Blue Scream of Jeff: May 2016

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Craftsman is more than just about the tools you use

This month I turned a photo of a King George II-style bookcase I found on the Web into a set of woodworking plans using a non-traditional tool, Sketch-Up. Some woodworking purest consider that cheating. But I don't.

As I continue planning out the build of the new book shelf I discussed last month, I’m reminded of a debate that’s now going on in the woodworking community.

Does the use of new technology like CNC routers, 3D printers, or laser engravers make you less of a craftsman than those people who build their projects in the more traditional manner?

I started wondering about this as I used Sketch-Up, a computer-aid drafting program to render the book shelf I mentioned in my last post in all its 3D glory.

My version of the King George II
bookcase I created in Sketch-Up

For a long time hand-tool only woodworkers have looked down their noses at people like Norm Abrams who choose to build their projects almost exclusively using power tools instead of hand saws, brace and bit drills, chisels and hand planes. They’ll often say that power tools users like Norm and me don’t really understand how wood works because we don’t get the tactile feedback that cutting or shaping wood with hand tools provide. As a result, our projects are less worthy of praise no matter how well they turn out, because we didn’t build that reproduction chest, table or desk the way the original craftsman of old did.

I always found that logic rather flawed. If the craftsman of the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries had the kinds of power tools we had today, I’m absolutely positive they would have used them. These people were, after all, businessmen, using their skills to make money to support themselves and their families. And if there was a way to speed up their production so they could make more furniture and earn more money, they certainly would have used it.

So I find it rather funny that some of those same people who defend the use of power tools now look at the use of computer driven routers, 3D printers and other high-tech gadgets as cheating when it comes to woodworking.

To me craftsmanship is not about the tools used to create a project. Nor is it really about the skills used to create it. It’s about the passion, pride and care one puts into building it.

If I’ve learned anything from both my tech and woodworking experience, it’s that any tool, whether manual, powered or computer-driven, takes time to master. Despite what the internet would have you believe, today’s technology doesn’t make using something as simple as just “pushing a button.” (Don’t believe me? Just think of all the time you spent mastering your cell phone, tablet or computer).

For instance, when I got my first table saw and router, I thought I could build projects just as easily as Norm did on “The New Yankee Workshop” because the tool did all the hard work.

Boy was I wrong.

It took plenty of practice and experience before I could use those machines to make the kinds of
joinery that Norm made look so easy. In retrospect, if I had put the same amount of time into mastering hand tools, I could have become as proficient in them as say Roy Underhill, the host of PBS’s “The Woodwright's Shop” who only uses early American hand tools to create his projects.

My bookcase with it's parts "exploded" so you can see how they
fit together. If you look closely, you'll notice that I'm pretty much
only using rabbet and dado joints, two very, very basic
woodworking joinery techniques.

The reason I chose power tools over hand tools came down to time. With all my other interests and responsibilities, I don’t get as much time to play in my shop as I’d like, so whenever I start a project, I need to get it done as fast as possible. Using power tools allows me to complete a project faster than doing everything by hand.

Computer driven equipment is the same. It too has its own learning curve, which in many ways takes more time to learn and master than a “manual” skill like using a hand plane or saw. For instance at my day job, I’ve been using Adobe Photoshop on and off for over 20 years, and I still consider myself a novice at it. That program is so complex and there are so many ways to do things, I feel like I'm only using it for 1/10th of what it can really do.

I've also found that projects don't always require fancy techniques or advanced skills to look nice and function well. Some of the nicest pieces of furniture I've seen have been constructed with some pretty basic joinery, proving that with just some basic skills you can still produce some fine furniture. As proof of this, just take a look as the Sketch-Up plans accompanying this post. To duplicate that fancy-looking King George II bookcase I'm pretty much only using rabbet and dado joints, two very, very basic woodworking joinery techniques.

So to all you makers out there, who use computers to aid your creative endeavors, don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not a craftsman. As long as you put heart and passion into what you’re building – and you constantly strive to improve your skills – you are a just as much a craftsman as those who stick to more traditional methods.