Pro vs Hobbyist Furniture Makers

Not always. A friend's base shop machine is a Powermatic 66...and it is aged. His most recent purchase was a 36" drum sander. Not available at Woodcraft, but not at all hard to find. He does have a 12" jointer no one carries...but that's due to age. I traded for an old cyclone DC from him, which another friend now has: that is still available if you spend $1500 or so for it.

He has a couple old DeWalt radial arm saws. A couple 5 HP shapers. Absolutely nothing esoteric.

Whoops. Forgot. His bandsaw is one his father built.

Everything else is commonly available.

Another outfit, Mike Maxwell's place, has some esoteric stuff, but that's a much larger scale furniture operation, where the Timesaver sander is worth its weight in dust. He still has a lot of standard stuff, including a Bridgewood cabinet saw that is very old. And, yup, he did buy much of it used. Primarily, that's because Mike has 3 phase and wants the features found in old tools...again, an old DeWalt RAS, much else.

But probably 50% of this stuff is still stocked at various places that sell gear to the hobbyists who wish to pay for it.

I also have to wonder how many pros use Lie-Nielsen (or any other) brand of hand planes. They're great tools, but I'm willing to bet Tom Lie-Nielsen's customer base lies within the ranks of the hobbyists.

Charlie Self "I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be." Thomas Jefferson

Reply to
Charlie Self
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Absolutely. Nothing is that hard to find, but sometimes the cost of moving it is a problem.

I've seen plenty of PM66's and Unisaws in pro shops. I was writing of big jointers, multiple bladed tablesaws, gang rippers, molders, etc... Stuff that's more or less carried by industrial equipment dealers, new and used. For some reason, a millwork shop was stuck in my mind at the time I wrote that. Any hobbyist could certainly purchase the same stuff, money is money!

I do know some pros that use LN planes, but you're probably right about hobbyists owning most of them.

Barry

Reply to
B a r r y B u r k e J r .

Q.E.D.

Reply to
George

I wonder if it's about bragging rights. Some people want to be able to say their exsquisite furniture is "entirely hand made."

--Jay

Reply to
Jay Windley

Nice list. One addition: Many hobbyists dream of going pro, or at least working in a shop like Tom Plamann's. I have no idea what pros dream about.

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-- Mark

Reply to
Mark Jerde

Querulous Expert Disagrees?

But seriously folks: Yer Quod, I believe, was about economics.

I can hand dovetail a simple through dovetail drawer in half an hour.

Until I get beyond about six drawers I can't overcome the setup time for the Leigh Jig, nor can I deall with the chunking and tearout, which I don't get when cutting by hand.

So, Yer Demonstrandum is undemonstrated.

And Yer Erat moves into the column for Errata.

Regards, Tom Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania

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Reply to
Tom Watson

;~) Yeah..!! I think the people that actually want every thing made out of wood and all joints "hand-cut" are the people that build their own furniture...;~)

Reply to
Leon

I can tell you they dream about slowing down and doing fewer pieces for more money.. ;~)

Reply to
Leon

Hmmm, why would a pro not use a LN plane? or would they not use a plane at all?

BRuce

B a r r y B u r k e J r . wrote:

Reply to
BRuce

BRuce asks:

The latter. Some do, some don't, but unless you can convince a pro he's better off spending xxx bucks for an L-V, he's apt to buy a used whatever for x bucks and spend some time tuning it up, if he didn't do so 30 years ago. Or go for a Veritas at a similar quality level and lower price. For the most part, pros that I've met do not use planes. They set their work up so that it can be done without proud surfaces, so little such work is needed, if any.

That, of course, doesn't count the makers who do the whole thing, or most of it, by hand. And lots of pros do keep an apron plane handy for those rough spots or increasing the size of an overlay or a rabbet in just a short area.

Charlie Self "I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be." Thomas Jefferson

Reply to
Charlie Self

Mark Jerde notes:

About like pro anything who operates a small business: dream of the exception, someone who presents a clear order with a clear date, accepts, or presents and accepts, a reasonable contract, and pays on time, or a bit early.

Charlie Self "I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be." Thomas Jefferson

Reply to
Charlie Self

Not really, just about the sizzle being more important to some than the sirloin.

Sorry you missed it.

I've been turning Christmas ornaments today. They're hollow, because I like the virtuosity, and they fetch a higher price, not because they would be too heavy on an artificial tree. I agree - bless those rich folk. I couldn't afford my prices....

Reply to
George

Depends. Semipro, but I had an order for 20 frames and a display system to do last week. Running a #4 up the pieces meant I didn't have to sand. Way ahead of the game in my book.

Reply to
George

thanks charlie, makes some sense I guess. bought my first one this week so that I could flush fit some birch banding. plywood was not quite the same thickness overall and the block plane made short work of it. Looked a lot better than sanding also. I am not a pro but will be paid for this piece.

BRuce

Charlie Self wrote:

Reply to
BRuce

I'm about to embark on my first real project, which is a "traditional Shaker lap desk." My goal is mostly to practice some WW techniques and hopefully have something to show for it, even if it ain't 'perfect.' Anyway, last night I was looking through the plans to get an idea of the joinery I'll need to do: the sides are dovetailed (as is the single drawer), the top has breadboard ends, etc.; but I couldn't tell from the diagram how the bottom is attached (it's flush with the sides). As I read through the brief instructions it says the bottom is "held in place by brads." I was surprised to say the least. I thought "isn't there a more appropriate technique?" Why go to the trouble of dovetails and doweled breadboard ends only to nail the bottom in place? Actually, now that I think about it, the bottom will not support any internal force since the drawer is directly above it, so it's probably structurally sound, but it still seems sort of shoddy compared to the rest of the construction. Am I looking at this the wrong way?

Cheers, Mike

Reply to
Mike

Yep ... The Shaker's had hammers, therefore you can safely assume that they had nails/brads and used them. Turn over just about any antique I've ever seen and you will find fasteners of some type ... nothing sinful about it, IMO.

Of course there are nazi's in every art form, from music to furniture making. I remember the first time I brought an electric bass to a Bluegrass festival as part of the headline act ... you'd thunk the end of the world was at hand with all the grumbling in the crowd from the Bluegrass "purists".

Just do your art from the heart and to hell with those stiff necks who insist there is only one way to do something.

Reply to
Swingman

Some do, some don't.

Many pros in many fields are already using a tool they're comfortable with, that they've massaged and tuned, and unlikely to spring for a new tool.

It's like musical instruments. If you've spent YEARS tuning a tool to your satisfaction, you may be unlikely to replace it. This can be true even if the replacement is superior in many ways.

Barry

Reply to
B a r r y B u r k e J r .

I still am.

I chicken out when the daylight shows through. Prolly a lack of fortitude.

Me neither. Guess that's why my house looks like an Ikea showroom.

Every time I make something nice - some chucklehead buys it.

sigh . . .

Regards, Tom Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania

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Reply to
Tom Watson

Spoken like a true musician!

Barry

Reply to
B a r r y B u r k e J r .

"Love wooddorking and do as you will."

(Freely taken from Augustine - The Confessions)

Regards, Tom Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania

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Reply to
Tom Watson

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