Rex Krueger
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There's no such thing as "Woodworking."
🕑 Added 2020-06-01 13:19:43 +0000 UTC(*This feature article will appear in my newsletter, Fabrication First, but Patrons get it before everyone else. This is basically the whole newsletter, so if you're a Patron, there isn't much reason to subscribe to Fab First.)
Old crafts make good hobbies. I know a bunch of blacksmiths, glass-blowers, spinners and weavers. It seems like I would fit right in with these ancient crafts, but historically, there’s actually no such thing as a woodworker. Woodwork is not a craft.
History of Woodcraft
As far back as the 1600s, the English government surveyed craftsmen. These early censuses turned up around 2 dozen occupations where an artisan made things from wood. Some of these crafts are familiar; our world still employs a lot of carpenters. Others are pretty rare. Dedicated craftspeople still make wooden barrels or English longbows. But if we surveyed any of the wood-based craftsmen from centuries ago, not one would have called himself a “woodworker.” So many people worked wood for a living that the term would have made no sense. It’s like someone today saying they work with computers. Don’t we all?
It’s all One
One of the wood trades got much more prominent in the 18th and 19th Centuries: the cabinet-maker. This craftsman specialized in chests, beds, dressers, secretaries (desks), dressing tables and (of course) cabinets. Does this sound familiar? It should; I just described most of modern woodwork. From the Chippendale highboy to the Shaker pie-safe, most modern “woodworking” is really cabinet-making. We think of cabinets as those boxes on the walls of our kitchens, but a cabinet is a whole family of wooden forms based on a rectangle. And most of modern woodwork is dedicated to making these things.
Somewhere along the line, the cabinet-maker became the much more generic “woodworker.” But how did this happen, and why?
Roots of Modern Woodwork
For many people, the height of pre-industrial furniture making is the work of Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779). Chippendale and his competitors defined craftsmanship and artistry in furniture. These craftsmen produced pieces that were not only expertly constructed, but also featured a blend of styles, exotic woods, daringly curved shapes and advanced techniques like veneer and marquetry. Whatever you think of the style, the 18th Century was probably the high-water mark of Western furniture.
This period features the most ornamental and the most technically difficult furniture. Over a century later, as woodwork became the hobby of middle and upper-class men with disposable incomes, this style became the height that many amateur craftmen aspired to. For many “woodworkers” in in the Post-War West, making a Chippendale Highboy was a major artistic accomplishment.
As tastes became more modern and designer/craftsmen like James Krenov and Tage Frid gained popularity, magazines like Fine Woodworking featured their designs as well as Shaker, Arts and Crafts, and even Nakashima-inspired live-edge styles.
But in general, the craft still leaned heavily on chests, tables, cupboards, and dressers. These are rectilinear forms based around boxes and these kinds of projects still dominate the craft today.
Why the Cabinet?
We all need furniture so cabinet-making is a sensible choice, but making pre-industrial, highly decorated cabinetry is a big challenge.
Especially if you work alone.
Pre-industrial furniture was made in shops filled with workers. Chippendale employed dozens of journeyman and apprentices to handle the stock-preparation, layout, joinery, inlay, carving and finishing of his ornate piece.
For sure, there were some solo craftsmen at the time, but a country carpenter like Jonathan Fisher did much simpler work and made far fewer pieces, working part-time and handling every aspect of production himself.
How can today’s lone woodworker hope to copy the masterpieces of the past? With machines.
The Post War craftsman equipped his garage or basement shop with table saw, bandsaw, jointer, and planer for the basic operations and then probably added a router to help with joinery and molding as well as a lathe for turned components. With this fleet of precision machines, the “modern” woodworker can function as a whole shop.
But it’s not easy.
Paying the Price
Skilled amateurs with machine tools make some inspiring work, but the machines cost thousands of dollars and require considerable space. Most modern machines also involve real danger of injury and a big investment of time. Forget the romantic image of plane shavings falling in a quiet loft. Today’s machine worker does much of his or her work with safety glasses, ear-defenders, and a respirator on. This is industrial work, just on a smaller scale.
The cabinet-focused, machine-intensive kind of woodwork also creates a lucrative web of products and services that the woodworking industry can sell. Machines need maintenance, blades, dust-collection, and a thousand accessories and gizmos. These machines take real time to learn and the intimidated beginner is offered a whole array of books, magazines, DVDs, in-person classes and even (ahem) YouTube videos. There’s always more to learn.
Woodwork magazines (which are staffed by talented and thoughtful people) are supported by selling ad space to power-tool companies whose products work best when they’re making box-shaped things from square and stable kiln-dried hardwoods. The articles in these magazines tend to be about using machine tools to make pieces with lots of straight lines and right angles.
Magazines do feature turners, carvers, and experts in marquetry, not only because these “fringe” crafts interest some readers, but also because many period pieces need a little bit of turning or carving to be complete. The modern woodworker must be a jack or jane of all trades, but the focus is still generally on historical cabinet projects.
Strangely Limited
I enjoy magazines like Fine Woodworking and Popular Woodworking; I read them both. But when was the last time you looked at the cover of either of these magazines and saw a bow-maker (boyer) or a wheelwright? Both of these pursuits involve high levels of skill and create impressive wooden objects. Are these craftsmen and women not woodworkers too? Why are they never featured?
I suppose these woodworkers get little attention because they don’t interest readers, but why is that? Probably because the modern woodworker isn’t equipped to make these items. For all the power and supposed flexibility of machine tools, there’s a lot they can’t do. You cannot make a barrel on a table-saw.
When Peter Follansbee released his two books on 17th Century joinery in green wood, he got some flak from reviewers because his methods are “outside the capability of the average woodworker.”
Really?
A man who makes chests and stools out of unseasoned oak with about 30 basic hand-tools is on some other planet? Well, maybe he is. I own a lot of power tools, but I would struggle to adapt them to Follansbee’s work. My table-saw is a Sawstop and its safety mechanism will go off if I cut something green (trust me; I know). If I want to make things Peter’s way, I have to go where he is. I cannot drag his tradition into a machine environment.
This problem reveals the weakness of the machine-centered shop; it’s optimized for cabinet work, but it’s of little use if you want to make other things out of wood. Are you interested in carving wood bowls with an adze? Would you like to make green chairs the way Jennie Alexander taught? Well, that’s very nice, but it’s not “real” woodworking, is it?
Real woodwork is about precision, an attribute that the worker must struggle to attain. A lot of that struggle involves spending money. Does your table-saw have a cast-iron table? It should. Have you used a dial-indicator to remove the slightest wobble from the arbor? Why not? If your work isn’t precise, then it isn’t very good. If your whole style of woodwork doesn’t value (or even need) precision, well that’s just crazy.
The Way Forward
If I’ve been a little critical of modern woodwork, it’s because I love it. I like machine tools, even if I don’t use them much anymore. I like cabinet work…especially when other people do it. My talents lie elsewhere.
You should just know that when most people say “woodworker” what they really mean is “cabinet-maker.” Cabinet-making itself is a fine and noble craft. If you’ve built a reproduction high-boy then my hat is off to you, really. But the cabinet-makers can’t continue to define our craft. We need room for the spoon-carvers, the chair-bodgers, and the whittlers. If you work wood in any way, you belong in the club. And for those of us who make more “unusual” wooden objects we might just have to shoulder our way into the clubhouse.
It’s okay; all that planing has given me a very strong set of shoulders.
Comments
James Anthony
I remember watching that one every Saturday morning growing up. That and New Yankee Workshop, though I always found this one comforting to watch somehow. I blame this show and having gotten to work on a lathe in middle school for my love of woodworking today.
The Super-wrench Garage
Rex, Great article, I though I made a comment already but it is not there? Anyway great article, reminds me a lot of growing up and watching PBS and Roy Underhill and The Woodright's shop. He is still going strong 37 years. His PBS show explored every aspect of hand tool woodworking and it dovetails nicely with your toughs and article
Rex Krueger
So glad you think so!
Rex Krueger
Personally, I would say yes. CNC is really very difficult and requires a lot of skill.
James Bornheimer
Big debate now is whether cnc users are woodworker.
Ira Romfh
I am pretty sure I found your videos after watching bowyers on YT. I 100% agree I see the working of wood as not at all limited to cabinets. Great article.
Rex Krueger
I guess at a certain point that makes sense. You have the ideas and other people can execute them. I have no idea what that's like, but it sounds nice.
Patrick Salsbury
What you mentioned about Chippendale is true of many artists. Once they get famous and in demand, they are often assisted by other artists and craftspeople. Dale Chihuly, the glass blower, does not blow all of those pieces for all of those displays that are all around the world. I have a friend who is a glass blower that worked with him for a while, and as you said, there are many pieces that they orchestrate, but do not directly craft with their own hands.
Ralph Livingston
Well that made my day… Thanks for replying Rex!
John Flynn
That's awesome. I strongly considered teaching. I still am, in fact. Once I retire I might take up a new career. My current job requires a lot of teaching and instruction, and it's one of the most fulfilling things about my day. What inspired you to make the career jump from teaching to craftsman pursuits?
Rex Krueger
Interestingly, there's some debate about whether or not Chippendale did much woodwork at all. He totally could, but he was more of a salesman/designer. For a lot of those pieces, he might not have touched them at all, especially as he became more successful.
Rex Krueger
I'm also a know-it-all. You're among friends.
Rex Krueger
That's a good point. Some jobs are better suited to power-tools, especially certain furniture styles that were invented in the power-tool era.
Rex Krueger
You're totally right.
Rex Krueger
Thanks so much! I used to be an English teacher, so I take writing and research very seriously. Thanks for noticing!
Ralph Livingston
Well written piece. I always enjoy learning something that is obvious (Chippendale employed a multitude of craftsmen) but never occurred to me. I really did think of one guy making these incredible pieces of furniture. Granted, I hadn’t given it a lot of thought… But still. Thanks again,
Matthew First
Best article I have read of yours to date! All of it was great stuff... and a lot of it I didn't know... and I am a know-it-all! 😁 Anyways... keep up the great work and thanks for remembering us wood turners are people too... or is that wood workers? Peace!
David Coxon
I don’t have any of the bigger power tools like saw bench, thicknesses, etc, but while in COVID lockdown I wanted to get started on a project to make.a set of drawers for my 4WD. I couldn’t go out to get pre-sized timber for the base so I used some left-over 30 x 90mm decking and cut all 6 1m lengths down to 20mm thick with a hand rip saw then planed it smooth. It took a while but I got a generally good finish - good enough for something that will never be seen. I have it as a project on the discussion forum.
David Coxon
A very interesting article that got me thinking about all the jobs I do in wood (as a DIYer only) and why I sometimes use only hand tools and sometimes hand power tools
James Boatright
My point being that bandsaws are freaking dangerous. They bother me far more than tablesaws.
Deron Kosloski
just the other day I seen a chief use a sawsall on some St Louis Ribs, hmmm!
Deron Kosloski
if you remove the %20 in front of the https:\\, after you click the link. Thats computerworking! Great article Rex!
Patrick Salsbury
Spotted a small typo: "boyer" should be "bowyer". And thanks for another insightful article!
Howard Tuckey
That's what I'm talking about! :-)
John Flynn
Rex, your take on things is really refreshing. There are a ton of woodworkers on YouTube, but they don't go into the weeds on projects like you do. They don't explain the science, or the philosophy, or even the history of things like you. I started out just watching videos, and some are cool and edgy, and others are a bit campy at times. But you put a lot of effort into this, and I feel like it's because you love making wood projects, and you want to share that love with others. That's why you're not just a video creator, but you're writing these in depth articles meant to broaden a knowledge base among your fans. The first piece of yours i read was your "hard wood vs. soft wood" article, and I was hooked.
John Flynn
Yeah, every time I see a video with a seemingly simple project on the thumbnail, then the person in the video goes between using a huge sliding compound space rocket chop saw and a Sawstop that costs more than I make in a month and three different kinds of routers... it's like they're just showing off what they can do with money. The average dude can't just BE Batman with hockey pads on, yaknow?
John Flynn
Well said, and I would definitely buy a Rex Kruger book. But I'm really here to comment about your seafood trips. The coast of Maine is so beautiful in the summertime, and the seafood is fantastic. Walking down a pier in Ogunquit and getting a lunch in a box that's a whole lobster and a half a pound of fries and a drink for 8 bucks is hard to beat.
John Flynn
W J, I feel the same way. I'm so daunted by the idea of preparing stock with a hand plane.
John Flynn
I'm a very new woodworker (though I've done some other trades stuff in the past, i.e. HVAC, framing, etc). I'm not very skilled at the finer side of woodworking yet, but one day I want to make an acoustic guitar. It's my dream project, I think.
Howard Tuckey
Yes, I have that one, and it's good, too! I enjoyed it, and learned from it as well. And speaking as a former college-level writing tutor, it's been a pleasure to watch your writing skills get even better!
Daniel Hoover
Lol i meant it as a joke but now I've fallen into a possibility/probability curve which far exceeds my abilities 😁. Thanks for all you do.
Rex Krueger
Appreciate that!
Rex Krueger
My pleasure!
Rex Krueger
It's not uncommon for woodworkers to use old meat-cutting band-saws. I've seen them up close and they're very nice.
Rex Krueger
Yup, English. Mostly science writing, film studies and composition. I'm glad I could lift spirits a bit.
Rex Krueger
Fixed!
Rex Krueger
Thank you for being here!
Rex Krueger
It's really my pleasure. I bought all the machines...and now I rarely turn them on. Life it funny.
Rex Krueger
Hm, I might have messed that one up.
Rex Krueger
I've seen those Eagles Coach guys in videos. Very impressive.
Rex Krueger
Jimmy Diresta did a pretty great bucket on the tablesaw in one of his early videos. Easier than a barrel, but still pretty damn impressive.
Rex Krueger
Oh, the father part is easy. I make my wife do all the hard stuff. (If only I could.)
Rex Krueger
Think outside the box! How did I not sneak that into the article somehow?
Rex Krueger
I guess everything I write is "with attitude." It's the only way I know.
Rex Krueger
You know I did write a book, right? It's called _One Week to Woodturning_ and it's on Amazon. Am I writing another? Well....
Rex Krueger
Ha! Well played, sir.
Rex Krueger
The hand-tool approach does make it easier to involve the little ones. My daugher LOVES to work the bit-brace.
Rex Krueger
Guitar-making is amazing. I've done a few electrics and there's really nothing to it. Acoustics....that's a whole other world and every bit the "woodworking" that fine furniture is.
Brooks Moses
For the people noticing the broken link for Jonathan Fisher, here's the correct link: https://lostartpress.com/collections/books/products/hands-employed-aright
TwoRavens
@James: I had a piece kick back into my face once. Thank God for face shields. I always wear one when using pretty much any of my power tools, but especially the table saw or lathe (had a couple turning blanks go flying, too). Safety glasses at a bare minimum, but I prefer the full face shield.
TwoRavens
I feel this in my soul. Two kids, a yard that needs work, cats...
TwoRavens
Luthiery is an amazing craft. If you look into it, there is SO MUCH there that goes back centuries, especially if you dig into the more obscure historical stringed instruments. I'm in the SCA, and one of my woodworking goals is to build my own lute, or a hurdy-gurdy. But there are some bizarre instruments out there! Look up the Baroque theorbo. You won't be disappointed. :)
Alan Smith
Great researched article. Greatly appreciated. Thanks Rex
Daniel Hoover
Thank you! This was cool...it makes sense but I've never tried it on the table saw.
Jim Williams
Like fingers?
James Boatright
Bandsaws were invented to cut meat.
James Boatright
Of course you can make barrels on a table saw. It takes a bit of clever jig making and requires hand planes to finish, but it can be done. I sort of doubt its worth it. Barrels with a CNC router would doubtless be easier. Tom, I'm very careful to stand to one side so that kickbacks go into the concrete wall. It's very rare for wood to go left or right.
Wayne Kitt
Rex, your teaching and lecturing skills are proving themselves! I would love to have been an observer in one of your English (?) classes when you were teaching. I suspect most of your wry humor was lost on most of the students, but there are always those few who would give you a deadpan look that said "I know what you just said...".. Nicely done. After watching part of my small town burn on Saturday night, your blog and information is indeed a pleasure to lose myself in. Thank you.
Tom Manseau
You can cope with a table saw as shown here: https://youtu.be/vVlvwJelz9s. But I'm always leary of a table saw particularly without a riving knife, pawls, or safety guard. I'd feel a lot safer with a band saw for roughing in coopering.
Tom Manseau
Good article. BTW the link for Jonathan Fisher is broken.
Kevin S Thomas
Great article! Don't know where I fall into all these titles (probably newbie). Building my vintage tool supply, and refinishing some vintage furniture. Thanks for all you do.
Michael Peters
This article puts to words so many of the feelings I've had recently. This is very good content! I've been paying attention to a number of woodworking YouTube channels recently, and all of them offer up "basic" projects and then the first thing they do is flip the switch on an exceptionally expensive looking saw that I have neither the money nor the space to accommodate (and quite frankly such saws scare the bajeebus out of me because the potential for limb-removing accidents is extreme). This simple observation is one of the driving reasons behind my adoration for your Woodworking for Humans series: Armed with a simple set of small, portable, inexpensive tools (and a bit of creativity) I can achieve the construction of more or less any object from trinket to table or even building-size structure that I care to implement. This kind of "back to basics" fundamental knowledge is so important. Thank you again for bundling it up and sharing it in easily approachable bites.
Daniel Hoover
I dont have a saw stop and probably not enough fingers to start trying. :)
Mad Hamish
And there was me thinking that a person who made bows was a bowyer.
Mike J
"Challenge accepted" right?!
Mike J
Beautifully done! I watched the video that's been going around about the Aussie cooper. That guy works wood, and I don't think he turned on one machine. Your article illustrated why I avoided "woodworking" for so long. The magazines (and many of the YouTube videos) would have you believe you need at least $20,000 of equipment to get started in woodworking. It would be neat if those magazines branched out a bit. I'd like to see the guy from Engles Coach Shop on a cover somewhere. That guy is a master. He does things with wood that just seem impossible. Thanks.
Daniel Hoover
Great article, I can't explain but now i want to make a barrel on a table saw....lol
Kirk von der Heydt
Excellent job Rex. You continue to impress me with the amount you are doing for the community AND be a father and husband. Hat’s off too you and I look forward to more articles in the future.
Jonathan Michael Williams
I think the term "woodworking" evolved to cover a broad range of crafts that use wood like the crafts you mentioned. It's all just semantics to me but I think I understand what you mean... As far as tools go, I have come to love hand tools thanks to the wwfh videos 👍. I have a lot of power tools too and use them when I I need to but they're so loud and dangerous. My favorite power tool though is a Dremel. It is great for many different things. But I've found that it's much easier to use hand tools because I have much more control, and you can really feel what you're doing. Plus they are quiet and simple, which I really love simplicity. Anyway great article. It has kind of inspired me to not think so confined to just one aspect of the craft. There's so much more than just different versions of boxes to build and I want to explore more of that. Think outside the box lol. Thanks Rex
Boyce Rensberger
Excellent piece, Rex. I'm a woodwor..., er, amateur cabinet maker, but I also enjoy learning history. I get your gripe about the way the term "woodworker" is used. But what I also appreciate about this article is the historical facts I learned from it. If you do more history pieces--with an attitude or not--I'll read them with great interest.
Howard Tuckey
Sure! Keep on posting these articles and I'll be forced to go to the next level of support here on Patreon! But I want an autographed copy of your book! :-) Thank you for the pointer to Jonathon Fisher (the link in the article is busted, by the way, but I did a separate search for him)! Now I'm planning to include a visit to his home in Blue Hill on our next seafood foray to Maine. And not simply because of the cabinet-making -- I'm doubly fascinated because of his life as a Calvinist pastor/teacher. But I digress - I do hope that you're writing these articles with an eye to doing a book of your own! This one, for example, would make a great first chapter, and would go far in the journey back to the real world of crafting needful things from wood. We need to take the craftsman out of the commercialized "let's make a new tool and make a bunch of money" industry, and get him or her back to the craft part of life. That's what I believe you're doing here, and the fact that you can earn a living from it is proof, I think, of the truth in what you're saying.
Steve Crane
I'm a "would-worker"; I would make more, if only.....
Martin Hartley
I am fortunate that most timber sold here is dressed-all-round. Sure, it costs more, but it means I don't have to spend time doing it or money on equipment that is only for stock preparation.
W J Tavary
I really enjoyed this. I have some machines, and as Rex has said, they are very useful especially for the "dumb work" of breaking down stock, but for me, it also became a hurdle. I felt like I couldn't really get into woodworking until I had a thickness planer, or a band saw, or some other machine, none of which I have space for. I am grateful to Rex for showing that woodworking can be done without spending thousands of dollars, and it's something I can share with my son, who's still too young for machine tools. I think people need to embrace that more.
Emalkartha
Great article. One thing that fascinates me is making guitars. I think there is so much creative artistry in guitar making and since it doesn't have anything to do with Cabinetry, there's not much in traditional "Woodworking" about it. This really made me think about that.
