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Hand Crafting And Cnc Manufacture


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I'd be interested in hearing people's opinions on the subject of my latest blog post about the use of the terms craft and hand crafted to describe a product (specifically, traditional concertinas) where some of the parts were made with the assistance of CNC machine tools. Feel free to comment either here or over there.

http://www.holdenconcertinas.com/?p=125

 

(P.S. sorry about the incorrect capitalisation in the subject line of this thread; there doesn't seem to be a way to prevent the forum software altering it.)

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Hi Alex… wow, this one could be a touchy (pun intended) subject! Anyway, here's my humble opinion and how I personally interpret 'hand-crafted' when I see it written on an object… For me (very important to keep aware of that!) the term 'hand-crafted' has the feel that an item has been made without the use of power-tools, that each tool has been powered and guided by hand. I feel that the moment a power-tool is used the item in question looses that certain 'innocence' or 'purity' that most people still, perhaps romantically, associate with the term 'hand-crafted'.

 

Go to a crafts fair and it's written everywhere… on candles, wooden fruit bowls, woollen socks, woven underpants, etc. etc. people love it, it conjures up images of crafts people bravely hanging on by their fingernails to something that's disappearing from our world. it's part of our heritage and we don't want to loose it… it means someone actually cared about the item they made by hand… no doubt this term is sometimes misused, either mistakenly or maybe even dishonestly, but it still gives most people a warm glow inside, so do we really care if it's 100% hand-crafted or just parts of it… speaking for myself, I care a lot.

 

How, or where though, can one draw the line? For example, the Queen Elizabeth was put together by hand but I don't think it could be classed as 'hand-crafted'… at least I wouldn't class it as such.

 

I really like your term 'Crafted in England with Care'… 'crafted' still implies care was taken, hands were used, love was imparted, etc. but it allows the freedom to use tools, either the powered variety or the hand pushed and turned variety… and I for one, would be extremely happy to purchase a concertina from you if I read 'Crafted in England with Care' written on it...

 

Okay, those are my thoughts Alex, but I would just like to add that I think it's really nice that you care so much about this...

Edited by HansiRowe
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Great response, thanks Hansi. :) It seems to be a much stickier subject than I had realised before I started looking around for other opinions. For example some purists would disqualify a hand-carved wooden box from using the label 'craft' if it was made with boards from a sawmill or held together with mass produced nails (a subject dear to my heart as I have recently taken on a commission to hand-forge 400 iron nails!). Many people seem to be OK with the use of hand-guided power tools in 'craft' (e.g. wooden salad bowls turned on an electric lathe or signs cut with an electric scroll saw). At the other end of the scale some people argue that CNC machines can be used in craft because it takes skill to design the part and program the machine to make it for you. Where do you draw the line, indeed.

 

Thanks also for re-arranging my suggested slogan; I hadn't considered writing it that way round. I'm still not sure it has the right ring to it though.

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I always feel that the word Craft holds conotations of the ' Craft Fair' where for me, at least during the 1970-80's, one could see a load of tackily made stuff that was not always of any use.

 

Here in France a normal description might be Artisan, meaning what?.... someone who actually creates a product as in "Artisan Boulanger" ,a person who makes bread... this suggests that the baker is personally involved in the process somehow. But this is an everyday product with much competition both from other Artisans and Factory produced loaves.

 

When you move into the realm of Musical Instrument Making , especially of instruments that have a very specific and narrow market place, one only needs a name on the finished product. Of course the name says it all; take " C.Jeffries. Maker". for instance.... these day it says it all and people will happily pay top price for a concertina with 'that' name on it.

Of course the first thing anyone needs is a name, in fact you need "THE NAME" . If you are The Name then your stuff will sell no matter what you write on the end of it.Many of us are willing to pay more for a Wheatstone than an equivalent Lachenal.

 

Hand Made is another label, used for woolen garments and shoes amongst other things. I tend to think that my instruments are Hand Made because a lot of the parts are, but also those parts that are made by machine are made by Brain/Hand/Eye controled simple machines. I don't think customers want me to turn the spindle of my lathe by hand . I do draw the line at making the wood screws though. So I used to brand my instruments in the same way as Charlie Jeffries but realised that, these days I did not need the addition of 'Maker' so I deleted that.

 

CNC; nothing wrong with that if it can do the job better. The engine in my car is made completely by Robotics and is supposed to be good for half a million miles with no more servicing than a change of oil and filters.... I started driving in the days when engines were made by men and needed rebuilding every 30-40,000 miles!

 

The design of the classic Concertina lends itself to a certain amount of mass production, leastways that is what Louis Lachenal was employed to organise for Mr Wheatstone, so the fact that some concertina makers today produce all the bits themselves does not prevent them from doing so with a certain amount of Computer controlled machines.

 

So I have to ask; Alex, are you going to make your own reeds ? Do you feel that you will be making enough of the parts 'by hand' or' by brain' ? Will this constitute a Craft product ?

 

Personally I would not use the words Hand Crafted on your logo and in fact your first job is to make a better concertina than anyone else... well, aiming high is a good way to start..... then worry about the label. :)

 

Good Luck,

Geoff.

Edited by Geoff Wooff
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Well, for me, the single most important question whether the term "hand crafted" should be reserved only to pre-industrial era tools is - "Does it changes the final effect?". It is a bit like digital vs fully analogue photography, with everything set-up in front of the camera and not added in post-production. Does it looks and feels different? If not, where is the point of putting hours of work into something which is could be done in minutes? Does something turned on a treadle-operated lathe look, feel or work differently than turned on a modern, electric lathe? CNC looks and feels different than any hand method, because it has 100% reproducibility. No slight tolerance variations, no imperfections etc…
I'm no purist, for me the term "hand crafted" means that no two pieces of work are 100% identical - each hand-driven tool, be it a modern power tool or a chisel and hammer will fell in this cathegory for me.

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I have always loved machines, from the ornate old ones to the highly capable modern ones. I use them in making my concertinas where they can do a better job than can be done by hand in given amount if time. They have allowed me to design parts like my reed pans that are functionally much more stable, but would be impractical to do by hand. There are still weeks of hand work involved, but if I could get that down and still get as good or better results ( with an affordable amount of capital outlay) I would do that. Concertinas are costly instruments, priced far above most other instruments even for decent entry level instruments. If I have to work twice the hours to make an instrument completely by hand ( not including the impossibility of my creating the reed steel or brass sheet or tanning the leather or making the paper card stock,) my customers have to pay for that. If the instrument were improved in the process, it might be worth it to some, though they would be farther out of reach of the rest. I admire good artistry in any craft and the flexibility hand work allows, but I can't see making people pay for your hand work just because you might be able to sell it for more. If as Geoff suggests, you make the best concertinas you can. ( what's the point if doing anything else?) they will stand on their merit as instruments, and you can be justly proud of them. Putting your name on them should be enough. Hand made doesn't mean well made. Mostly it is an advertising gimmick. On the other hand, having done it before, I'd say that "Hand forged" for your nails counts.

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Hand Made is another label

 

Don't you love that one! Endless examples of its use as an illusory badge of quality: Hand made crisps. And last week I bought some Scottish smoked salmon in LIDL's. It was, ofcourse, farmed fish but.. it was hand salted. So that made it OK I suppose.

 

Of course, the product is only as good as the skill driving the hand that made it. In itself, it's completely meaningless.

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I always feel that the word Craft holds conotations of the ' Craft Fair' where for me, at least during the 1970-80's, one could see a load of tackily made stuff that was not always of any use.

Fair point, though I believe in recent years it has been reclaimed to some extent by the heritage crafts movement.

 

Here in France a normal description might be Artisan, meaning what?....

In the UK, I feel the word artisan has been claimed by people who make things that are trendy and fashionable but possibly lacking in substance and tradition.

 

CNC; nothing wrong with that if it can do the job better. The engine in my car is made completely by Robotics and is supposed to be good for half a million miles with no more servicing than a change of oil and filters.... I started driving in the days when engines were made by men and needed rebuilding every 30-40,000 miles!

(Veering wildly off-topic) I find the BMC A-Series are good for about 100K between major rebuilds. The one in my Moggy saloon is nicely run in at about 30K, the one in my traveller is getting slightly tired at about 90K, and the one in my mate's van is burning quite a lot of oil at 99K. And yes, they do all leak. ;) Coincidentally I spent the afternoon replacing knackered exhaust mounting brackets on the van prior to its MOT tomorrow.

 

So I have to ask; Alex, are you going to make your own reeds ? Do you feel that you will be making enough of the parts 'by hand' or' by brain' ? Will this constitute a Craft product ?

Yes. My plan at this stage is to rough out the shoes on the CNC mill then sharpen the corners of the slot with a hand file. Initially at least, the tongues will be made almost completely by hand (I have some ideas for ways I could automate the profiling but not the tuning). Basically the CNC mill will be taking the place of the traditional punch and die in a fly press. They could certainly be called hand finished. By my personal definition, it's a craft skill. Does it count as hand crafted? Maybe not.

 

Personally I would not use the words Hand Crafted on your logo and in fact your first job is to make a better concertina than anyone else... well, aiming high is a good way to start..... then worry about the label. :)

Of course. I actually started thinking about the logo because I wanted to put something on the heading of my blog, but being me I wanted to design the logo really well, which has led me down a lengthy side-track involving studying typographic design, an album of forty other concertina makers' logos, and now this discussion about the definition of craft! ;)

 

Good Luck,

Geoff.

Thanks Geoff! :)

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I admire good artistry in any craft and the flexibility hand work allows, but I can't see making people pay for your hand work just because you might be able to sell it for more.

That's not really what I was suggesting, though I almost certainly would be prepared to do extra hand-work if a customer specifically wanted me to and was willing to pay for the extra time it took. For example there is the question of hand cut versus CNC cut metal ends. On my personal instruments I would prefer hand cut ends, not because they are technically better but because the tiny variations and imperfections give them more individuality and character.

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For example there is the question of hand cut versus CNC cut metal ends. On my personal instruments I would prefer hand cut ends, not because they are technically better but because the tiny variations and imperfections give them more individuality and character.

 

Given this whole "hand crafted" question above, I assume, that by "hand cut" you mean "with a jewellers saw" hand-tool and not "with a scroll saw" hand-guided power tool? But using scroll saw gives you quite the same varations and imperfections as hand tools, and takes a fraction of time and effort. Could you even be able to distinguish two fretworks done each way in a blind test?

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Given this whole "hand crafted" question above, I assume, that by "hand cut" you mean "with a jewellers saw" hand-tool and not "with a scroll saw" hand-guided power tool? But using scroll saw gives you quite the same varations and imperfections as hand tools, and takes a fraction of time and effort. Could you even be able to distinguish two fretworks done each way in a blind test?

I would use a powered scroll saw for wooden ends and as you say it gives you a very similar effect to cutting with a hand fretsaw frame (I actually have a treadle powered scroll saw which perhaps satisfies the muscle-powered requirement too! ;) ). I'm not sure how well a scroll saw machine would cope with metal ends though, or if it would save much time (haven't actually tried it). I found it's much trickier to pierce metal than wood without constantly blunting and breaking blades or drifting away from the template lines - it helps to be able to feel what the blade is doing and tilt it when appropriate (also using the whole length of the blade is important).

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When I cut metal ends with a scroll saw it seemed easy enough. You do go through a few blades but it seems a normal process. This is Nickel Silver, those who cut SS ends with a scroll saw must go through a lot. I found if I kept a spacer to go under the work I could extend the life of the blade by removing it after a couple of piercings, exposing the work to a fresh part of the blade.

 

A tip Geoff Crabb gave me, use a template with a grey line, a black line merges with the blade.

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When I cut metal ends with a scroll saw it seemed easy enough. You do go through a few blades but it seems a normal process. This is Nickel Silver, those who cut SS ends with a scroll saw must go through a lot. I found if I kept a spacer to go under the work I could extend the life of the blade by removing it after a couple of piercings, exposing the work to a fresh part of the blade.

Cool, I'll give it a try when I reach the point of cutting a nickel silver end.

 

A tip Geoff Crabb gave me, use a template with a grey line, a black line merges with the blade.

He told me that too, unfortunately the way I designed my template meant that for it to look right I needed to cut on the waste side of the line rather than along the centre of the line. I'm sure there's a way to automatically draw the outlines of the waste sections in software (I'll need that if I'm to produce a CNC toolpath from it too), I just haven't figured out how yet.

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