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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 582 |
Hey Jon!!!
I had been meaning to say "congrats" on all your hard work in finishing your training...Not that we are ever done learning!!  
It was September 2014 when I last got an email from you...and it would seem you have done a great deal of studying, working, and thinking...
...Chain mortisers are a love hate situation for me....
I hope my (nor Dave's) comments would, "upset some people," as these are just shared perspectives on a spectrum of experiences of what each of us do and/or observe each day collectively in our work.
Frankly, I don't think any Woodworker (or Timberwright) out there that has done any of this for any length of time (and with a lot of different methods) could ever disagree it is a love hate relationship...It is for me every time I...."have to"...touch a power tool because time and efficiency demands it...
...what is the fundamental difference between our countries that makes for this difference in working practice? Is it simply employment cost?
I'm sure there is some marginal and/or normative cultural difference, to be sure, between the cultures. I see that just going from one state or region of North America to another. I was in Vermont/New Hampshire last week observing, and discussing our craft, now I am in Wisconsin, and dealing with projects on Long Island, Texas, and Oregon...There clearly are differences...yet...I don't think the are vastly different...in general "big picture" perspective...It isn't until you start "boiling down" to the details that I find differences...There, of course, there are vast differences...not only in "tooling" but in thinking, approach, and perspective...
Just the fact that you (and I) work in metric and probably think in metric, establishes contrastable approach modality different than what many (most still??) here in the USA does or thinks in...All these "little nuance shifts" in thinking have an accumulative effect...
As for tooling methods...In the hands of a seasoned woodworker (of any type, culture or region) there "hand driven tools" can be a "tour de force!!!" To be sure...and ...there is much to be said for the elegance, grace, and historic precedent when working (or more importantly "finishing) an historic restoration that speaks to employing only "traditional hand tools."
Nevertheless, at the end of the work day, if a "production framer" having to layout, cut and/or oversee thousands of mortised, and other joints it is an absolute must to have...GOOD!!...power tool access, care and operation if one plans to be overtly or veraciously competitive...(at least for most..not all)...working Timberwrights..and related Woodworkers from furniture, cabinetry and finish Carpenter...all the way to Boatwright and on...
A well tuned (and understood) "Chain mortising" power tool is going to render rectilinear openings in wood that...no other...modern (hand held) tool can perform with such speed and accuracy.
Just like with "human powered" tools, these tools to...respond to proper care, sharpness and fineness in handling. With those mastered the speed is even faster with some "joiners" in shops that are only "cutting joints" and not under the task of layout or other sundry...They can move at a work pace that is truly remarkable...I have acted as "layout" person in shops with such individuals and jointing an average mortise in under 2 to 4 minutes is not only common, it is an expectation...Yet again, this does require a full and in depth mastering of the tool, proper sharpness, strength, and "bar sized" to the mortise to be cut...
Between "powered" hand planer, circular saw, mortiser, and related...these "production oriented" Timberwrights (et al) deftly render a timber in a fraction of the time that others (even those that may frame every day) can achieve with only hand tools and/or limited power tooling...I do not share that as a matter of contention, but simple observation over decades...I witnessed this past summer, for a simple example, a small shop (very small...3.6m x 7.2m (~12'x24') of two men (with a 3rd part time) render out a 12m x 18 m (~40'x 60') two and half story barn frame in a little over 3.5 weeks (4.5 if you count adjustments from client here and there.) Simply put...that would not really be possible with "just" hand tools alone...and...the chain mortiser is a big part of that work...
I'm trying (in my own way) to push a more "artisanal" model where the work is valued not simply for its cost, but for how it was made....
In some projects (historic restoration/replication) and for some clients, that is wonderful and growing in demand...There is a market for it...especially if one becomes really proficient at operating vintage tools. As for "care and precision" aspects..that goes without saying in either modality...powered or just hand tools, the joints should be "neat." Joints, of all types, should "fit"...no more...no less, and function in exactly the same fashion no matter the way they are executed in the wood...
It was good seeing this post from you Jon...do keep us all up to speed on your work...
Regards,
j
Last edited by Jay White Cloud; 02/13/16 12:40 PM.
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