What constitutes 'handmade' ?

[Jeremy Nako]

Genuine question and I'm not expecting a definitive answer.. just thoughts and discussion.

Is it a question of power tools used in the creation of the piece.. ? If so, presumably a drill is OK but a CNC isn't?

Or it is question of what percentage of the process was done by hand ?

Or is there a different criteria ?

The question has arisen in my mind when I came across an item on Etsy which - to me - couldn't possibly be 'handmade' by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Spectric]

Depends upon how far you wish to stretch the imagination, for me handmade is something unique made by an individual who is passionate about his work whilst some may think that setting up a machine and pushing a button is handmade. It really comes back down to marketing and what they can get away with before someone decides they are now just taking the pee.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

The concept "handmade" is probably pre Black and Decker - when "handmade" genuinely related to a creation by a skilled artisan, using hand tools, of an object, without mechanical assistance.

Realistically handmade now refers to low volume production using basic commonly available tools.

That the wood was planked in a sawmill, kiln dried, cut to size using a bandsaw or chop saw, assembled using a battery drill, and finished using a detail sander and aerosol varnish does not render a product "machine made".

It simply allows the maker increased time and opportunities to refine their creative skills to produce the ever better.

 

[johnnyb]

my own personal taste likes an entire thing/ scheme done/designed by one person. it's the individuality where the beauty lies. of course handmade can be a collective effort but I still like the vision to be one man's.
in my mind for the purpose of this a small machine is essentially handmade. quality hand tool woodworking is a fairly rare beast and having it for sale to the public is even more unusual.

 

[Jameshow]

To me hand made us an item which has the majority of its work done by human direction (craftsman) rather than a machine.

Hence oak furniture land, IKEA etc I wouldn't consider hand made even if the output is somewhat similar to a handmade item and the processes are generally similar.

The hand crafted item will have been created and built with the eye and hand of a craftsman rather than the eye of a lazer and hand of a microswitch!

 

[Sachakins]

Using a cnc or laser still constitutes being hand made, where you have designed and crafted the piece, which will require hand finishing, sanding polishing etc.

Just as a dressmaker or embroider may use machines, and still be hand made, as the ma hine is part of the process.

Full manufacturing automated mass production is not classed as handmade, even though there is a lot of human activity still in the process. But limited run cars are classed as hand built

So to me it's a bit about scale and uniqueness and personalisation you put into a product.
Whether hand made, hand built, without tools, with tools, with power tools, with machines ie lathes, cnc, lasers etc I think is never going to have a concensus.

I think each generation looks to the following generations, usually with comments like that's not hand made as we never it did it that way in my day!

I can imagine the first Yankee Screwdriver and brace and bit were looked upon as a new fandangled contraptions of the new generation, just as steel soled planes just complicated the block plane design. And so on up the line to today, I have even heard said that a new cnc hobby machine is nothing like using a good plunge router in real woodworking !

Just proves that the view on what constitutes handmade is just as generational, so never likely to get a concensus ever

 

[Jeremy Nako]

I read an article that states that there is no legal definition of 'handmade" in the UK.

As far as Etsy is concerned, everything made and/or designed by you, the business owner, can be listed as hand made.

 

[Fergie 307]

Using a cnc or laser still constitutes being hand made, where you have designed and crafted the piece, which will require hand finishing, sanding polishing etc.

Just as a dressmaker or embroider may use machines, and still be hand made, as the ma hine is part of the process.

Full manufacturing automated mass production is not classed as handmade, even though there is a lot of human activity still in the process. But limited run cars are classed as hand built

So to me it's a bit about scale and uniqueness and personalisation you put into a product.
Whether hand made, hand built, without tools, with tools, with power tools, with machines ie lathes, cnc, lasers etc I think is never going to have a concensus.

I think each generation looks to the following generations, usually with comments like that's not hand made as we never it did it that way in my day!

I can imagine the first Yankee Screwdriver and brace and bit were looked upon as a new fandangled contraptions of the new generation, just as steel soled planes just complicated the block plane design. And so on up the line to today, I have even heard said that a new cnc hobby machine is nothing like using a good plunge router in real woodworking !

Just proves that the view on what constitutes handmade is just as generational, so never likely to get a concensus ever

Cant really agree. Take your sewing example. If you were to buy a really top class kimono then the silk will have been processed by hand, woven by hand on a hand operated loom and sewn entirely by hand, not a machine involved anywhere. That is hand made. Seems quite a straightforward concept to me. We have unfortunately reached the stage now where terms like hand finished can mean as little as someone having polished something with a tin of pledge, evey process up until then having been entirely automated. So if a cnc machine cuts and finishes all the pieces but a person then glues them together, is that hand made? I would say not. But i bet you would be allowed to get away with it. Go back to the days of genuinely hand made furniture and that is what you got, timber cut and shaped entirely using hand tools. So the accuracy was entirely dependent on the skill of the craftsman in manipulating his saw and plane etc. Why you had the distinction between say a joiner and a cabinet maker. So in my view the term hand made has been abused because people like the sound of it, but have long since lost the desire to actually pay for the genuine article, if you could even find someone to do it. Another one that annoys me is the term panel beater. Once meant someone who could start out with some sheet metal and make you a car body using pretty much some hammers and a bag of sand. Nowadays a term all to often claimed by some muppet who only knows how to use a tub of plastic filler.

 

[Jameshow]

Cant really agree. Take your sewing example. If you were to buy a really top class kimono then the silk will have been processed by hand, woven by hand on a hand operated loom and sewn entirely by hand, not a machine involved anywhere. That is hand made. Seems quite a straightforward concept to me. We have unfortunately reached the stage now where terms like hand finished can mean as little as someone having polished something with a tin of pledge, evey process up until then having been entirely automated. So if a cnc machine cuts and finishes all the pieces but a person then glues them together, is that hand made? I would say not. But i bet you would be allowed to get away with it. Go back to the days of genuinely hand made furniture and that is what you got, timber cut and shaped entirely using hand tools. So the accuracy was entirely dependent on the skill of the craftsman in manipulating his saw and plane etc. Why you had the distinction between say a joiner and a cabinet maker. So in my view the term hand made has been abused because people like the sound of it, but have long since lost the desire to actually pay for the genuine article, if you could even find someone to do it. Another one that annoys me is the term panel beater. Once meant someone who could start out with some sheet metal and make you a car body using pretty much some hammers and a bag of sand. Nowadays a term all to often claimed by some muppet who only knows how to use a tub of plastic filler.

Can a cabinet maker not use a mitre saw, bandsaw, pt morticer then?!

 

[TRITON]

I've only made one thing that was entirely handmade. A small box, made from timber riven from a log into quartered boards, each dressed and thicknessed by chisel and plane. dimensioned by handsaw, Hand sanded with paper and a block.

It took a long time, much sweat and a bit of blood(see those sharp edges ) and TBH I wouldnt ever do it again.

Sure theres a satisfaction from doing it entirely by hand, but in truth it is not economical.

 

[Fergie 307]

Of course, but I would say it is not then hand made. Little skill involved in any of those tools versus doing it by hand. And that is the point. Im not suggesting that hand made is nevessarily better, just a term that has a very clear meaning to me, and in this context implies a level of skill on the part of the hand maker. After all any bum can cut a dead straight line at a 90 degree angle using a tracksaw, but how many can do it by hand? So if you get to the stage where every part has actually just been processed by machines under human guidance then how is that hand made, dont get it. If you twiddle a knob to set the thickness and then put a piece through a thicknesser then you havent made the resulting part, the machine has. As I say it will very possibly be more accurate and better finished so in many ways perhaps superior, but its not hand made.

 

[Fergie 307]

I've only made one thing that was entirely handmade. A small box, made from timber riven from a log into quartered boards, each dressed and thicknessed by chisel and plane. dimensioned by handsaw, Hand sanded with paper and a block.

It took a long time, much sweat and a bit of blood(see those sharp edges ) and TBH I wouldnt ever do it again.

Sure theres a satisfaction from doing it entirely by hand, but in truth it is not economical.

Agree entirely and that is why it is no longer really done. But I think the question what what qualifies as hand made, not the merits of it economic or otherwise.

 

[Esqy]

I understand your logic, but I feel like there's a personal line there.
In your mind (If I'm reading it right) Using a bandsaw to get a straight cut is no longer 'handmade' because little skill is required.

On the other hand, a significant amount of things that a woodworker makes are things like jigs (Also a workshop storage, but I digress) in order to ensure straight edges and stuff - Is using a mitre block with a handsaw still 'handmade'? After all, any bum can cut a dead straight line at 90 degrees using a mitre block. Then theres the evolution of that, where you clamp the saw in, reducing the usage skill even more.

Would it be the presence of a motor that takes the 'handmade' aspect away?

Would using a treadle setup (Like the ye olde lathes) class as 'no longer handmade'?

Even in the days before power, woodworkers were coming up with ways to make cuts more accurate - Stopblocks, jigs, clamps, stamps - and were coming up with ways to make hand-tool work easier on the crafter - Longer handles for leverage, treadle style setups, even down to the design of blades. Even a friend of mine who makes lino prints - Carves the lino by hand, but when printing it, uses a big 'ol mechanical press.

If I'm making a project that involves setting up multiple jigs and stuff, chances are I'll plan to make a few of the item, to both maximise the time efficiency and.. well, to have a backups if I mess one of them up accidently.

In my mind, Handmade is if I made it. Doesn't matter which tools I use, If I get a blank piece of wood and make a thing from it using a planer/thicknesser, bandsaw, mitre saw, drill, router and orbital sander - I made that thing using my own hands. If I get a measurement wrong and mess up the piece, that's on me and I should have been more focused.
Not handmade is the likes of Ikea - You'd have a production line with high-end machinery where you put a plank in one end, and a perfect sized, drilled and laminated panel comes out the other. The machine operator is probably skilled at operating that machine, but other than putting the wood in activating the machine and taking it out, there is no other human interaction.

CNCs bridge that river. If I just cut out 2-D picture of Santa, add a ribbon and call it a decoration - That's not really handmade. Maybe hand-finished. If I cut out the parts of a box then assemble and finish it, there is an argument to say that it was handmade - however it's in the eye of the beholder. The end result is what people buy and/or like.

The word has evolved (as words do over time) to refer to bespoke, limited run items that need direct human interaction to create and construct.

 

[Fergie 307]

I agree it is open to interpretation. Take two examples. A lathe, its purpose to make a piece of wood go round and round. Doesnt really matter how its powered because that really has little to do with it , except maybe a pole lathe which has its own extra skill requirements. if the operator is shaping the piece using a tool held in his hand, then I would say that qualifies as hand made. If he programmes a cnc machine to guide the tool I would say not. Or hand cut tenons, which I have seen on a number of adverts for things. To my mind this says a person using a saw a chisel and a mallet. If the person is using a guide and a router, I would say not. I suppose in summary my view would be that if machines are involved to the extent that the only human involvement is the pressing of a button or pushing a tool along a guide, and has no real abilty to influence the outcome then I would say not. Take a cut glass tumbler for example, a cnc machine will do it much more accurately and faster than a person ever could, but people will still pay a premium for one that is hand cut. Maybe because of the slight imperfections that brings, or because the cutter is a particularly well known craftsman, or woman. Does it matter how the cutting wheel is powered, no. Your ptess example is similar in my view. The skill is in the cutting of the block, how you press it onto the paper is largely irrelevant. Interesting subject, and fascinating to hear different peoples take on it. Very surprised our old pal Jacob hasn't chipped in yet. I am sure he will have a view

 

[akirk]

for me a simple way to understand it (which many will no doubt argue against!) is can it be modified... if there is a process so rigid (e.g. the IKEA example above) that you get one product repeatedly in their millions, but with no ability to adjust, then that is not hand made - if however, each and every one can be tweaked to get bespoke results - then that is handmade - regardless of how many tools are used. So in the example above, a CNC cutting out a picture of a 2D Santa to which a ribbon is added, is still handmade - it is a human putting in the creativity etc. and then using a tool for one of the steps - no doubt they are still sanding it / finishing it / etc. For me - it is about human creativity and some ability to mess it up at some point

 

[Fergie 307]

I am reminded of one of Dorothy L Sayer's books where she describes the meaning of different terms in advertising. If somethin is described as mado from Strawberries, then it is made using strawberries and nothing else. If it is described as being made with strawberries, then it might have one or two strawberries to a hundred weight of plumbs. I suppose my concern is that all to often we are seein a term that, in my view anyway, ought to refer to made from being used to describe things that are rather more made with, if that makes sense

 

[J-G]

If he programmes a cnc machine to guide the tool I would say not.

Hmm... the waters here are very muddy

I use a CNC machine to create all manner of 'things' - look back over some of my posts this year and you'll see the 'Giraffe' Clock and the 'Siamese Cat' box to mention just a couple. These were designed and made 'by hand' - ie. 'created' from my own thought processes and transfered to a finished article by me personally selecting suitable materials and processing them 'by hand', albeit with the aid of Power Saw, Pillar Drill, Milling Machine, Lathe, Router, Gear Hobber, CNC, Linisher . . . . etc.

I've no idea how you go about making or repairing clocks (never mind Watches!) but you may well have a Pinion Mill - would the use of such mean that the resulting clock could not be called 'Hand Made' ?

Programming a CNC machine is not a soul-less machine activity, it has to start with a drawing which will have come from some form of creative inspiration. It may then require 'adjustment' - often by hand or eye - to achieve the final desired effect.

As I said at the start - the waters are 'muddy'.

 

[niall Y]

'Handmade' is one of those words that is part of that guff and nostalgia that we like to wallow in, in our modern world - 'Artisanal' is another. It evokes a 'time before', when, supposedly, everything was more comforting and reassuring.

We all buy into it to a greater or lesser extent. But, can anything be truly handmade if, somewhere during the process of making it, a machine was used? The best any of us could claim is 'mostly' or 'partly' - 'wholly' might just be a claim too far.

As it's a word usually attached to something that someone is trying to sell us, it should best be treated as a marketing ploy - we all realize it can't be wholly true, but,, we like to hear it, anyway.

 

[Jameshow]

If I make something it's hand made - mistakes all over it, if you make it and it's near as can be perfect then that's machine made!

 

[Fergie 307]

Hmm... the waters here are very muddy

I use a CNC machine to create all manner of 'things' - look back over some of my posts this year and you'll see the 'Giraffe' Clock and the 'Siamese Cat' box to mention just a couple. These were designed and made 'by hand' - ie. 'created' from my own thought processes and transfered to a finished article by me personally selecting suitable materials and processing them 'by hand', albeit with the aid of Power Saw, Pillar Drill, Milling Machine, Lathe, Router, Gear Hobber, CNC, Linisher . . . . etc.

I've no idea how you go about making or repairing clocks (never mind Watches!) but you may well have a Pinion Mill - would the use of such mean that the resulting clock could not be called 'Hand Made' ?

Programming a CNC machine is not a soul-less machine activity, it has to start with a drawing which will have come from some form of creative inspiration. It may then require 'adjustment' - often by hand or eye - to achieve the final desired effect.

As I said at the start - the waters are 'muddy'.

I can see your point, I suppose mine would be that if you sent me the file then I could reproduce your clock precicely, without any creative input at all. So mine certainly wouldnt be hand made, or not in my opinion anyway. Might be hand finished, but that is a whole different issue.