On Thu, 02 Jun 2005 22:23:47 -0700, charlie b
wrote:

My woodworking goal is to be able to develop the knowledge,
skills and abilities necessary to design, build and finish
furniture I can't afford to buy.

Being skint and nailing 2x4s together will achieve that much.


I seem to have got to the point where I can make furniture that no-one
can afford. In a world where Ikea will sell you a perfectly functional
table, how many people are there left who are prepared to pay for
anything better than MDF ?

I can make the stuff, and I've got any number of people who want it. But
as for _paying_ a sensible rate for hand-work (which is inevitably
slower and more skilled than factory, even for modest quality) then
where's the market gone? Who _wants_ a table they can leave to their
grandchildren, when the current fashion is to paint it pink because
that's what Changing Rooms told you to do this week, then throw it away
the week after.

I can see a future not too far away, where the only people with really
good _new_ furniture are those who are building it themselves, or being
given it as gifts from the makers. Quality just isn't part of commerce
these days.