woodbloke":23hlpyz3 said:
The dom simply replaces a m/t or dowel joint, thats all - Rob
Rob, this is philosophical for me.
I haven't the least doubt that these new fangled domino loose tenons are the most wonderful thing on the planet, and will make an incredibly strong chair. That really isn't the point. They might only replace the m&t or the dowel in your eyes........in mine, they replace the craft.
I don't do woodworking just to cut bits of wood to length and assemble them. I enjoy the craft, the skill, the thinking, the problem solving. I just think that there is no honesty in a piece of furniture made by a hobbyist.......I repeat, a hobbyist, that doesn't involve
craft.
Wang all the bits of wood through a few machines, hack them off to to length and offer up an instant-joint-machine if you want. Fine. We'll all ask what sort of finish was used and offer congratulations on the nice tapered legs. But isn't the whole point to occupy ourselves meaningfully until we die, and to do what we do with a bit of integrity?
I can afford to go out and buy something from every single page in the Axminster catalogue. But where would that leave me? My hobby wouldn't be about the wood any more, nor about the finished piece of furniture.......my hobby would be all about feeding machines, or using the special one-off hand-tool made by 300 year old goblins. I actually don't care very much about tools, as long as they are sharp. I care about craft, about skills and about knowledge. I care about wood and I care about design.
Why make an easy piece of woodwork easier? I'm just not in that sort of a rush......Remember, at the moment I am not a professional woodworker........if I were it would be an entirely different kettle of fish. If I want loose tenons I make them. I don't buy them in a plastic box and install them into a hole cut by a £500 machine using all the skill of someone who can hold a power tool up to a line. When we've let a machine de-skill that process for us, what are we going to give up to machines next?
Now, you have to understand that I am not anti-machine, nor am I accusing anyone who uses machines in general or a domino in particular of being unskillful. I didn't use any machinery at all until 2 or 3 years ago, and now really enjoy the PT and bandsaw. I'll get a tablesaw one day when I have the room. But I view these as labour saving devices rather than skill-replacing devices. Skills and outcome are my interest..........craft and design.
If I was paying a pro to build me some fitted furniture I would hope that he would actually be using a domino so that he could save himself some time and therefore me some money.........but when I do woodwork for the fun of it, I'm damned if I'm going to have one, or apologise for suggesting that we might feel better about a piece of furniture made without one.
Rob, none of the "you"s in this piece should be read as you. I should have written in the abstract "one"......"one can do this or that", but it will take too much re-writing now. I don't hold these dominos and all the other shiny things you guys gloat about against the owners, but do hope you understand that they fall outside my area of interest, and outside my philosophy of woodwork.
Right, there it is folks. Rip me to bits........
Mike
