Prevail...
Allow me to digress a little:
I hope it doesn't come down to a choice, but time has a way of settling these things, it seems.
Nail guns have prevailed over hammers; the variety of engineered lumber/ sheet goods grows by the year... etc, etc.
I don't know if I really support Benson these days... I mean yes, he's done tremendous work for resurecting timber framing, (25-30 yrs ago, and we all owe him a great deal... but he's become a techno nerd, hasn't he? At least that's what's seemed to "prevail" at his company. He loves efficent, mass production? Software rules at Bensonwood. He has become what I would call an elitist of the trade. His clientelle is quite wealthy.
Fine, that's him.
Hopefully hewing can gain a larger following. Hopefully people will still know how to sharpen chisels. Hopefully good steel can continue to meet good timber. I think it will... we will at least, But will it ever prevail? We know the answer, sadly.
I guess I meant "prevail" as akin to "prevelant." Yes, I should have used the word prevalent instead.
In this day and age, the Benson "school" of TF will likely become pervalent in years to come. He has the money to spread the next generation of TF here and abroad... The sad part is that not much else can compete w/ an arsenal of software and cookie-cutter TF. Bensonwood seems like cookie-cutter TF. But it's not his fault. He's a businessman running a business and has just borrowed the heart and soul that is wood.
How radical indeed would our world have to change in order for hewing and the "old ways" to become prevalant?
