Originally Posted by
Pat Barry
So, with all that in mind, why do you use beech? For you own amusement? You are a craftsman. Why wouldn't you invest your efforts into another species for your craftsman made planes? There must be a reason. Is it what your customers expect? Do you get more of a feeling of accomplishment using a difficult to manage material?
Pat,
"Craftsman made" is a term for planes made by woodworkers for their own use, in contrast to commercially-made planes. Typically, craftsman-made planes have been built out whatever was available, while commercially-made planes are normally made of beech, with a few exceptions. That was the point of Larry's (and my) reference to craftsman-made.
As for why I use beech, I posted a link in reply to you earlier. All the major reasons for using beech are outlined in that article by Larry Williams. Secondary reasons include aesthetics (as George mentioned in his last post), workability (beech is very nice to work), feel in use (very different from maple, for example), tradition, and yes, customer expectations. But "a feeling of accomplishment using a difficult material" is not one of the reasons. If you want to make something right, you surmount the difficulties, be they logistical, technical, or whatever else.
"For me, chairs and chairmaking are a means to an end. My real goal is to spend my days in a quiet, dustless shop doing hand work on an object that is beautiful, useful and fun to make." --Peter Galbert