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Thread: Chris Swarz surfaced at Highland Woodworking.

  1. #121
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    no worries Lowell - it's been a fun read. I needed my CBM64 for parts of the thread.
    And it has stayed civilized. Well done peeps.
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

  2. #122
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    Tuition for the furnituremaking program at North Bennett Street School is $50K per year (does not include room and board). It's a two-year program. If you're not from Boston, you'd better plan on $75K a year, minimum.

    https://www.nbss.edu/full-time-progr...making/tuition

    For comparison purposes, full-time tuition at Boston U. is ~$53,000

    http://www.bu.edu/admissions/tuition-aid/tuition/
    Last edited by Charles Guest; 12-17-2018 at 6:49 PM.

  3. #123
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    2p7ido.jpg

    ..................
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

  4. #124
    Nicholas - I don't mean any disrespect to anyone. And I'm not a social historian so that my observation could easily be incorrect. I would argue though that there is a difference between what people do and the culture in which we live. There's a dynamic relationship between these things. I have met many people in different industries and trades that have mentioned how hard it is to find young people going into certain fields such as tool and die making. My analysis is that in the US as a culture we don't have an ethos around the value of artisans and other trades that would encourage more young people to enter these fields. I'm sure this issue is a challenge everywhere bcs of the changes brought on by electronic technology. But I suspect it might be more acute in the US because we don't have an ethos around the intrinsic value of these activities that might offset these economic and technological forces. Your reference to union training, I think, underlines my point. I would say the ethos in the US is quite hostile and depricating to unions with the commensurate steep decline in membership.

  5. #125
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    On the concept of working with your hands and 'dirty jobs'.
    Ironically enough, it seems a more attractive course for young people entering the work force in the US today is to become a youtube celebrity.
    Not to imply that Chris Schwarz is any sort of youtube exclusive personality.
    I spoke with a 16 year old last year who's one burning ambition in life was to become wealthy and famous playing video games on youtube.
    Sigh...who will work when we're gone?
    Dojo Kun, 1: Be humble and polite.

  6. #126
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kory Cassel View Post
    Sigh...who will work when we're gone?
    Robots.

    The reality is the potential to make large sums of money playing video games on the internet is much greater than via most forms of "work" like woodworking. Just ask Pewdiepie who is worth over $60 million. There is also the option to become a game tutor/coach or a more frowned upon "booster". Like "show business" for the last few hundred years video games and youtube offer lucrative careers.
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

  7. #127
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    Reading the latest thoughts on the decline of people willing to work with their hands (or wanting to) reminds me of a show on PBS I watch from time to time. It's called a Craftsman's Legacy. The host is a guy who claimed to be climbing the corporate ladder and got burned out and turned to a life of working with his hands. Every week there is some new Craftsman he visits and the show centers around how they got started in their craft and then the rest of the show is them working on that craft together. Some examples include making soap (with lye and fat), fly rod making from bamboo cane and even a guy who is a master calligrapher.

    I've watched about 20 shows over the past year, and a few common themes have emerged regardless of the craft:

    1) If you are going to be successful and make a living at a craft, you need to be the best there is
    2) You have to embrace new ways to tackle old problems
    3) You need to be wiling to be Craftsman, Marketing and Sales VP as well as Book Keeper. Being savvy with social media doesn't hurt.
    4) You need to be willing to work very hard, for decades even, to accomplish the above and achieve success.

    If you haven't seen this show, you might want to check it out. Most of the shows involve people working with hand tools. It's worth a look and dovetails nicely with this discussion.

    As an aside, being an avid fly fisherman myself, the guy who builds rods from bamboo is JD Wagner. I discovered after googling him that he is from the next town over from where I live. As a result of seeing the show, I'm signed up next summer to make a split cane bamboo rod in one of his week long classes.

  8. #128
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    I went to business school and have a BS in Finance, I spent 10 years working in sales. These two items prepared me for a career as person who owns a woodworking business (with one employee ).
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  9. #129
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Holcombe View Post
    I went to business school and have a BS in Finance, I spent 10 years working in sales. These two items prepared me for a career as person who owns a woodworking business (with one employee ).
    That and your often reported sartorial splendor!

    Actually, very few small business entrepreneurs have such credentials and training and experience; the lack is a frequent cause of failures.
    Fair winds and following seas,
    Jim Waldron

  10. #130
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    I watched a video not too long ago (probably on You Tube ) There is a fellow I think in the PNW somewhere that takes on wayward kids and teaches them woodworking skills. He said something on his video that has stuck with me, and I think is profound.

    "There are two kinds of people in this world - those that take a shower before work, and those that take a shower after work - the world needs both of them"
    Regards,

    Kris

  11. #131
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kris Cook View Post

    "There are two kinds of people in this world - those that take a shower before work, and those that take a shower after work - the world needs both of them"
    Wise words!
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  12. #132
    By publishing standards, his company (Lost Art Press) is a minor miracle (small publishers aren't the least risky business venture in the world), and I see that as his most significant contribution to the community. Especially now that traditional learning and training methods are uncommon, having a strong written record is invaluable, IMHO.

  13. #133
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pete Taran View Post
    Reading the latest thoughts on the decline of people willing to work with their hands (or wanting to) reminds me of a show on PBS I watch from time to time. It's called a Craftsman's Legacy.
    Thanks for this Pete.
    "If you have all your fingers, you can convert to Metric"

  14. #134
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tyler Bancroft View Post
    By publishing standards, his company (Lost Art Press) is a minor miracle (small publishers aren't the least risky business venture in the world), and I see that as his most significant contribution to the community. Especially now that traditional learning and training methods are uncommon, having a strong written record is invaluable, IMHO.
    As I have already posted, I believe this is his strongest asset. First and foremost, many of the books published are classics and near impossible to find at a reasonable in original editions. Second, the quality is superb, and (IMO) a bargain at their price. Finally, new books are also published, and are also of a more specialized areas of our hobby or craft.

    This is his unique place in our timy world, and the one, maybe not exactly him or his woodworking, but what Schwarz has published, that will be remembered. Fifty years from now, Wearing or Hayward will still be remembered as tops in our hobby, but their published works will be much, much harder to find then, than now. But, future woodworkers will be searching out volumes printed by Lost Arts Press, and because of the print quality, they will survive!
    If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.

  15. #135
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Rathhaus View Post
    But I suspect it might be more acute in the US because we don't have an ethos around the intrinsic value of these activities that might offset these economic and technological forces.
    I think I have an idea what you mean. I had a customer 2 years ago who I had built some benches and an outdoor porch for. She walked up one day and asked if I would make new cabinet doors for her kitchen. She showed me a drawing of a frame and panel door ( a square inside a square) and said she liked the 'outline'. I talked with her a bit and it was clear she had no idea what frame and panel was, she liked her neighbor's cabinets. So we went over to take a look, and the doors were nicely made cope and stick red oak. She was surprised when I explained the method of construction. I couldn't take the commission as I would have had to charge three times the price of the commercial cabinet shop two towns over so I gave her the referral. Her daughter said she would prefer square MDF doors spray painted black with stainless steel handles.
    Dojo Kun, 1: Be humble and polite.

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