Hand crafted. Is it still a big deal?
chiwoodworker
| Posted in General Discussion on
Lackluster reactions to gifts got me thinking. Do people actually still care? I mean it’s infinitely easier to just buy a nice knife than it is to by a blade and make a handle. Super easy to buy some ornaments on Etsy vs. turning them on my own lathe. In my 50s the time and energy to make things is in much shorter supply, the arthritis is kicking my ass, but the appreciation curve seems to have inverted. Is it just me? Does the existence of Etsy and others make a woodworker less the “guy” in the phrase “I know a guy” and more of a commodity?
Replies
Hand making gifts take time for sure. I eventually turned to a friend who makes hand made gifts (and could use the work and money) as a business. Was happy to help him financially and still provide handmade gifts. Just got a lathe recently and may turn cork stoppers, pens, etc over the year for 2025 Christmas. If not, happy to outsource to my friend (or buy some at a local makers fair) for the reasons you mention.
“[Deleted]”
Interesting question... One I have thought a bit as well... I have made a few items over the years for sale or gifts. Jewelry boxes, pens, cutting boards, ornaments, etc... In general when I have sold them I found people less appreciative of my craftsmanship and are mainly looking for "value". And I found that not very satisfying and seldom worth the time/expense for what I could sell them for.
BUT I have found people are highly appreciative when they receive a handcrafted item as a gift. Typically this has been to family members or my wife's colleagues and/or employees. In those instances I have tried to make them as personalized as possible - for instance incorporating a company logo into the design of a cutting board. Otherwise trying to come up with original designs that people have unlikely ever seen - for instance interesting segmented designs for pens rather than just turning an interesting piece of wood. Couple years ago gave recipe boxes with engraved tops that the engraving showed off an inlaid wood beneath. Far more time than you could ever be reimbursed for - but well worth it for the satisfaction of making them and for the appreciation from the recipients!
Reducing the production and giving of things to a commercial basis often demeans the whole experience. As you mention, modern people are always looking for "value" - but the only value they appreciate is cash-value. We've all been taught by neoliberal economics to think this way. "All that matters is the bottom line".
Again, as you describe, when a commercial aspect is removed from the production and exchange of things, other kinds of value besides cash value are no longer obscured. People do appreciate a true gift - something beautiful and of personal utility thought up and made by the giver rather than just another mass-produced gew-gaw from an unknown factory made by machines operated by wage slaves. :-)
************
Personally I've avoided any sort of cash-value infection of my amateur woodworking like the plague. People often say, "You could make this a business". But why would anyone enjoying the creative process want to destroy its many pleasures by becoming a book keeper & accountant also working, but only occasionally, to make things down to a price rather than up to a quality? And having to fight about the price or its payment?
Well, many do make a successful business out of woodworking. They manage to keep the playful and creative aspects whilst still making a living out of it. I suspect they also enjoy the creation of a business, though.
********
Just last week I bought a large carving knife bare blade then made a handle for it, to suit my own paw rather than some universal model of paw that handled knife makers have to assume and provide. I used the section on tool handles found in that Chris Pye book on carving tools & techniques as my guide, to great advantage, in designing, making and mounting this handle.
As with all the other wooden things I've ever made, I did it primarily for myself. Although I've given away now hundreds of wooden things I made to friends and family - who often did appreciate them - I really made them for myself: to enjoy the making process rather than what was produced (that's just a test of whether I created well).
It only matters to someone that knows and can see the difference, then it matters alot.
I’ve occasionally asked myself the same question. Just last Friday, I decided I was going to design and make a tiny (4”x 4” x 1-1/2”) splined miter box for our daughter. I chose walnut and birdseye maple. I had to go buy the B.E. maple, rejigger two table saw jigs, since I bought a new used Unisaw this year, fix a couple of mistakes, and otherwise spend twice as many hours as I thought I would. It came out great and was finished by Monday eve. She really liked it, but I was hoping for a bigger reaction.
I think anytime we give something or especially when we make something to give, it has to come from the heart and a place of generosity. The moment the focus shifts to how the recipient reacts or gives back, the beauty of giving dissolves.
Selling work is a different matter. Since she and her friend are struggling artists, we recently talked about the possibility of renting some booth space at a hip makers’ market in the Detroit metro area. We could sell their artwork and my woodworking together… I brought up the point that I’ve noticed at a big local art fair that many artists will display a piece or pieces of original work that took many, many hours to complete and are beautiful and unique. These would go for perhaps a couple thousand dollars. But the artwork for the masses are small matted prints of this work that sell for $25 - $50. This way, they can market to a broader customer base. Also, with in-person connection, customers / learn about the process, so that they appreciate the work a little more.
I’ve only done a commission once - during the financial crisis when I was out of other work for a few months. The guy had a pile of nice 8/4 poplar he wanted turned into a table. That was the extent of the project scope at the beginning. I designed, built, finished and delivered the table to him within a month. I billed by the hour and gave weekly updates. He grumbled a little about the cost, but ultimately was very happy with the end result. Overall it was a rewarding experience.
I think anytime we invest the time to also DESIGN something, there’s a chance we create something entirely unique that might be appreciated more.
I stopped doing mini production runs of anything a long time ago. It felt like I was viewed as the uncle that would rather spend an hour than a nickle. When gift cards took over for all of the young ones I made simple sleeves to hold them that were well received...essentially labor intensive gift wrap. They actually keep them and seem to like them.
One year I made up what have come to be called "asshole boxes"... gift cards sealed inside a simple glued box with captured plexi ends, just belt sanded and one coat of wax. Nobody wanted to break them open because they were "handmade". (they got over it of course)
When I do a small furniture project I usually double or triple up on parts with one being in a "lesser" lumber to test variations and operations. If any but my primary cross the finish line they'll be offered to whomever first admires the one I made for myself.
All other handmade gifts fill a specific need that I've noticed. Some odd thing that needs a frame or mount for instance. The most recent was a pc of art pottery the size of a handball for my sister (pic). These are appreciated the most.
My dad did the asshole boxes.
He would wrap a gift card in a roll of duct tape, put it in a few resin soaked cardboard boxes, wood crate it, weld it into a hermetic shell, wood crate it again, wrap it in barb wire, shrink wrap it, and paint it in tar..... and deliver it on Christmas day via forklift.
It got out of hand after a few years.
It took 3 of my step-brothers months to open it. It was always a 10$ gift card.
It was a great gift working together to figure out how to get into it lol.
:-)
I like the butt of his jibe!
Did it take so long to get at it that the gift voucher use-by date had passed?
Nope, but on the last year he put an empty 100$ card in one. well had a few cents left on it.
It was all good fun. They would try and out do him every year but he had more resources and ability so they always lost the war. I chose to ally myself WITH him rather than against lol.
Sort of related. Where I live in the SF Bay Area there is the Mount Diablo Adult education school. They offer tons of hand craft classes. The class fees entirely funds it and there are no federal or state funds involved. Once a year around the first weekend in Dec they offer a craft fair open to the public to help raise funds for the school. Since it is a fund raiser, they price everything to be sold. You can often buy things for close to what the materials cost. Amazing deals. I tell all those I know about it. A great way to get affordable hand crafted gifts and help a good cause. For example, there was a nice Shaker style entry way table made out of cherry for $400. The wood was at least $200 if not more.
In terms of classes, there, they have woodworking traditional and hand tools, wood turning many classes, wood carving, furniture restoration, upholstery, lost wax casting (jewelry focus but could be used to make small hand tool parts), various painting classes, etc, etc, etc. For the wood related classes, the instructors are published in Fine Woodworking or similar, Krenov educated, etc. I attended the wood turning club in mid Dec meeting and about 80 folks showed up. A vibrant community for sure and the costs are really low for a 12 week class - ca. $200-300.
Yes, it's still a big deal (even when power tools are used):
https://www.thosmoser.com/product/blanket-box/
Scale. I'm missing the big.
Moser used to run a little finished goods inventory I believe, now everything is built to order, just like you'd probably do if you were running a custom shop. Their build lead time looks to be ~20 weeks if the website is accurate.
I could build the blanket chest I linked in a very easy week with the equipment I have now. Four of those a month would be ~$25,000 gross revenue a month. I could live on the net - probably $15,000 to $18,000 a month.
Custom/semi-custom work is not dead.
Making a real living on pure 0ne-offs, that's rarified air.
Moser is a factory. I'm sure there is some hand work in their furniture, but when you look at the parts laying around the factory, they are slot mortised and presumably, the dovetails are minimally involved in terms of hand work - maybe not for the latter. If I were paying $6500 for a plain cherry blanket chest, I would at least hope the dovetails were done by hand, but they are in a proportion that would be doable pretty easily with machine jigs.
They apparently get at least $300k retail of furniture out of each production employee, who makes less than the median wage in the US, and with storefronts or at least did have them in NY and DC. Probably the two places in the US you can find people with the means to shop moser's list like it's Ikea. Maybe bay area, also - do the facebook engineers like shaker and semi industrial design era plane furniture enough to open the wallet?
Whether it's memphis or mauk chunk or manayunk, I've seen more businesses go bankrupt in the last 15 years - even the ones that were making custom kitchen cabinetry and built in joinery type work - the one refuge while the exotic veneer furniture types retired or went broke....more go bankrupt by an enormous ratio than those who have shown up. The higher end factory furniture also gone (stickley, a fixture in an affluent mall here - also folded up).
My parents -two teachers with a side business -bought hand made furniture. They thought it was a big thing. I don't think a house with two docs now cares, let alone a house with two teachers - if they do, I haven't met them. The spending on kids of that class has gone way up, though. Every kid is in something traveling or club or two, add a nanny if needed - and they get by with retail strip store furniture that looks more like pottery barn style.
There were a dozen or so small commissions when I was younger, and a handful of years doing a few annual Christmas fairs and making pieces for the parish charity auction, I never really focused on selling. I started as a hobby in my 20s and my first real piece went to mom. I'm not sure where the notion is really coming from.
Maybe a new audience is in order. The family has gotten enough. LOL.
Yes, there still are people who care - many. they are those who understand and appreciate craftsmanship and the quality that comes with hand made "things". this appreciation is what keep customers flocking to buy products made by Louis Vuitton, Auriou and Liogier, Lee Nielson and Veritas, Horton Brasses, fine art and ........ it's just that they are no longer the majority but a thinning minority
In the mid to late 1990s I lived in the UK. My dad, being a woodworker, I purchased some tools over there for him plus went to a local market/craftfaire and got him some turned items that I think were supposed to be for bottle stoppers. He converted them to be the pull handles for the lights in the basement. He purposely did this as he spent most of his days in there and was delighted each and every time he got to use them (so am I). To this day, nearly 30 years later we both fondly think of them almost each and every time we use them. Two points:
1. YES, folks appreciate them
2. NO, they don’t need to be big to have a huge impact. If something is made that is small but used daily can be quite impactful. I doubt the turner who made them spent more than 15 minutes on each one. Yet, they are delightful to touch and use daily.
I'm about 20 years older than you, and also have common arthritis pains. I got a good measure of relief from some Rx anti inflammatory pills. They won't fix any moral of personal appreciation issues, but it sure makes the work more fun. All the best in the new year!
I appreciate it. I will look into it. I've been trying to curb the OTC pain pill consumption. I started in the trades atn16bso I think I accelerated the process.
Since taking up woodworking, our household has gradually lost many of its mass-produced things in favour of individual craft-made things, starting with my own furniture. Many mass-produced articles remain (including the computer I'm typing at now) but they're now entirely of the kind that are essentially beyond the ability of a single maker to construct.
Mind, the remaining mass-produced things of complexity could, in truth, be replaced by less complex things serving a similar function. Out with the ground and air source systems, solar et al and in with a large woodburning stove and some candles; out with the table saw and in with some large rip saws! No more posting blather to Fine Woodworking website. But perhaps then I'd never have had such a magazine to tutor me in how to make nice wooden stuff myself ..... .
But I digress.
Living in an environment filled with hand-made furniture and a lot of one-off crafted items such as sculptures, framed pictures (with even the frame a one-off hand-made item) and various everyday utensils (kitchenware, small boxes, bowls, proggy mats, cushions and even clothes) it becomes very noticeable when going into the homes of other folk that are filled with factory-made everything just how ...... mundane ...... such homes feel. One could be anywhere.
In many cases, even their minds seem to be mass-produced - a framework of mass-media tropes and strangely artificial-sounding "facts". :-)
*******
This topic is actually the "concern" expressed long ago by the likes of William Morris and many of those involved with the original Arts & Craft movement of the C19th. Such critics of the mass-produced were leery of the factory-produced not just because of the sameness but also the low quality and the many deleterious side-effects of how it was all produced, from the satanic mills and degraded lives of their wage-slaves to the pollutions of the world by the tendency of the mass-produced to become waste via its low quality and its tossing out at the behest of fashion and the marketing thereof.
Despite those Arts & crafty folk, the world is now choc-a-bloc with mass produced soon-to-be-landfill stuff, with production methods that have made most of us wage-slaves and are probably about to reduce the biosphere to nobbut a few cockroaches and microbes.
Still, what a feast of plenty we all had for the last hundred years or so! But now we get the Big Bill. Willy Morris and his pals were probably right, eh? Shoulda stayed with the hand-made, last-forever things.
Shortly after we were married 14 years ago, my wife’s father gave us $1,000 to buy a kitchen table and chairs (I wasn’t woodworking at the time). Left it to my wife to pick out the set, etc. 14 years on, what crap it is. Two of the chairs have broken. I can’t stand it. On my list to replace the whole thing with stuff I make. Also, $1,000 wasn’t insignificant. I agree with you. I completely distrust mass made furniture. The auto industry has figured out how to make reliable cars that last a long time. No reason same can’t be done for furniture other than greed of manufacturers. Probably cost them just a few percent more on cost of goods manufactured to do it.
I paid $2k in 2006 (just as I was starting woodworking - and I mean really like within months or a year) for a cherry dining set that is amish made. meaning amish made it with machines.
It's overall been pretty good. There are six chairs. Three have had slats break because the grain orientation wasn't that good and I've fixed them. the slats in the chairs are curved and they should've been bent, but that's not what amish factory did, and the wood selection grain wise was very suspicious beyond that where the breaks were - to put it lightly.
RTA stuff with plywood and veneer is fodder for durability, and the markup at retail for furniture is so large that in my case, I doubt any of us would've made the same table with six chairs as I bought for 60% to 2/3rds of the actual purchase price.
The market provides whatever we will buy. Apparently, we will not pay for someone to make a higher quality version of what we're getting, until it becomes status. The moser stuff is status - I guess everyone can sort of decide based on aesthetics, but it's not very attractive to me even before the price, but it's the upper end of plain production stuff and probably not bought by a schoolteacher looking for a place for their kids to store socks or bash toys on.
The lower end attracts price buyers, and the middle has disappeared for the most part.
I could make a better table and chairs than we have at this point, but I have to admit that it's not on the list of things I would prefer to do in the shop.
when we visit other peoples' houses, we notice all kinds of stuff, like drawer fronts half loose and just hammering themselves apart as the owners figure they can't do anything about it. Fastened tables and chair parts, etc, that are loosening and racking all over the place and same - tearing themselves apart.
I'd love the same people who have made a smart TV that's 65 inches cheaper than a 13" color TV and VCR was when I was a kid - without even accounting for inflation - but I think there's a reason they don't make furniture - and we just have to figure out what it is. Because the whole entry level smart TV market must be an awfully hard way to make much profit.
This year I paused work on a period secretary my daughter "ordered," long enough to make a few endgrain cutting boards to give as Christmas gifts. The design was a simple checkered pattern and honestly required minimal craftsmanship. But, I spent some time with the sanding and finishing and, I signed the underneath with my maker's mark using a laser printer.
The first was used for a "Dirty Santa" gift. Once opened the gift was repeatedly "stolen" intil it hit a maximim steal point. And, I actually heard my wife console one of the losers not to worry, she "Knew a guy."
The remaining boards went to my three little sisters. They all seemed pleased but what really made me smile was to see that everyone in the famliy had to admire the boards by running their fingers over the Tung oil finish.
Value is not always reflected in dollars and cents. In woodworking, I think value is effected by both beauty and practiality. Charcuterie is huge today. I suspect they could envision using these finely finished cutting boards to serve their expensive cheeses. But once charcuterie has gone the way of the fondue dish, such boards will likely lose their "value."
The great joy of being an amateur woodworker is that it matters more whether I value the craftsmanship of my projects than if others value it. I am free to worry less what others think about my craft and put as much or little into a piece as I wish.
I am 81 years old, widowed so spend a lot of time in my wood shop. My moto is; I spent 60 years in aviaiton maintenance working for money now I work for fun, although I will occasonaly worked for food (a meal).
My joy is making things for others, especially children. 50 years ago I made a step stool for my son for show and tell. Since then I have given more then two dozen to families with young children. This Christmas I made a toy barn set for a neighbor family. Another neighboring family has two mentaly and physicaly challanged children, I made them a rolling marble game they enjoy. Another family it was locking treasure chests for each child, another bunk beds.
I have also helped a young home school boy to make wooden boxes and other items as an education project and as Christmas gifts.
For adults it is end tables, blanket chests, recipe book stands, cutting boards, repairing furniture etc.
If someone insists on paying me I tell them, make a donation to somone in need, your church or a charity etc. How much money is between you and God, that way I don't have to deal with a fair price for my labor or what they can afford.
I realize that most people are not retired and able to live a modrate life without pinching every penny, but even when it stretches you the joy of making and giving is so much more then receiving.
As far as appreciating my craftmanship, I take lots of time to do it right and everyone comments on how well it is made and looks.
I don’t know about the changes in the grand public about handmade stuff althrough it appears to be increasing in popularity here in the great White north but I’m sure my grandaughters will appreciate these this new-years eve:
Pretty boxes Gulfstar! Do you assign them or let the girls duke it out for their favorites?
Last minute A-hole box for a 12-yr-old kid we forgot to buy for... $50 worth of 0rigami sealed behind plexi. He asked me if there was a way to open it. I said yes and walked away.
Woodworker gotta woodwork XD. I like how you still had to do a little edge profile lolol.
I do the same thing.
Healthy people absolutely care.
Anyone I've ever made something for has loved it.
Not because it's good, useful, or pretty, etc. Maybe it isn't even.
But because they realize we put our time and love into it. Things we can never get back.
We put our literal lives into this wood, which is always deeply appreciated more than anything else could be.
When we are gone, no one will be clutching that plastic Xbox or iPhone that was gifted to them and crying.
They will hold and cherish the things we made them, whether large furniture pieces or small knickknacks.
You are more worried about whether people are becoming more materialistic or shallow-minded these days.
And on that note, YES. For sure. For many reasons.
I think anyone who doesn't appreciate something handmade by a friend or family is a person who is seriously mentally, spiritually, and physically sick.
But even those sick people will eventually come to appreciate handmade items, even if they don't initially.
It's never going to go out of style—not until humans become immortal. At that point, the precious time and energy invested that gives these things meaning and value would become worthless due to its infinite supply.
Won't be my concern.
Here, here! You are John Ruskin reincarnated and I claim my first edition of "The Stones of Venice!"! :-)
Is it time for another go at pushing the Arts & Craft philosophies as well as the nice furniture designs? Here's an article from a Limey politics magazine that thinks so. It suggests that one of the Blighty political parties should take up some Ruskin notions, for the good of all.
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2024/12/the-philosophical-salvation-of-kemi-badenoch
Mind, it's likely all too "socialist" for the US. But perhaps Jimmy Carter will be reincarnated now as the next-but-one political force for the times?
Some of most favorite gifts from folks have been the homemade baked items such as cookies or the traditional old world cookies my grandma and great aunts used to make each year. If someone wants to make me cry with joy over the holidays, all they need to do is bake these goods. Sort of related to this topic.
Maybe what the OP meant was that, for the average person in his circle of family & friends, a hand-crafted gift doesn't mean much. Sure, there are always people who will pay a lot of money for something handcrafted for various reasons, but they are a small minority. If you look at a typical family and friends grouping, you probably aren't going to find as many people who appreciate it.
Spot on. But hey, I think it's time to change the audience. Right?
Lol...I hope you mean that you will find some new friends, rather than ditch the family!
The family is the family. I'm not going anywhere but maybe just redirect my work to other people or maybe just make something for myself for once.
The last part. Do what you really want to do and make what you really want to make. If that's really just making for other people, great, but it's a wonderful thing from going to making things other people need, or the house needs, to making things you really want to make and just have tie up your mind with how to make them better.