping saws
- Bench Chisels (1/4, 1/2, & 1″ sizes)
- Mortise chisels (3/8″)
- Metal jack planes (#5 sized)
- Metal smooth planes (#4 sized)
- Block planes (low angle preferred)
- Router planes (Stanley style)
- Marking knives (spear point style)
- Marking/mortising gauges
- Combination squares, 12″
- Wooden mallets (if you make them, even better!)
- Bit braces, 8-10″ swing
- Brace auger bits (smaller sizes like #4s to #6s)
- Eggbeater style hand drills
Thank you for your consideration in helping out this cause, and introducing the craft to some new woodworkers! I hope to see some of you at the free seminars and the classes that I’m teaching this year!
Tag:Classes