Good video-Beautiful Desk

S

skids

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Oct 14, 2012
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We often get lost in our beloved powertools here on FOG, and for good reason. Well I got lost in some youtube videos tonight and had to share this..The very limited use of power tools throughout this process is just incredible to me. The hand cut dovetails he creates are mind boggling..The final result is a piece of furniture that is astoundingly beautiful and functional, than can be passed through generations.

With all the engineering and machining we covet with Festool (rightfully so) I find it comforting to know this type of hand craftsmanship still exists.

Enjoy.

 
Yeah, I've been subscribed to his channel for a few month now.  And every time I watch him do his magic  I want to buy more high quality hand tools and make

something.  One day I want to make something, even if it's a simple box, using nothing but hand tools.

Eric
 
Although I love hand tools and a like how people still use them in the fullest possible way!!

But

I couldn't do it knowing I could send the wood through a surface planer/thicknesser in seconds  instead of spending hours trying to plane the surface flat/smooth by hand.  

No one who would be buying your furniture would know if it was hand planed or electric.

Doing dovetails by hand and tenons yeah fine don't see problem with that or hand planning/block planning things to perfect fit.  Just doing large surface like that takes soooo long I would struggle to see how he would make it pay.

Jmb
 
Here a nice desk someone built on a UK forum I'm a member of.

=youtube_gdata_player
 
Stunning hand work! I'd love to have the patience to that much handwork but I'm completely spoiled by festool tools and dust free work, surfacers and thicknessers as well that make all that kind if work so unnecessary.
 
With regard to working with hand tools, it is a different mindset.
When I was an apprentice we rarely had the use of power tools on site, we did not give a second thought to ripping an 8' x 4' ply sheet down by hand! Doors were hand sawn and planed to fit, lock
mortises drilled out with brace and bit, chiseled clean.

The joinery shop was not much better, anything that could not be done in the machine shop was done by hand tools upstairs.

There is an inherent joy in hand work, it is quiet, thoughtful and honest work. It allows one time to "read" the grain of the wood and work with it. How often have you put a piece of timber thru' a thicknesser to find large areas of breakout?
Sometimes it can be quicker to do something by hand than setup tools, make jigs etc. Quality hand tools give as much pleasure in use as Festools do, but of course, you need to know how best to use them in the first place. [wink]

I like the best of both worlds and am happy switching 'twixt them.

Rob.

 
I have a beautiful old Walnut table that was given to me by an old Scottish cabinet maker.  He had given it to me when he had retired and was going to an old carpenters home.  He had built the table completely by hand as his Journeyman project back in Scotland. From knowing his age and that it was around 1955 that he gave the table to me, I think it must have been built around 1900 +/-.  There are round and fluted legs as well as other forms of craftsmanship on the table.  I cannot tell by looking whether the table was done with machine or by hand tools, the work is s fine.  The man told me he had done everything on the table using hand tools only.

I have many good stories about that old craftsman, some of which I think i have related here on the FOG. (sorry if i am repeating with this one)
Tinker
 
Rob-GB said:
With regard to working with hand tools, it is a different mindset.
When I was an apprentice we rarely had the use of power tools on site, we did not give a second thought to ripping an 8' x 4' ply sheet down by hand! Doors were hand sawn and planed to fit, lock
mortises drilled out with brace and bit, chiseled clean.

The joinery shop was not much better, anything that could not be done in the machine shop was done by hand tools upstairs.

There is an inherent joy in hand work, it is quiet, thoughtful and honest work. It allows one time to "read" the grain of the wood and work with it. How often have you put a piece of timber thru' a thicknesser to find large areas of breakout?
Sometimes it can be quicker to do something by hand than setup tools, make jigs etc. Quality hand tools give as much pleasure in use as Festools do, but of course, you need to know how best to use them in the first place. [wink]

I like the best of both worlds and am happy switching 'twixt them.

Rob.
Click to expand...

Well said.. Problem is there aren't enough teachers these days. The craft is slowly but surely becoming more and more rare, people don't have time anymore to put into things that are a labor of love. If it can't be solved on a smartphone within 1 minute seems its not worth spending time on.

That desk is a commissioned piece he gets about $4000 for one. I'd say that's not a bad days pay, but he probably doesn't make many in a year.
 
skids said:
Rob-GB said:
With regard to working with hand tools, it is a different mindset.
When I was an apprentice we rarely had the use of power tools on site, we did not give a second thought to ripping an 8' x 4' ply sheet down by hand! Doors were hand sawn and planed to fit, lock
mortises drilled out with brace and bit, chiseled clean.

The joinery shop was not much better, anything that could not be done in the machine shop was done by hand tools upstairs.

There is an inherent joy in hand work, it is quiet, thoughtful and honest work. It allows one time to "read" the grain of the wood and work with it. How often have you put a piece of timber thru' a thicknesser to find large areas of breakout?
Sometimes it can be quicker to do something by hand than setup tools, make jigs etc. Quality hand tools give as much pleasure in use as Festools do, but of course, you need to know how best to use them in the first place. [wink]

I like the best of both worlds and am happy switching 'twixt them.

Rob.
Click to expand...

Well said.. Problem is there aren't enough teachers these days. The craft is slowly but surely becoming more and more rare, people don't have time anymore to put into things that are a labor of love. If it can't be solved on a smartphone within 1 minute seems its not worth spending time on.

That desk is a commissioned piece he gets about $4000 for one. I'd say that's not a bad days pay, but he probably doesn't make many in a year.
Click to expand...

Fine quality mahogany that wide is quite expensive and I dare say that those desks were not made in a day.  I think $4000 for that desk is a steal.  But, I do agree that most people would spend 10x on some fancy electronic gadget and shop at Ikea for their quality furniture [wink]

Jack

Jack
 
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