The Craft Value Paradox of Woodworking by Hand vs Machine
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- I've spent my entire career in a tug of war between the expediency of machine use and the romance/craft value of hand tools. I've pondered it, read lots of books about it, and of course, lived it in my own shop. As always, I have thoughts about these things, and in this video, I share some of those thoughts.
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Well said!
The content of your channel is very refreshing. Keep it up!
Beautiful sentiment
That is one of the best commentaries on the topic that I've heard. Thanks for putting it together for us.
Ryan, excellent post, enjoying your journey keep up the excellent work! Columbus Michigan
Thank you for promoting hand tools, even if you feature a DeWalt power planer in the background😉
Amen! In Agreement Bro!
Well said. I belong to a woodworking club with over 100 members and the focus is overwhelmingly on machine woodworking. I doubt if more than a handful would pick up a hand tool other than to use a chisel to scrape off excess glue. I have a well equiped workshop but am moving more to using handtools because that's where I get the most enjoyment.
It took many decades of refinement and deadends in order for machinists to develop the technology to approximate handmade joinery. The ability to distinguish the aesthetic consideration between the two seemingly happened overnight
Thought provoking. Thanks.
One of your best presentations. A truly wonderful philosophy.
Great dialogue! Thanks for talking about this. I too am handtool guy, hand cutting my dovetails and also being terribly protective of my hand planes. I couldn’t live without them. But IO also have a large CNC machine. I do lots of carving on my CNC, but then can’t wait for the cut to finish so that I can take my work to my handtool bench and spend hours doing handwork which the CNC cannot do, or adding my personal touch with traditional hand tools. So is this hand made? How much handtool work tips this over from machine made to handmade? What if I use my Fordom micromotor to carve with after the CNC? What if it is a combination of CNC, micromotor, gouges and sweeps? For me _creating_ is the thing t hat gives me joy and fulfillment. At the end of the day, I don’t really care how much of each tool I used. I have created something, and that makes me smile.
I just bought an unmarked craftsman made vintage marking guage for $30 that I wouldn’t swap for a Festool Track Saw…..I’m serious!
Great discussion. I’ve often thought the online woodworking community gets a little too focused on whatever motivation the particular commenter espouses and assumes that anything else is somehow less. I like how you stated that motivations change with time and that it’s all okay. I’d love to see a video about your favourite books sometime, woodworking or otherwise.
In my opinion Woodworking is putting tool to wood to create something whether or not the tool is powered my human power or by a motor. I use power tools to save time. I do hand work on items I enjoy or that I can't do with a machine, such as a ball and claw foot or a hidden compartment. I woodwork to relax, for enjoyment and for the pride I feel when I create something. I am not going to deprive myself of modern technology (money does that rather effectively all on its own) to meet someone's opinion of what woodworking is or should be.
Good thoughts. About a year ago I was spending my week days away due to work, returning only for weekends and has been about half year since the last time I cut a dovetail ( and even then havent made that many of them. On the first weekend, I built a carcass for drawers that would fit into an open shelving unit in my workshop. Next weekend I made the first drawer, the other weekend I made the second and after the final one. While all of them were done using the same techniques, you can clearly see by how the mistakes were made less and less as I was getting less and less rusty. I still make plenty of mistakes, but like you say, it is part of the process and something that gives the peace value that it might othervise lack.
Enjoyable presentation. Thank you. I enjoy using my hands to make something. I want the skill. That's where it starts from me. The ATC and Paul Sellers both heavily influenced me as I was ust starting. I didn't know why at first. It came to the fact in my day job I had moved from being a hands on scientist working in a lab (doing highly techincal work) to middle management working behind a desk. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed/needed to work with my hands until several years after I left the lab. Woodworking has filled that need. At the end, I have nice furniture for my home and gifts for my friends and family.
You touched on the reason I do almost exclusively hand tool woodworking. At my advanced stage of life placing my hands in the vicinity of a sharp blade spinning at high rpm’s is a little scary. However, I have found greater pleasure in using my hand tools.
A true wood and wordsmith. Truly enjoyed this video.
Keep up the great work and educating your followers.
Thank you
It’s the heavy time consuming tasks that make my decision. Resawing a narrow board is no problem but as soon as it’s 4 inches wide I’m less enthused to start sawing. Everything else I’m enthusiastic to do by hand. I switch between machines and hand but it’s usually based on scale. Table saw is very effective for cutting plywood/large or otherwise not something I’m making beautiful. Often neglected brace and auger bits get used every few months. I think about the choices all the time.
Awesome video.
I'm new to woodworking and learned very fast that I want to work with hand tools almost exclusively, I love the feel of the tools in hand, the effort it takes to go from an ugly board or log into something that can be used for a beautiful piece of art. Its also so much nicer not having loud machines going all the time, brutal dust and space being taken up.
When it comes to CNC's, well, lets not get started on those ...
Thanks for an insightful discussion. I agree with a good bit of what you say, but aren't so "swept up in the romance" of hand tools. Art always includes an element of craft and vice versa. They can't be fully separated (science and engineering are similarly entangled). Guess I'm more of the type you mentioned where I want to express creativity in the design and aren't as concerned about how I get there. I also think Marc Spagnuolo has a point about "hybrid" woodworking. To each his own.
Interesting commentary RC. I use both machines and hand tools but, enjoy hand tooling more. I'm of the opinion that in woodworking the word "art" is rarely used when it probably should be used more. I think there's a confusion between value, utility and art. I don't buy machine created art, it's all human created but, "art" by its very nature is variable. Machine created goods can look amazing but, are bought mostly on the basis of value or utility. I think furniture is a good example. Most people buy furniture for its looks 1st and value and utility as a secondary measure. I've frequently had people say that they could buy items similar to what I make for less from a retailer and my answer is always the same; go for it. I can't nor will I ever try to compete on price point/speed. Some people get it. They buy for perceived artistic value and the true one of a kind nature of hand made goods. These folks are in short supply, they expect to keep such items for a lifetime or longer passing them along to their children/family. The true struggle is to find the right patrons.
Now, the entire issue of what constitutes "woodworking" these days is a charged topic. Of course the folks who use CNC machines, lasers and other technologically advanced equipment clearly identify as woodworkers regardless of my thoughts and, in turn, I make no judgements. Perhaps the idea of what a woodworker is in the eye of the beholder. Just as with art, it's all about personal perspectives. I watch videos of a few builders who like to make the infamous "river epoxy" tables. I think they are very skilled and may have an artistic eye for composition but, I don't consider them artists. I can't help but wonder if the test of time will support this notion. I consider the work you do as well as my own to be art. Given that, I can't make a comparison to machine made goods because no machine can create art. Even AI systems use the algorithms created by humans to make "near art." To remove the human factor is by default relegating the product to a non-art product. It may be attractive, of great value and utility but, it's not art.
Well said, almost sounds like something chatgpt would offer up, just kidding 😂. You are very articulate 👍 I want to bet that if we had a time travel device and could take power and power tools back to the first woodworkers they would take advantage of the speed and accuracy that they provide. However, I love both hand tools and power tools and try to use hand tools as much as I can. I don't think people should be in a group where that says people should only use hand power over electric power or vice-versa. Even the Amish use some power tools now to produce lumber from big trees. To me, both machine and hand tools are acceptable, and people should just enjoy working with wood despite the method.
Heck, the circular saw was invented by a Shaker even: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabitha_Babbitt
@@themountaintopjoinersshop8422 lots of the people that only used hand tools were trying to find more efficient ways to woodwork👍
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