Which Techniques Make a Project Stand Out?

[Shady]

Slightly off the original intent of the post, but I think there's also an issue of your intended 'audience' or market here: for fellow woodworkers, the signature issues will be different from those for a 'joe public' client: the classic example I'm thinking of would be dovetails: you and I would spot the hand cut from the jig cut instantly (width of the narrowest bit relative to overall width), whereas a client probably wouldn't. In fact, I think that dovetails in today's pieces are often a hint that a piece is meant to 'shout' 'hand-made' to the uninformed. After all, if you look at their devlopment, craftsmen have spent about a thousand years developing the secret mitred dovetail, so as to hide the damned things completely!! We know the skill that this joint requires, but it is invisible when properly made.

Similarly, I have no problems with appropriate use of materials - for example, the best ground you can use for a veneer surface is MDF - it's flat to absurd tolerances, there'll be no telegraphing of subsequent sub-surface changes through the veneer (because there won't be any), and it's therefore perfect for modern, very thin veneers. But a client would never want to know that!

That said, I'd agree with the smell point - cedar of lebanon, and waxed finishes. Similarly, I think obvious solidity is an important practical difference - it's why I started making my own stuff in the first place - I wasn't paying good money for rickety rubbish... Curves, simply because there are very few in most mass produced stuff. Eliminate all visible evidence of man-made boards if used... Fun subject.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi all

I have now received an email from Stuart Lawson at The Router explaining the sublime inside radius: -

"Sorry for any confusion, I was suffering from verbal diarrhoea. I simply meant a internal corner radius that really added to the look of a design – for instance between a chair leg and a horizontal front rail. This kind of detail is expensive in mass manufacturing because an assembly often needs to be machined after the assembly process."

So now we all know. Many thanks to Stuart.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Scott]

Thanks Neil

 

[tim]

Thanks for finding out Neil.

Its funny though that now I know, I actually disagree.

True the application of a round over bit after assembly is rarely done on mass production but I personally think that crisp joins or unusual angles are much 'finer'.

So often I see the result of a bearing guided cutter applied to frames etc to replicate cock beading etc and I think it looks much more like a rush job.

I think Shady's point about secret mitre DT and the ubiquitous jigged DT is well made. I don't deny that in some projects I use jigged DTs because the clients want it to show that its hand made (but can't afford hand cut!)

Cheers

Tim