The hand tool world is expanding....

[Dan Carroll]

I came accross this today. It raises some intersting questions about design. Interesting experment.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/interiorsandshopping/8677533/Designing-furniture-the-traditional-way.html

[David Posey]

From the article:


"...a set of shave horses – a kind of traditional Black & Decker Workmate."

Makes you wonder if the author was actually there, or if he just had the process described to him. That's certainly not the way I would have EVER thought to describe a shaving horse.

[Dan Carroll]

Like most Brit journalist, he likely was there about 10 minutes and phoned it in. What I thought was interesting was the concept of industrial designers actually getting there hands dirty and working with wood --- that is sounds like a new concept. Seems to me that you have to be familar with a materail before you can even pretend to design pieces that use it.

[Trevor Walsh]

When I was in school (for industrial design) that's what pissed me off the most. People designing something, "Oh, yea it's made of wood." but the design was totally wrong for the material. No account for wood expansion, and no real reason why it should have been wood over any other material. I was dismayed at the end of the article to hear one chair went into production on machines in China, and they treat it like a great accomplishment. I don't see how getting a machine to crank out mediocre copies of anything is "progress" compared to the skill of a man making an object. That, is an accomplishment.

[Dan Carroll]

What I find amazing is that the idea of a designer actually working with his material seems to be a new one to folks. I think your comment about the cheap machine production at the end may be valid, but it is some ways a different issue. It just seems that anyone designing furniture ought to have experience with wood. Maybe not a great craftmen, but he/she ought to know what
wood does when split and what cutting it can do etc. It was also interesting that some of the designers did in fact have some experience, but only about half. That really set me back and explains a lot of the quality problems today.

[Trevor Walsh]

I agree, there's a disconect between material, the process and the people designing. Not to mention the compromises in product to make something suitable for such a large audience.

One example, laundry detergent. Different water types in different locations would benefit from specific pH's and mixes of soaps, to compliment the local water and clean as effectively. Tide, etc. doesn't do this, instead they overbuild their detergents so that all variables in water condition have no effect on the detergent, you use more chemicals and more of them just to sell to a wide audience and reduce manufacturing costs by making one product.

[Bill Houghton]

Designers who don't have any idea how actually to make something aren't a unique problem. Architects are the same: they're trained in design - oh, how pretty! - but often know less than nothing about building. I still think no one should be allowed to be an architect without having spent at least six months in one of the building trades (with accommodations for people who can't physically do the work - maybe six months just observing or something).

Contractors...in California, the contractor's test is all about legal liability, nothing about doing the work. They get around it by requiring that someone have been working in the building trades for several years - but we all know that doesn't mean someone knows how to to do the work necessarily. My younger son has wound up building his career about 70% on rot repair made necessary by bad detailing by prior contractors (on one of his jobs last year, the flashing had been installed so it would divert rainwater into the wall; that house survived a kind of amazing seven years before the rot took out the entire wall).

[Paul Incognito]

Architects are the same: they're trained in design - oh, how pretty! - but often know less than nothing about building. I still think no one should be allowed to be an architect without having spent at least six months in one of the building trades
That brings back memories, Bill. One time I was standing next to a window's rough opening with the architect, and he was trying to clarify what he'd drawn. So he took a pencil and proceeded to draw it all over again on the sheathing. It wasn't clear on the drawing, and was even less clear on the sheathing. So I asked him, "Can't you just point?" That was the same guy who wanted some shelves to float... Then there was the other guy... I called his office for clarification and he said in a very indignant tone "If you look at page A-3 of the drawings, it shows it very clearly." My reply, "Yes it does, but if you look at page A-4, it shows it very clearly on the opposite side. Why don't you hang up the phone, look at your drawing, flip a coin and call me back with the correct drawing." Aahh, memories
Yea, they should all have to build something they drew.
Paul

[Jim Koepke]

I still think no one should be allowed to be an architect without having spent at least six months in one of the building trades (with accommodations for people who can't physically do the work - maybe six months just observing or something).

I agree with this concept.

On another note, my parents had a furniture and appliance store. My brothers and I grew up delivering furniture and appliances. We all came to the conclusion that architects should spend a few years as furniture and appliance delivery persons before being allowed to put pencil to paper.

We had some very strange situations including one group of condominiums being built with the wash rooms upstairs. The stairs were about an inch and a half narrower than a standard washer and dryer. We never delivered any appliances to those condos.

jtk

[Trevor Walsh]

Jim, That's an all too common thing across the built environment. What's more astounding it that, at least in my classes, we were told to think about how all the parts come together in a place, how something gets serviced. How does all that get lost? Sometimes it's arrogance, "How's a fridge get in there?" "That's the way I want it to look, not my problem." The result is a lot of waste and frustration. I recently quit PT work for a supposed kitchen cabinet/building maker because his "plans" were insanely rough and used photo references for relationships. Too much work trying to translate/design the thing to build it. Because "the customer can't afford an architect". What a money saver that was.

[Steve Branam]

That's certainly not the way I would have EVER thought to describe a shaving horse.

But that's probably an apt analogy for a reading audience probably clueless about woodworking in general, and hand tool work in particular. Otherwise they'd probably all be scratching their heads imagining a barber lathering up a horse!