OK, we'll class ourselves as bench hand joiners
Great cabinet makers of the 21st century
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thetyreman
Established Member
the title is great cabinet makers of the 21st century, I presume this means individuals who are designer/makers who largely make their own furniture and sell it as a product mostly from solid woods with real joinery, or maybe veneered MDF that is well made, to me ikea and oak furniture land are different beasts, huge companies where quality is at the bottom of their philosophy, they manufacture products to be sold en mass, the individual or small workshop can at best only do very small batches of a product and doesn't have the same economies of scale or overheads for such things.
If you accept this machine made mass produced stuff as great then these companies could be seen as great cabinet makers, personally I would class a great cabinet maker as someone who is not mass producing and can tailor the cabinet to a persons needs which blows the likes of Ikea out of the equation as there business model is mass produced and not any deviation. Another aspect that should be taken into account is there influence, do they influence the up and coming cabinet makers or their skills pull people into the trade.
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While I was at college, the college(Glasgow college of building and printing) classed the students as cabinetmakers. So I would agree with Thetyreman that people (possibly trained, with an industry recognised qualification) who make handmade furniture using a variety of materials from solid and engineered timbers, veneers, faced wod products like mdf, or velcromat or even metal or plastics are under the modern classification of that of a cabinetmaker.
As to mass produced, for example ikea or and of the myriad of companies using faced boards, chipboard etc to produce home products like kitchen cabinets, or other bedroom furniture would be classed as furniture producers and not have a cabinetmaker label, although the people they employ to make or assemble these products might be from a cabinet maker background as above- college trained qualification etc, to bench hand joiners who assemble pre made components.
johnnyb
Established Member
surely it's a thing that requires patrons( customers). Once there are few customers the reason for that existence becomes an impossibility. it cannot support itself.
this is why small designer makers are extremely rare. making stuff at the standard needed requires decades of experience. with no reward it's hardly surprising that people are teaching or making youtube stuff or selling things literally anything but making one off furniture. ideas for these things are rarely fully formed requiring time and prototypes/ patterns. all basically unseen work. making kitchens or wardrobes follows a well trodden path
this is why small designer makers are extremely rare. making stuff at the standard needed requires decades of experience. with no reward it's hardly surprising that people are teaching or making youtube stuff or selling things literally anything but making one off furniture. ideas for these things are rarely fully formed requiring time and prototypes/ patterns. all basically unseen work. making kitchens or wardrobes follows a well trodden path
johnnyb
Established Member
my vote is definitely thomas moser. his influence is everywhere and mainstream.
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
I've got a couple of his excellent books. I never quite got around to copying anything.
Actually the whole topic of greatest cabinet maker reminded me of an arguments at school about world's greatest guitarists. It came down to a choice between Julian Bream and Duane Eddy (this was a long time ago!).
Similar with "cabinet makers" - it's such a vague category and such a diverse bunch of performers that it's fairly meaningless to try to choose between them!
Chief Sawdust Maker
Darren
I think everyone is omitting a very obvious contender....................
IKEA !!!!!
Sorry couldn't resist
D
IKEA !!!!!
Sorry couldn't resist
D
The reason why I started this thread was not to find a greatest cabinetmaker alive, but to find kind of people, who will be remembered in 100 years as the good ones. Like those from 19th and 20th century that are being remembered and mentioned now.
johnnyb
Established Member
I think Thomas mosers genius was like many un named makers( Jacob has a phrase for these guys) he loved unadorned craftsmanship. I think his book was published in 1977( how to build shaker furniture) and showed the world what was in the pipe for the next 50 years! shaker is now an unadorned style( think ready salted) but the shops he founded still really hand-build stuff ( 90000 soft is a big shop even by American standards) baffled how a strange sect ended up dominating the world of interiors look no further than Mr moser.
could of been separatists of zoar style kitchens or hutterites style( there not that catchy tbf)
could of been separatists of zoar style kitchens or hutterites style( there not that catchy tbf)
Great thread. So many inspirational designs.
Mentioned him before in other threads but Caleb Woodard - Caleb Woodard Furniture
thetyreman
Established Member
it's weird to me how in the UK if you made shaker furniture here nobody would buy it but in the US it would sell easily and for thousands!
Jameshow
Established Member
Is the book worth getting?
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Maybe because in the U.S. they're buying into something whereas most of us don't really know what Shakers are?
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Dunno if you made very careful replicas I think they'd sell, but not the so called Shaker "style" stuff with MDF panels etc
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
I've got the Shaker Furniture and the Measured Drawings and they are excellent. Not that I've made much from them so far!
https://www.thriftbooks.com/a/thos-moser/395784/
Well worth a look. A lot of the designs are hand drawn with imperial measurements as would be expected. I make shaker furniture and one reason it is scarce is the amount of wastage incurred. For instance for a candlestand pedestal you need to start with a 4 " square blank. Not easy to find in maple or cherry ! If you pay say £30 , about a third is left on the floor in turnings. Ouch....... ! In the book Moser simply finishes everything with hot linseed oil which is fine if you refinish every year but I tend to use a water based lacquer.
Jacob
What goes around comes around.
Linseed oil really easy to apply and the general idea is once a week for a couple of weeks, once month ditto, once a year and eventually non at all except to revive a surface. Has to be applied thinly and rubbed up to a shine when it's dry.
I've been putting it on some wood turnings - I just splash it on and rub it in with my hands. Wipe off surplus with a cloth. Takes a few seconds.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Looking at the Moser books, completely off tack there are Windsor chair making courses being run at Westonbirt. If you've never been to Westonbirt, try to visit, it's a wonderful place.
