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I think for two reasons. Firstly because, whatever one thinks of the social setup at the time, he was in fact astonishingly good at making art. Secondly because of his role in the renaissance, which was after all a key part of the movement in Western culture away from superstition and...

I think the reason that a lot of craft furniture makers don't batch, but do custom one-offs is that for many things (i.e. not trad chairs which are particularly suited to small scale batch production) we fall between two stools. We end up making things that, even being batched, are still a lot...

Agreed! Although against that I've had a few clients who weren't particularly well off who have bought fairly expensive pieces — they saved up, or had a windfall and they wanted something really well-made for their home, and they went ahead and ordered. So I think these days the issue is often...

I did the full boatbuilding course at IBTC (just looked at their website — it was a lot cheaper then :shock: ). I loved it— it's heaven for anyone who is into wooden boats as there is so much going on there, many different types and sizes of boats in build, and you get to play with all of them...

After seeing this, my own pizza cutter now feels like something out of an American woodworking video. Scary — I don't think I'll use it again. Not without some serious dust extraction and push sticks anyway....

Yeah, but does it stop turning within 10 seconds?

No, just for people to think things through a little more thoroughly before they start so comprehensively dismissing and denigrating the craftsmanship and life choices of other people. Doesn't seem too much to ask, even from 'eccentric nutters'.

That is true, but in the article John Brown doesn't make that distinction — in fact rather the opposite. It's pretty clear that he's talking about all wood crafts, including cabinet making. And to me this points to the heart of the problem with the article — it is not a reasoned argument, it...

Me too! They're very good chairs indeed.

I'm not the all time Krenov fan but I do think that comparing his approach to John Brown's is interesting. Krenov's work is all about sensitivity, subtlety and craft in the best sense of the word, it is high quality, and obviously 'hand-crafted' — no one could accuse him of making things that...

sounds like tempting fate to me :?

Cuts both ways, I got two sinks for the workshop, and worktops, and a load of tool storage cabinets when our neighbours re-did their kitchen.... 8)

Agree. If you can use both machines and hand-tools to your advantage (rather than to the machine's advantage) then you have the best of both worlds. I think there is a lot to be said for starting out with only hand tools when you are learning, because you then find out how nice handmade...

I think a few people in the green-wood working scene manage it. Green-wood chair makers, pole lathe turners, bowl turners etc.

I don't have any idea about this particular case, but if it were a complex and high-end custom chair made to measure for one person that sounds about right. Obviously if things are being batched the price can come down dramatically. £5000/120 is about £40 an hour, but it doesn't work out like...

If you could stretch to it you might try to get a second-hand sedgwick 571 on ebay (the old green ones). They are really compact and take up surprisingly little space, they work beautifully, and if you don't like it you can sell it for what you got it for whenever you like. You could probably...

Which is a significant point I think — it is possible even now to do this with chairs using only hand tools, just about. The trouble comes if you want to make bigger things. Then you find that the time and energy required increases in direct proportion to the size of the piece in a way that...

Buy the RAS and the extension will follow....

Having been a total hand-tool purist at one time I can relate to where he is coming from, but I would now agree with Richard that a bit more balance is not a bad thing. I found that several years of working several hours a day by hand was taking a severe toll on my body, and it was clear that...

Agree these are good, and probably the best and easiest option if you are on a budget and just want to get on with it.