I am genuinely curious about this. Are there any “hand tool only” professional woodworkers out there that are actually making a living doing so without subsidized by some other endeavor?
I am a professional woodworker and I use and enjoy my hand tools but I have to produce the work to get a paycheck. To that end I use power equipment far more than the hand tools.
Bret
Replies
just guessing
My guess, Bret, would be that the HTOPW (hand-tool-only professional woodworker) number would be pretty small. Those making a living at woodworking, like you, need to be efficient to stay in business. That usually means using power tools, where appropriate, to speed the work flow. That doesn't preclude the theoretical possibility of some number of HTOPWs, but it would take some really clever marketing to convince customers of the benefits of such an approach.
The only one that comes to mind is Peter Follansbee http://peterfollansbee.com/ But I think he does a lot of teaching and lecturing which helps his income.
I think most professional woodworking shops in the 1800's had power tools in them. They needed to make money just like we do today. The quicker the better
Bret
Like you, I enjoy working with hand tools as much as possible. Back when the economy was great, and I was back logged over a year with work, I marketed the hand tool joinery approach to my customers. However, I still milled the logs with a woodmizer to produce rough lumber. I also have always used the jointer to surface/flatten lumber, and the planer to thickness it.
Thinking back, my father has one of the few pieces of furniture I have built completely by hand (except the sawmill). It's a reading table that he uses every single morning when he drinks his coffee and reads his various interests in literature. My wife also has a jewelry box made by "hands only".
I could have never made a living approaching the craft without jointer, planer, and tablesaw. Too much time is required to hand prepare 150 bf. of 5/4 lumber into prepped stock, at least in my market, and my sales ability, to compete pricewise. I was already charging at the high end of the pay scale around these parts, and didn't want to sacrifice 2 jobs a year by eliminating power tools.
I really do wonder what the actual reality would be regarding how much production loss would be experienced over the course of a year. Would it be 2, 3, 4 or more jobs?? Probably only one way to find out, and I could never have afforded to lose any jobs, let alone 3 or 4, due to slow production.
Jeff
hand tool pros
The guy I think of is Tom Fidgan who occasionally writes in knots and has been a contributing editor. From what I have read he works only with hand tools and makes his living working and teaching the craft, published a book Made By Hand . http://www.amazon.com/Made-Hand-Furniture-Projects-Unplugged/dp/1558708952
But that is the only guy I can think of...anyone know another?
Robert.
Don't forget the craftsmen at Colonial Williamsburg.
Steve,
I think it could be argued that the craftsmen at CW are subsidised by the foundation, in that they are not making a living by the selling of their products, but by demonstrating the craft. The product is sort of a by-product. Not a knock on their skills which are considerable.
I have had, in 35 yrs, one (1) customer who specified that only hand tools be used throughout his project, regardless of the cost. Other projects require extensive use of hand tools (carvings, or the restoration of an antique, for instance), as a matter of course.
Nearly all of my customers are interested in the destination (the finished piece) rather than the journey (the process), although a few of them are very knowledgeable in what the piece should exhibit in the way of tool marks, surface quality, and finish. They just leave the journey up to me, in that they don't care whether a power tool was used to dimension the stock or cut the non-visible joinery. As has been pointed out previously, it is more economical (efficient) to use electrical apprentices.
Ray
Alternatively, we could say the foundation exists because people support it since it gives them a place to see true craftsmen, at the Hay Shop and numerous shops around the town, allowing us to explore our physical culture and better understand our roots. But I see what you mean. Others likely support the foundation for other reasons, such as their work in preparing educational materials for public schools, or their work in training conservation specialists.
From the CW history page:
"In 1926, the Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, rector of Bruton Parish Church, shared his dream of preserving the city's historic buildings with philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr., and the restoration began."
http://www.history.org/Foundation/cwhistory.cfm
I'm just glad the restoration began then, funded by Rockefeller, as opposed to a more current effort. Imagine, if you will, the project being funded by, say, Donald Trump. ;-)
Yes, still a few of them left in China
Liu Shifu for one
http://lumberjocks.com/chscholz/blog/9863
Not many left though.
Many switched to a hybrid approach. I just talked to one who makes high-end furniture. For example 10 years ago a medium size panel of Chinese lattice work took about one month to finish. Now with the aid of power tools he accomplishes the same think in two days.
Chris
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled