Fine Furniture: The process or the product?

[Marc Wittman]

I believe there are many ways one can create a fine piece of furniture. I also believe that fine furniture is something that will last. So I guess that means the construction process is important, in so much as, what type of joinery is used, how well the joints are made, etc.

As said earlier, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I would make a distinction between good looking furniture and finely crafted furniture. Someone might consider a pine box joined with brads a pretty piece, but I would hasten to call it fine furniture mainly because it probably won't be around for long.

I suppose it's how you define "fine furniture". There are many characteristics of furniture that people will have different views of, mainly style wise. But I think the one factor that everyone would agree on is that fine furniture must stand the test of time.

Just my .2 cents, interesting question.

[Jim Stastny]

The obstacle in answering this and most other questions is: Who gets to define the terms? In other words: By what or whose authority can these things be judged. This, ultimately, is the problem even in society when we ask what is right and what is wrong. In the case of moral situations there must be a final authority. However, in the case of what constitutes fine furniture the answer really becomes . . . "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

[Bill Grumbine]

If I might add my opinion to those already expressed...

Often these types of discussions tend towards hand tool versus power tool usage. Now we have CNC thrown in, and mass production as well. My perspective addresses all of these things, and perhaps I am benefitting by all those who have posted before me on this.

A piece of fine furniture is not fine because of the tools which were used, or because of the level of craftsmanship of the maker. It is not a function of the number of copies, whether one or infinite. A piece of fine furniture is defined, at least to my way of thinking, by its own attributes.

It should be well made of course. Now you might think this negates one of my assertions above, but not true. There are people out there who are making fine pieces right out of the gate with little or no experience. Well made is defined by appropriate joinery for the piece. Not evey piece of work needs dovetails on it, and they certianly don't need to be handcut. The quality of the joinery is a big thing though.

It should be pleasing to the eye. I am a hard core functionalist when it comes to woodwork, and I have little use for a lot of esoteric "stuff" that passes for art. Fine furniture should be beautiful in its lines, proportions, wood selection, and finish.

It should do what it is intended to do and do it well. A chair might look great, but if it hurts your butt or your back, it ain't fine furniture. Now, I will qualify this a bit, since there are many fine pieces out there which would turn to kindling if I plopped my carcass onto one of them, but as long as it is designed for the human body to be comfortable, I would call it fine.

All these things can be found in one off pieces, and in production run pieces. The same holds true for lousy work. Many production pieces often bear the brunt of disdain because they are not well made, and rightly so. Most production work is designed to be easy to produce, not necessarily for ease of use or long life. Still, as has been mentioned, CNC components can be incorporated into a piece made by hand which gives the maker an opportunity to use components not available otherwise.

Of course, all of this is subjective, but since it is my opinion, I tend to agree with it wholeheartedly.

Bill

[Brad Risley]

I feel that "FINE FURNITURE" is an advertising gimick. Example: "SO AND SO'S FINE FURNITURE". I strive to make heirloom quality pieces. I define heirloom as well made, appropriate for the intended use, and gracefull and pleasing to the eye. I have a long way to go but that is my target. Brad in Fl

[Dan Bussiere]

As I am certainly no expert, I will state for the record my own opinion. "Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder"
Dan

[John Sanford]

Originally posted by Brad Risley
I feel that "FINE FURNITURE" is an advertising gimick. Example: "SO AND SO'S FINE FURNITURE". I strive to make heirloom quality pieces. I define heirloom as well made, appropriate for the intended use, and gracefull and pleasing to the eye. I have a long way to go but that is my target. Brad in Fl

Ahh, another, smaller bucket of worms, or would that be powder post beetles?

"Heirloom quality" - I have to disagree somewhat with Brad's elements of "heirloom quality." Perhaps the only requirement is "well made", as in durable, and even that is questionable given how many porcelain, ceramic, and glass heirlooms there are out yonder. Many items become heirlooms and remain so because of their emotional significance and longevity. While being graceful and pleasing certainly helps, there's a lot of "great grandma's whatchamajigs" that are neither graceful nor pleasing, yet are family heirlooms. Their value is in their service as a temporal bridge spanning the past, present, and implicitly, the future.

Another important difference is "appropriate for the intended use." Here, the problem is that many of the heirlooms extant today have been "repurposed." How many heirloom wash basin stands are being used today for washbasins? How many 19th century Armoires lugged across the Great Plains are being used in their "intended purpose" as freestanding closets? How many steamer trunks serve as coffee tables or winter clothing repositories, decades and thousands of miles away from the nearest steamer? How many "library tables" or plantation desks serve computers now?

I will have to add this, in recognition of the essence of Brad's definition: something is much easier to recognize as "heirloom quality" if one can imagine it passing from one family to one completely unrelated/unknown, and still holding signficance. Thus, an heirloom that transcends the family...

[Mike Vermeil]

The whole aspect of CNC is interesting, because it won't be too much longer before CNC becomes affordable to many woodworking hobbyists. I think, however, that "furniture" is clouding the issue. Let's take an entirely different product - say promotional rock concert posters.

Posters promoting rock concerts back in the 60's and 70's were often real works of art. Drawn by hand, by graphic artists, they many times conjured up psycodelic (sp?) images of what the concert experience would be like. Many of those posters are now worth a whole bunch of money.

Seen a concert poster lately? Well, they're perfect, absolutely perfect. Spun out by the thousands by graphic artists on their PC's, they display none of the "hand drawn" character of their predecessors, and many would say none of the imagination either. When I look at a vintage concert poster, I can imagine the original artist, slaving for days over his work in some loft flop house in the Haight, sustained by booze & who knows what else, until satisfied with his work. I've never looked at a modern concert poster and done the same. Who wants to imagine someone middle-aged, balding & frustrated artist hunched over a PC in the cubicle of some monster public relations firm?

Get the idea? When I look at a piece of fine, hand done (with true hand tools or with hand held power tools) furniture, I can imagine the woodworker covered in chips & dust, fussing with the fit of each joint until it's just right. The fact that a straight line may have the slightest bend in it just shows me where his hands once touched the piece. When I look at a piece of anything cranked out by CNC machinery, it's perfect, absolutely perfect, and nothing on it shows me where it was touched by the hands of a craftsman.

All humans crave human touch, and I believe most people prefer things around them that display that quality.

[Scott in Douglassville, PA]

C'mon - what about <a href="http://www.besound.com/pushead/gal.html">Pushead</a>?

[Terry Dyck]

I find that one element as been left out of this discusion, the buyer. If it is well made. well finished and functionally designed it is "fine furniture". My customers on the other hand might say it has to be built "by hand". I will do this and charge them accordingly. Other buyers agree with me and I am able to give them an equally well made product for much less money. I price my work based on time so my income is much the same, though I sometimes feel tempted to over charge the "hand made" buyers a bunch. They often seem more interested in impressing their friends than in the actual quality of the piece.

[Ian Barley]

I have no pretensions towards fine furniture - I make a living selling furniture which is constructed to a quality level which is appropriate to the market at which I aim and the desires of the customers within that market. I make series pieces because that ay I get to eat every night. I also make sure that it is good enough to satisfy my own desire to create something of value an integrity.

Some of my customers think that makes it fine. Some think it makes it good enough. The things which cause one person to appreciate a piece may be lost on another.

I recently had a customer who was so impressed with finding his name written in pencil on the underside of a chair. I had written it there to keep track of which was whose in a batch I was making. He was so ecstatic that he phoned me up to tell me that this was the first time he had ever had anything more permanent than a hamburger that was made for him personally. I normally sand these marks off but had forgotten in this instance. In his mind that pencil mark meant that he had purchased a piece of fine furniture. It has little to do with beauty and everything to do with individuality.

I also strongly agree with Mr Grumbine. Any seat which is not comfortable is not fine furniture. It may be beautiful, it may be artistic and it may be superb engineering. But the purpose of a chair is to provide physical comfort and if it doesn't it is not complete in its purpose.

Just my tuppence worth.

[John Sanford]

Ian, that's worth more like a quid. Well said!

[Steven Wilson]

Well said Bill Grumbine !!

My only exception is with chairs, specifically seat backs. Certain dining chairs (Chippendale) have backs that are uncomfortable to rest your back against. The seats are comfortable but the backs aren't and that is by design. If used properly, your back should not be leaning into the back of a dining chair, and the chair will be very comfortable for dining. I would call a well executed dining chair of this type, fine furniture. Now, if I can only get my carving up to snuff I can make on.

As for CNC - bring it on !!!! I'm a buding Luthier and I would like nothing more than to very accurately reproduce a good neck design. CNC is really the best way to go for making neck profiles consistant.

[Ron Taylor]

When I'm finished or near finished with a piece, I usually asked my wife's opinion to which she replies, "Fine".

Good 'nuf for me.

[Malcolm Timbers]

I think it depends upon how religious a person is about his woodworking that sets fine woodworking apart from other stuff.

Unlike fine furniture, at least, with rustic furniture, they cannot duplicate it with a CNC machine. I really like people's expression when they see a high quality finish on a knotty table top with warped sides and bent, barky legs.

[Bob Lasley]

Originally posted by Ron Taylor
When I'm finished or near finished with a piece, I usually asked my wife's opinion to which she replies, "Fine".

Good 'nuf for me.

As they say, "When Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy". I think you have it figured out Ron.

Bob