On Amateurism
MR. FITZGERALD: I read that you began making furniture professionally in 1960. Is that correct?
MR. KRENOV: I've never made furniture professionally.
MR. FITZGERALD: Well, that you sold furniture.
MR. KRENOV: Yes. Well, I'm an amateur and I always will be. That's the way I want to die. I'm an amateur by nature and I'm an amateur in fact. And David Pye wrote somewhere that the best work of this century would certainly be done by amateurs.
On Making A Living At WoodDorking
MR. FITZGERALD: What did you advise them? When you were advising the students on how to make a living at this, what would you tell them? How to sell - how would they sell their furniture?
MR. KRENOV: Well, my standard formula was the better work you do, the more chance that you'll starve.
On What The Best Wood Is
MR. FITZGERALD: What's your favorite wood?
MR. KRENOV: Oh, I have no favorite wood. If it's real nice, it could be anything really.
MR. FITZGERALD: You fit the wood to match the job, or do you select the wood first?
MR. KRENOV: They grow together. Everything grows together.
MR. FITZGERALD: What kind of -
MR. KRENOV: You close your eyes and you think, well, if the table's all black that's no good. And if it's all white, like maple or something, that's no good. What else have we got? We've got mahogany, we've got oak, we've got this and that and the other thing. Search and hope and find something that finally commits you to feel, well, yes, it would look nice - the chair would look nice in this wood, and it would work well. It glues well, and the pieces I have are dry and fine. Yes, I think I'll do it that way.
On The Best Finish
MR. FITZGERALD: What kind of finish do you like to put on it?
MR. KRENOV: As little as possible. Polish sometimes.
On Tage Frid
MR. FITZGERALD: Did you know Tage Frid?
MR. KRENOV: Oh, I tried to play tennis with him up in Aspen, but he wasn't sober, so it didn't turn out very well. No, I didn't know him. I didn't know him.
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