Oom Pieter Brand came out to the shop today to buy some blackwood and yellowwood planks for a jonkmanskas and other furniture he wants to make. He is a 77 year old retired woodwork teacher and part time cabinetmaker.
After changing planks for freedom chips, I got him into the shop for a coffee and off course, to talk some sawd*st. Talk drifted to changing times, dying crafts and loss of skills and knowledge that is not passed along.
See, Oom Pieter is moving to the old age home soon. The jonkmanskas is his last project. When I asked about his workshop and tools, he said that he will give it for free to the right man. A youngster with passion for wood. But where to find him ? Says nobody is interested anymore, that the craft is dying, that today's "cabinetmaker" is actually just a machine operator.
So is it true ? Are we a dying breed ? Is there no future for us? Are there just a few true craftsmen left, stubbornly hanging on to their chisels, still believing they can make a living by actually cutting dovetails by hand?
My response to Oom Pieter and more thoughts on the matter to follow.....
A future for the cabinetmaker
Oom Pieter is right but he is also wrong. Times have changed since his days and yes, the cabinetmaker as he knows is busy dying. The cabinetmaker as a common tradesman has no place in the future. Yes, the cabinetmaker has become a machine operator when it comes to production furniture. And this leads to the crux of the matter : “One machine can do the work of 50 men but no machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.”
The successful fine woodworker of today need more than just being good at his craft. For the lone cabinetmaker to survive, he must become even more of a specialist. Not only must he produce pieces of outstanding design and craftsmanship, pieces that stands apart from production furniture, pieces that are unique. He also needs to be a good businessman and a good marketer. He needs to figure out whom he is ultimately working for and if they are willing to pay for what he does.
I believe there is a bright future for handcrafted work/art. In the plastic fast paced technological world of today, more and more people have a desire for something “real”, something with organic tactile qualities. There is no denying that handcrafted work enriches lives for it is more than a mere product. The well crafted piece somehow radiates a little of its creator. It is after all a slice of his life.