Journal Content
Series Name
The Family Woodworker's Blog
Location
Michigan
Let’s start off this blog with an inflammatory title and dive into some arguments for and against the mechanization and automation of woodworking, shall we?
With a recent video publication of my 250 hour, 168 piece, hand cut marble machine, I received a couple comments and a private email from a friend asking if I built it by hand or used a computer to design and cut the pieces. It was a natural question from anyone who knows my work background and that I literally grew up in and then retired from the software industry. The question however, got me thinking about the boundaries around something being hand made within the craft of woodworking.
Before starting to write this blog I thought back to the late 80’s and early 90’s where there was a similar discussion and even heated arguments about what makes a photograph real. Photography is another hobby that I love and rarely get to enjoy where the passion for the art form started in high school. In college I was a newspaper staff photographer and developed a hard appreciation for a perfect image that would ultimately come to light in the dark room.
We would always argue after image production if it was realistic or if it was enhanced. In other words, was the printed newspaper photograph what you really saw with your eyes? Did you force the background to be darker? Did you boost the contrast or lighten the subject of the photo? Photojournalism was supposed to be realistic. It should represent what the eye actually saw. Or that was the purist argument anyway.
Then digital cameras came along. In fact the entire photography industry is digital now, except for some larger format cameras still using high definition film. I fought this digital trend early on, sticking to my film cameras again from the purist point of view. Digital images were in fact more pleasing to the eye though you couldn’t initially explain why.
The colors seemed more vibrant. Some of what you thought might be blurry in the background actually turned out to be sharper than expected. In fact, the embedded software of the digital camera enhances almost everything captured through the lens even though you didn’t ask it to. It was never what you actually saw with your own eyes, but most people thought it looked better. Average photographers became brilliant photographers overnight following the simple use of a credit card.
Digital images are awesome. They are amazingly colorful and sharp. Cars or aircraft zooming by look like a blur to your eyes but are captured in so much detail, you can see the crisp outline of an air force pilot’s visor as he makes a low altitude pass in the UK mach loop at 500 knots. But, did you capture that image or did your technical equipment do it for you?
Technology and Woodworking
The same technology argument exists in the world of woodworking. Some would consider that the craft or the profession of woodworking is measured by the quality, the fit and finish of the wood piece being created. So should it matter how you achieve that higher level of quality? Do you care if new technologies were being used to create the finished piece?
Just like in the digital photography example, I think the answer might be; “It depends”. I think if you’re a consumer looking to buy a quality piece of furniture or a wood art piece, you only care that it is well constructed and professionally finished. Does it look good and does it function well? Those might be the consumer’s only measures of quality and satisfaction. If I used computer software and a CNC machine to cut all the pieces of the table someone just bought, most would still tell their friends it was “hand made” even though it was more machine made that anything else.
Perspective
Prior to 1923 and the invention of the electric circular saw by Edmond Michel, woodworkers needed to make smaller cuts with hand saws. Sure you could get longer, edged boards from the local saw mill, but all those smaller measured cross cuts, miters and bevels had to be cut by hand. In the 1930’s I wonder if carpenters back then argued over whether or not a piece of furniture was truly hand made if you used power tools to make them. Is it hand cut? Is it hand made?
It’s hard to argue against woodworking power tools today increasing the accuracy of construction and the speed of production. Thinking about my recent build for a guest room headboard and side tables, I can’t imagine how much more time it would have taken if I had to make all my cross cuts, miter cuts, rips and drilled holes with hand tools. Things we might take for granted come into play like the ability with a drill press to make sure dowel holes are at a perfect 90 degrees to the surface of the wood, or that a well calibrated table saw on a rip cut practically eliminates the need for hand plane work on the edges.
Power tools were the new technology of the early 1900’s, and maybe CAD software and CNC machines and laser engravers are simply the next iteration of new technology for the wood shop. “Deal with it”, I picture some of you telling me.
To be clear and fair, I’m a bit of a hypocrite. While arguing against the use of software in the field of fine woodworking, I actually bought a laser engraver/cutter more than a year ago. Since I knew how to install the software and train myself up on it, it became a cool new toy I could use as part of some projects. In fact, the laser engraver is so precise, it can take a photograph and burn it into the wood quite nicely. Again though, did I make the engraving or did the 2 dimensional robotic laser head do that? It’s not like I could have come anywhere close to the same accuracy of the engraved and burned design with my hand held wood burning tools.
Jealousy
The question I got about the how the marble machine was designed and cut brought me back to the reality that there are newer technologies available for woodworking. It’s not theory, those tools have been available. I tried to explain a week ago that I designed it all myself, on paper, cutting the pieces by hand, adjusting, reworking and fitting until I could make each piece work. That didn’t seem to matter to the people asking the question. I think it would have been cool to design it with SketchUp or other CAD software and then have a CNC machine accurately cut my ramps, lifts and other pieces. Production would have taken far less time. I could have made those plans available for sale. Coulda – Shoulda – Woulda.
I’m still back to whether or not I would feel good about myself enough to say that I made the marble machine by hand. Yes, I would have been the guy on the keyboard and mouse designing the angle of the Willow jump ramp or the spinning Lacewood sanding disk. The design I guess would have been done by hand. The cutting of the pieces? No.
Stupid pride is also getting in the way. That, and the budget and space needed for a decent size CNC machine in my workshop. I think maybe I need to soften my stance on who or what is “working the wood”. If I’m looking to add a decorative flourish on a piece of furniture for one of my kids, or have a need to make a group of ridiculously precise angled cuts for a glue up, then I can see how a CNC machine can help reduce waste and give you a better result. I am jealous of those people with massive work shops, who have room for a 4X8 foot CNC table. They are cool and yes, (pause for effect) I’d love to have one. Lotto maybe is the answer here.
Having said all that, I think I would still feel funny about claiming a CNC manufactured furniture or art piece was actually “hand made”. I take a lot of pride in knowing my pointless but cool little marble machine was all hand designed, cut and finished, despite the 250 hours it took to build it.
Is it still woodworking if I had used a CNC machine? Yes. In fact there are other marble machines out on YouTube that were clearly cut by numerical positioning software. Could I have claimed that the finished piece was made by a woodworker’s hands? Maybe not.
Anyway. Isn’t that the woodworker’s lament? Aside from never having too many clamps I mean.
It would be a new tool. I still want one.
(More blogs on: thefamilywoodworker.com)
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With a recent video publication of my 250 hour, 168 piece, hand cut marble machine, I received a couple comments and a private email from a friend asking if I built it by hand or used a computer to design and cut the pieces. It was a natural question from anyone who knows my work background and that I literally grew up in and then retired from the software industry. The question however, got me thinking about the boundaries around something being hand made within the craft of woodworking.
Before starting to write this blog I thought back to the late 80’s and early 90’s where there was a similar discussion and even heated arguments about what makes a photograph real. Photography is another hobby that I love and rarely get to enjoy where the passion for the art form started in high school. In college I was a newspaper staff photographer and developed a hard appreciation for a perfect image that would ultimately come to light in the dark room.
We would always argue after image production if it was realistic or if it was enhanced. In other words, was the printed newspaper photograph what you really saw with your eyes? Did you force the background to be darker? Did you boost the contrast or lighten the subject of the photo? Photojournalism was supposed to be realistic. It should represent what the eye actually saw. Or that was the purist argument anyway.
Then digital cameras came along. In fact the entire photography industry is digital now, except for some larger format cameras still using high definition film. I fought this digital trend early on, sticking to my film cameras again from the purist point of view. Digital images were in fact more pleasing to the eye though you couldn’t initially explain why.
The colors seemed more vibrant. Some of what you thought might be blurry in the background actually turned out to be sharper than expected. In fact, the embedded software of the digital camera enhances almost everything captured through the lens even though you didn’t ask it to. It was never what you actually saw with your own eyes, but most people thought it looked better. Average photographers became brilliant photographers overnight following the simple use of a credit card.
Digital images are awesome. They are amazingly colorful and sharp. Cars or aircraft zooming by look like a blur to your eyes but are captured in so much detail, you can see the crisp outline of an air force pilot’s visor as he makes a low altitude pass in the UK mach loop at 500 knots. But, did you capture that image or did your technical equipment do it for you?
Technology and Woodworking
The same technology argument exists in the world of woodworking. Some would consider that the craft or the profession of woodworking is measured by the quality, the fit and finish of the wood piece being created. So should it matter how you achieve that higher level of quality? Do you care if new technologies were being used to create the finished piece?
Just like in the digital photography example, I think the answer might be; “It depends”. I think if you’re a consumer looking to buy a quality piece of furniture or a wood art piece, you only care that it is well constructed and professionally finished. Does it look good and does it function well? Those might be the consumer’s only measures of quality and satisfaction. If I used computer software and a CNC machine to cut all the pieces of the table someone just bought, most would still tell their friends it was “hand made” even though it was more machine made that anything else.
Perspective
Prior to 1923 and the invention of the electric circular saw by Edmond Michel, woodworkers needed to make smaller cuts with hand saws. Sure you could get longer, edged boards from the local saw mill, but all those smaller measured cross cuts, miters and bevels had to be cut by hand. In the 1930’s I wonder if carpenters back then argued over whether or not a piece of furniture was truly hand made if you used power tools to make them. Is it hand cut? Is it hand made?
It’s hard to argue against woodworking power tools today increasing the accuracy of construction and the speed of production. Thinking about my recent build for a guest room headboard and side tables, I can’t imagine how much more time it would have taken if I had to make all my cross cuts, miter cuts, rips and drilled holes with hand tools. Things we might take for granted come into play like the ability with a drill press to make sure dowel holes are at a perfect 90 degrees to the surface of the wood, or that a well calibrated table saw on a rip cut practically eliminates the need for hand plane work on the edges.
Power tools were the new technology of the early 1900’s, and maybe CAD software and CNC machines and laser engravers are simply the next iteration of new technology for the wood shop. “Deal with it”, I picture some of you telling me.
To be clear and fair, I’m a bit of a hypocrite. While arguing against the use of software in the field of fine woodworking, I actually bought a laser engraver/cutter more than a year ago. Since I knew how to install the software and train myself up on it, it became a cool new toy I could use as part of some projects. In fact, the laser engraver is so precise, it can take a photograph and burn it into the wood quite nicely. Again though, did I make the engraving or did the 2 dimensional robotic laser head do that? It’s not like I could have come anywhere close to the same accuracy of the engraved and burned design with my hand held wood burning tools.
Jealousy
The question I got about the how the marble machine was designed and cut brought me back to the reality that there are newer technologies available for woodworking. It’s not theory, those tools have been available. I tried to explain a week ago that I designed it all myself, on paper, cutting the pieces by hand, adjusting, reworking and fitting until I could make each piece work. That didn’t seem to matter to the people asking the question. I think it would have been cool to design it with SketchUp or other CAD software and then have a CNC machine accurately cut my ramps, lifts and other pieces. Production would have taken far less time. I could have made those plans available for sale. Coulda – Shoulda – Woulda.
I’m still back to whether or not I would feel good about myself enough to say that I made the marble machine by hand. Yes, I would have been the guy on the keyboard and mouse designing the angle of the Willow jump ramp or the spinning Lacewood sanding disk. The design I guess would have been done by hand. The cutting of the pieces? No.
Stupid pride is also getting in the way. That, and the budget and space needed for a decent size CNC machine in my workshop. I think maybe I need to soften my stance on who or what is “working the wood”. If I’m looking to add a decorative flourish on a piece of furniture for one of my kids, or have a need to make a group of ridiculously precise angled cuts for a glue up, then I can see how a CNC machine can help reduce waste and give you a better result. I am jealous of those people with massive work shops, who have room for a 4X8 foot CNC table. They are cool and yes, (pause for effect) I’d love to have one. Lotto maybe is the answer here.
Having said all that, I think I would still feel funny about claiming a CNC manufactured furniture or art piece was actually “hand made”. I take a lot of pride in knowing my pointless but cool little marble machine was all hand designed, cut and finished, despite the 250 hours it took to build it.
Is it still woodworking if I had used a CNC machine? Yes. In fact there are other marble machines out on YouTube that were clearly cut by numerical positioning software. Could I have claimed that the finished piece was made by a woodworker’s hands? Maybe not.
Anyway. Isn’t that the woodworker’s lament? Aside from never having too many clamps I mean.
It would be a new tool. I still want one.
(More blogs on: thefamilywoodworker.com)
