Handmade

[Phil Mueller]

The recent post regarding Woodsmith, got me to thinking about how handmade is defined. Apparently, it's open to great interpretation, although occassionally challenged by the FTC. Below is just one snip of info. This has apparently been an issue with Esty for sometime. Recently they revised their definition to include hand assembled and hand altered.

It would suggest that "manually-controlled methods" would include woodworking machines. But Esty does discourage "mass production"; a cabinet making factory would not be able to post as "hand made", but an individual using the same methods could. Although, they are considering (or already have) loosened that definition as well. Very confusing.

"It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is hand-made or hand-wrought unless the entire shaping and forming of such product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design, and finish of each part of each individual product."
It continues:
"It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is hand-forged, hand-engraved, hand-finished, or hand-polished, or has been otherwise hand-processed, unless the operation described was accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the type, amount, and effect of such operation on each part of each individual product.

[lowell holmes]

What is your point?

[Art Mann]

As far as I'm concerned, the term means nothing. I always just tell people how I made my stuff.

[Pat Barry]

So if you use a circular saw or a jig saw or a cordless drill it's not handmade?

[Brian Holcombe]

I tend to agree, the term has lost much of its meaning since it is so commonly used. I think the images conjured up in ones mind of what 'handmade' equates to is far from the reality of most 'handmade' product.

Anymore even using the term suggests that a product would like to be considered handmade more than it actually is. Many who actually make by hand have gone toward painstakingly documenting their processes in order to illustrate how much of the product is made by hand. John Lobb Bookmaker is a good example, whose taken to providing a step by step of how a pair of their shoes are made (by hand).

This is why I have a blog depicting exactly what it is that I do to make a product.

[Stewie Simpson]

The same can be said within a number of online boutique saw maker advertising. They state that the saw teeth have been hand sharpened, but fail to mention that the saw teeth were punched out prior too, (not hand filed) using an automatic machine such as a Foley. Its a case of how far you want to interpret the truth.

[Frederick Skelly]

We've had this debate here before and it's an interesting one to me. I think it's sort of a spectrum. On one extreme, is the obviously hand made stuff - where you harvest the tree with an axe, use a froe, wedges, hand powered saw, etc to turn it into usable materials for the project, and then use nothing but hand tools to prep, shape and assemble the parts. On the other extreme (and I admit this is debatable) is where everything is 'as mechanized as possible' - here, everything is done with power tools except the physical assembly - chain saws, band saws, electric jointers, planers, CNC routers, electric sanders, etc. I bet most can agree this extreme can't really be called 'hand made'.

But is it hand made, if I buy S4S lumber and do the rest with hand tools? Probably, or at least maybe. Is it hand made if I buy S4S, cut some parts on a bandsaw and then use a spindle sander to smooth the curves? Maybe, but maybe not. So I can see where folks like Art are coming from when they say the term is meaningless.

In my own (hobby) projects, if I want to tout the parts that were 'hand made', I get rather specific (like Phil's post describes), saying 'hand cut joinery' or 'hand scraped and hand rubbed finish', etc. That's truthful and accurate. But it might still be meaningless. Dunno - what do you folks think?

Fred

[lowell holmes]

I can and have made items completely by hand. I don't feel any great challenge to do so.

However, having been able to develop hand skills is important to me. I am pleased to have the ability to pretty much perform any operation with hand tools.
I may do the rough shaping of a project such as squaring and planing wood to thickness by machine, but I then I may not. It depends on the circumstance and the mood I'm in at the moment.

Phil, I didn't mean to be offensive with my remark. It was important to me at one time to be able to do something by hand, but with advancing age it does not mean as much anymore.

[Prashun Patel]

Far more important for me is well made and well designed. While I am in great admiration of those who have great hand skills, it is only because I aspire to do what they do. When I wear my consumer hat I am really more concerned with design and quality of the end product.

[lowell holmes]

Stewie,

I did buy a saw kit from Ron Bontz and made a 20" long tenon saw. It is a 12tpi rip saw that cuts straight and fast. He cut the teeth but I filed and sharpened them.

The saw cuts tenons straight and fast. I made the handle, but purchased the saw nuts from Ron.

Is my saw a "home made saw"?

[Phil Mueller]

No offense taken at all, Lowell. I did just kind of throw it out there. It's interesting to me, as it can be quite difficult for some to compete, or even justify value crafting items they believe to be "handmade" when the definition appears to be a moving or very nebulous target.

Recently Makers Mark got into trouble for advertising that it was handmade using some kind of old mill process, when in fact it was distilled using modern equipment. Clearly this is deception. But when someone uses their hands to push a piece of lumber through a table saw, is that not handmade...

I found one article interesting that showed a chinees stuffed animal factory where material was hand cut (with scissors), hand stitched (no sewing machine), hand stuffed (no machine), yet was not allowed to indicate that their products were handmade on Esty....because they are a factory with 4000 employees.

[Steve Voigt]

So if you use a circular saw or a jig saw or a cordless drill it's not handmade?

The Etsy guidelines Phil posted clearly don't suggest this. I'll repeat the relevant portion, lightly edited:

It is unfair or deceptive to represent … that any industry product is hand-made … unless the entire shaping and forming of such product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design, and finish of each part of each individual product.

"Manually-controlled" pretty clearly refers to machines. The determinative part is not hand vs. machine tools; it's the ability to "control and vary…each individual product." So of course a cordless drill would be fine, because you can "vary each product" by putting the hole wherever you want. Same for a tablesaw or any other common machine. I would even say a CNC mill or lathe would meet the guidelines, as long as the programmer and operator were the same person, and that person could make changes to the program when needed. When I worked in a machine shop years ago, I'd sometimes use a CNC mill to make a single part. Using CNC controls didn't hamper my ability to "control and vary" each part.

What wouldn't count is a situation where the machine operator is an unskilled laborer who loads parts into a machine that was programmed by someone else, spitting out parts that were designed by someone else. That's the difference.

I found one article interesting that showed a chinese stuffed animal factory where material was hand cut (with scissors), hand stitched (no sewing machine), hand stuffed (no machine), yet was not allowed to indicate that their products were handmade on Esty....because they are a factory with 4000 employees.

Here too, I think the guidelines are pretty clear, and logical as well. If there are 4000 employees, it's a given that each employee is just performing a set task, probably pretty limited one, over and over. Such as cutting out a pattern, sewing two pieces together, adding the stuffing. If the employee decides to get creative and change the pattern, chaos would ensue and the employee would probably be fired. So, even though the work is done by hand, the employee has no ability to, once again, "control and vary" the individual product.

I have to say, I think the Etsy guidelines are pretty good. (I have no affiliation with Etsy and never shop there)

[george wilson]

In machine shop work,there is a term "Hand machined". This means the item was made on a manual,not CNC machine. All the operations were made by the operator moving dials and handles himself. Frequently this also means that the item is a "one off" piece.

[David Carroll]

I tend to think of the term "hand made" as being a "one-off" made by one person, as opposed to something mass produced. The specific tools (powered vs. hand tools) used in the process are to me less relevant than the design, execution and finishing.

That said, I do take special pride in those projects where all the work was done with hand tools. The folks who wind up with the stuff I make don't really know the difference. But it makes me happy when I start off with rough timber and make something beautiful.

[Robert Engel]

Hand made/hand crafted .... In the days before electricity, it would be very easy to define, and therein lies the true definition.

Its very blurry now. Guys want to take credit for something a CNC machine made.