There’s an interesting thing happening in the international world of craft toolmaking, and its happening right here on knots.
A group of people – me included – have been exchanging ideas, progress, concepts and inspiration (mainly in the Hand Tools folder) on the subject of infill planes.
What we have created is what development economists call a ‘cluster‘ – a group of like-minded people (or, much more commonly, businesses) who collaborate for common benefit.
We are, although no-one has said so explicitly, collaborating in product design, technique and technology, and sales and marketing. That’s a cluster – virtual, informal, and focused just on intellectual property – but a cluster nonetheless!
What we are doing is creating/enhancing/developing a market – both on the supply and demand sides – that will be interesting to watch.
Here’s one example: I’m about to produce an A2 glossy poster, featuring my summer of 05/06 plane-making. that will be a one-page summary of design and production concepts. It’ll be a commercial project, serving to build brand identity and eventually to stimulate demand. Sample image attached.
The point? This would never have happened without knots, without the international community of makers and thinkers who make up the informal cluster, and without the generous contribution of a score or more people.
Malcolm
Replies
Malcolm,
Interesting observations.
Also interesting to note that all of this has happened in about the past six months.
The design evolutions, as well as the construction-method evolution, of the planes built and displayed on KNOTS by both you and Philip have visibly changed (for the better, IMO) over the last several months. Additionally, a couple of "new" people have recently joined the plan-making circus (kwgeorge and CR Miller, for example).
For my part, it has been very interesting and enlightening to witness the intellectual, design, and practical information exchanges and debates between the various posters in the threads dealing with hand planes in general, and plane-making, in particular. It is even more interesting to me that the variety of backgrounds -- furniture-makers, carpenters, metal machinists, metallic plane-makers (both infill and not), wooden plane-makers, professionals and hobbyists, etc. -- has led to a fantastic cross-fertilization of ideas, ranging from discussions on the degree of mouth tightness really necessary to iron bedding angles for specific purposes to the abrasion-resistant qualities of various flavours of steel and brass to the physics of what happens to both the wood and the iron as the plane iron shears across the wood.
And, of course, there are some very strongly-held opinions on many of these subjects. Some of the debate has been very "spirited" -- even bordering on acrimonious at times; nonetheless, even the disagreements have largely stayed centered on the virtues of various aspects of hand planes, hand planing, and plane-making, without devolving too much into personal attacks.
Much of what has been said has been very educational for me; ideas, techniques, and debates that are generally not mentioned in the books or magazines (although Chris Schwartz in PW has been venturing into these kinds of areas lately). Other commentary confirms what I already (thought I) knew.
And, just for fun, all of this has come from folks that live half a country -- and in some cases, half a world -- apart. This is, IMO, an example of one of the absolute best aspects of the internet.....
Anyway, I look forward to what the future will bring forth on this and other subjects.
And...just a personal thanks to both you and Philip for being a couple of the main instigators in stimulating this international conversation.
Cheers!
James
Edited 4/19/2006 7:01 pm by pzgren
Thanks James
I was thinking tonight, driving home into the sunset after 5 hours on the road, that if this 'cluster' was happening here, in New Zealand, we could get government money to support it!
I'm a member of a regional economic development agency, and we were hearing about local clusters just a couple of weeks ago, and talking about the support they need, and get!
Malcolmhttp://www.macpherson.co.nz
Malcolm
NICE picture (especially for a web shot)..
GOOD luck on your venture.. REALLY!
If you get rich can I get a free trip to your new Factory?
I have worked in Service, Manufacturing, and Marketing.. All the same company..
I should have stayed in Service.. Especially after Marketing.. At least in Service I knew what I was doing!
Anyway BEST of Luck AND Have FUN doing it!
> If you get rich can I get a free trip to your new Factory <
Thanks Will. It IS a good photo, eh. Going to cost me a small fortune (the photographer is good, but expensive).
I won't get rich doing this! I'll be happy if I can eventually create a viable alternative lifestyle. And I won't have a factory! Been there (in a small way), and for studio craftspeople it's a dead end.
Malcolm
Your observations about this new kind of co-operation and what emerges from it are quite uplifting.
Many factors in the modern world have tended to squash local or individual contributions to the evolving design or improvement of stuff. Most of these factors are to do with the vested interests of either Big Business or Big Government (ie powerful syndicates with a heavy self interest and a corresponding desire to swallow, suborn or crush individual enterprise).
With that in mind, might I be cheeky and suggest that cluster-members who are developing or evolving better designs and tools via cyberspace consider modus operandii other than the just the marketplace, for disseminating the Good Things? Not to say marketing product isn't one good way of improving tools but perhaps the free exchange of plans or even mutual help without regard to making a profit might occur too......?
Perhaps it already has.
Lataxe
> cluster-members who are developing or evolving better designs and tools via cyberspace consider modus operandii other than the just the marketplace <
Cameron at Handplane Central (http://www.handplane.com/archives/106) been thinking about doing that, and I've made some suggestions about an approach (apparently its called a Wiki) that would put all of these various value-adding contributions in one readily accessible place.
Clustering is a potent tool for economic development. It's not a panacea - a silver bullet - but it does work, it does grow an economy, and it's a highly satisfying way to operate! Contributors enjoy 'clustering'!
Malcolm
Edited 4/20/2006 7:15 pm ET by Malcolm2
Thank you, Malcom2 for expressing what I felt happening when the internet is being used as a knowledge-disseminating tool for a very large group of people looking for an accesible, organized, centralized bowlful of information that will make the printing press invention seem smaller.
Because of the internet idea, cheap computers, and search engines coming together, we live in a golden age of new business formation and inventions, largely from this fertile field of information that may be easily picked and then recombined, yielding new products. It has changed the way that I do my business.
Rocotoed
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled