Lost Art Press

55 thoughts on “On the State of Woodworking Today”

  5. I’m not too worried about Craft as there are plenty of people keeping him alive these days, but poor old Cooper in the background…don’t see much call for him!

  6. Au contraire mon ami! Why are companies such as Lie-Nielson doing the kind of business they are? Why does it take 16-18 weeks to get a saw from Bad Axe? This picture made more sense in the 70’s and 80’s than today in my humble opinion. But like the Phoenix I think there has been a real re-birth. Maybe Roy feels he has failed in his mission? I think more people today know who he is because making a U-Turn on the culture takes a bit of time it is just now happening on a broader scale. Again, just my opinion.

  8. This posting is quite appropriate to today’s situation of the decline of the handtool woodworker. One only has to read Chris’ research regarding the decline of cabinet makers and bench carpenters over the last 50 to 100 or so years. It is also very appropriate to the learning situation of today wherein students learn considerable theory but are not exposed to a great deal of practical application for that learning. I can also think of several of my friends who would like to get their kids from slouchoing over their Smart Phones and Game Boys abnd become active members of the larger society without worrying about the next incoming text message. For more information on this, take a look at the Honesty Of The Hands blog (http://wisdomofhands.blogspot.comhttp://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com/). There are truly concerned people out there for the future of the craft. Mark me as one of them.

  9. Looks like you guys are having too much fun, even in the rain. I wish I could make it over there this week!

  10. I think it’s a bit of a knee slapper. Very Edwardian/silent film era-ish. Seriously, I think it’s wonderful that there are enough unplugged and relatively unplugged woodworkers out there that Lee Valley and L-N, for example, can actually exist, keep hundreds of people employed, and keep coming up with new ideas and refining old ones. Not to mention Lost Art Press, and the many fine teachers that pass on their skills and knowledge in the multitude of workshops offered every year.

  11. Having taken classes with both Chris and Roy, I can only imagine the hilarity with the two of them together. Now if Pittsboro just had a New Haven-style pizza place …

      2. Modern has to fit in the equation somewhere. Didn’t know there were so many serious woodworkers from New Haven, and gathered here on one blog!

  14. It’s worse that I thought! The next two stones back are Griffin, looks like this is the graveyard of mythological creatures!

  15. Is it possible that Crsft and Cooper have gone the way of the Griffin (2 rows back)? I truly hope not.

  17. Damn, two people beat me to the Griffin joke.

    Did the Pinocchio saw get the dovetails cut so fast that you could take a field trip to the cemetery?

    Find a marker with the name Patternmaker on it, then you’ll really have something.

    Someone with much more talent and imagination than I should write new lyrics to the tune of American Pie, about the day craft died.

    1. A few years ago we were on a trip to Florida and I took my wife and daughters to the foundry where I once worked in order to show them the pattern shop where I practiced that artistry. They had heard hundreds of hours of my enthusiastic telling and retelling of my experiences there, so they were quite willing to make the detour and tour through the grimy factory. I cannot fully express my disappointment in showing them the room where we sculpted magnificent industrial shapes, some gargantuan, and noting that not a single piece of wood was being worked anywhere. It was all plastic and epoxy paste and body grinders. sigh…

      worst of all, the legion of tools we made for ourselves to fulfill our tasks were long gone.

    1. I keep my book shelves alphabetized (but not the stacks of books waiting to be shelved). It is a ton of work especially when you get a big overflow.

  25. Laughed out loud at that one… so loud that my wife wondered what the hell was going on in here. :0)

  28. Why would any woodworker, pro or hobby, even think this is aimed at them and their craft? Gee, for some people, it is always about them. Center of the Universe complex or something. I saw this as an editorial on the state of craft in the majority of items that are available for purchase. Was my interpretation correct?

  30. But is it not a family marker? Perhaps Roy is just communing with our Craft ancestors. Bittersweet remembrance of those who came before whilst renewing the commitment to forever cultivate the work and ideals that make the family great. That grave will never know neglect. Except that big crack down the middle…perhaps a metaphor to fit the times

  31. There’s no date on this tombstone. If one were to be carved I would argue that it should be from the mid 20th century, although I would be sympathetic to anyone who argued for an earlier date. I pick mid century because that is when people became upset enough about the passing of our “dearly beloved” to do something about it. Fine Woodworking and The Wooden Boat got their start in direct response to a surge of interest among young people, baby boomers, in reviving the dying, or dead, craft of woodworking. My own opinion, based upon witnessing and participating in this revival, (and not just in wood. The movement was, and is, widespread across many crafts. ABANA is an example), is that craft is alive and flourishing today, compared to its sorry state in the 60’s. I am always somewhat startled when I read of lamentations for the death of craft. These wailings seem more appropriate to half a century ago.

      1. Well, of course it’s a joke and a good one too. But, no joke is funny unless there is an element of perceived truth to it. I think this joke is funny because many people do think that Craft is in dire straits these days, a position with which I disagree. Having said that, I take your point about the wailing; not the most temperate word I could have chosen. Mea culpa.

  33. Will prints be available on the Lost Art Press website? And if so, will they be available in sizes that will fit in Ikea frames?

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