The Past, Present and the Future of woodworking

WOW! Very insightful and thought provoking answers coming forth. Not that I would expect anything less from this group.

On many occasions while watching Antique Roadshow and they have a very old piece of furniture I wonder whether the value of said piece is because it's old or because of the workmanship that went into it's construction. Many times on these pieces you can see flaws in the construction. I.E. dovetails which seem crude compared with what we're accustomed to now as one example. Was it because they lacked the tools to make these cuts properly or were they the result of a type of mass production of the day?

It ultimately comes down to what fits our lifestyle or that of our decendents and to some degree the quality of the construction and materials of a piece.

In my view i think we forget the age we are and how we think.

I think decent made furniture will find a home all the time. It may not be with the people we leave it with but it wont just go to the junk heap.

The designer stuff as Toni mentions will in my view always have value as it will represent a period of human history just like the old stuff today or even the modern stuff thats not that old but say from the 50's.

In my view the next few generations will still keep customs and tradditions and more so. At some point they will just like us wake up to the aspect that all the electronic technology stuff is turning over in shorter and shorter time frames with no emotional or sentimental value, but the old table or chairs etc will be the thing they have had with them like a companion for years.
I also believe at some point our systems consumption mentality will change and become way more sustainability orientated and so putting things to resuse and manufacturing things that will last will of neccessity come full circle.

Why? I dont see that future generations will have the boom wealth years that were had post World War 2. With the only wealth coming their way being the handed down wealth and with older generation living longer and being tapped for more of their money by all and sundry before they pass on the amount to roll down hill will be way smaller than might have been the case in the past from previous generations. I also do not see that future generations will have the earnings to be able to sustain the disposable society especially once the world gets back to equilibrium from an economic point of view.

Lets remember for the bulk of the post war years up till the late 80's places like China and India were no were near where they are now and the global export market was dominated by the US and Western Europe. Now that tide has turned. It may interest you to know the US still exports its share and this has not dropped contrary to popular belief but what has happened is the cake has got bigger and the US slice has stayed the same. South America like China also has seen more prosperity in recent years than it did for decades during the periods of various dicatatorships that existed down there.

I do think though anyone of you that makes furniture for sale is probably caught up in putting way more effort (in whatever form) into what you making for people and they do not have the ability to discern that as value.

But just look at the "recycling" that takes place through auctions in all their shapes and forms and good stuff remains good stuff. Junk tends to self decompose in situ. I got an Ikea "desk" i am working on. In reality its a corner table consisting of a piece of chipboard with a beech veneer and metal legs. JUNK. Pure and utter junk. Fit for purpose at the time and for the moment. Veneer is delaminating and cracking on its own accord its so thin if i sneeze its gonna blow off. Stood me in good stead for what its used for and that for 10 years.

But the stuff i see getting handed down will have some "art" value or emotional connection.

Larry i still rave at you about that hoosier cabinet. With good reason in my opinion. Its got all the ingredients to be something that is handed down even if its used for some other purpose.

Just think of the era it brings back and there are grannys that still bake and teach the young kids to bake and when this next generations getting on they will want some items that get them thinking back to when grandma taught them to make pie or even cupcakes.

BUt there is an issue that those of you who make furniture should consider. Industrial arts or shop is fading from schools or has done in many cases. This means a bunch of people that will not know a mortise and tenon from a dovetail or but joint or the merits of the various joints etc.

THis does present an opportunity when it comes to websites and that is to explain the joints and motivations for their choice in particular locations and to show pictures of fine made dovetails for example and talk about finishes and the merits of finishing. BUt to do so not in a way that is directed to woodworkers but rather to lay people who need it in basic form.

This will provide content and at the same time provide and appreciation for the quality of what you do. I would go so far as to deliberately get hold of some old chipboard stuff and lean on it and take pictures showing how it will fall apart and break and then demonstrate the merits of the properly made joint and real wood or ply wood.

There is going to be "missionary work" involved in selling wares to people that have no clue but it will be worth it in my opinion.

It would be nice to think all our work, all our carefully made pieces, would endure. But if every carefully made piece from the 18th century were still around, antiques wouldn't have the same value...

Stuff happens. As someone pointed out, usage changes, tastes change, circumstances change. Especially family circumstances.

Case in point: there's a huge Linen Press sitting in our living room. Doorlink and I brought it home on Monday. It's truly beautiful work, walnut mostly, English, circa 1840. We got it from a deacon in Doorlink's parish, who's downsizing so he and his wife can move into a retirement community. The reason we got it? None of his children wanted it. It had been in the family for a long time.

And who knows where its next stop will be? Odds seem good, with six boys involved, that someone in the next generation will covet it. But it's possible they'll have smaller houses, where it would be out of place. I can imagine one of their sweethearts saying "I don't want that old thing in my house!" And how much will survive some future decade long trend towards minimalism?

I've seen so many well-wrought pieces sitting out at the curb in the rain, I've lost the ability to believe things endure for long. It always breaks my heart when I see that kind of thing. This house is filled with rescued furniture. But I worry those rescues are only temporary.

Thanks,

Bill

just a short note here, and i will remain silent. as for this hoosier he mentions, it will go to a sibling in the family for the next generation be yound me. that i am sure of ,but i have done some looking around and the thought of our tastes changing is becoming more prevalent. there was a site that made these to order for 15 yrs. and now they dont. reason for not doing it is that the trend is to not have the big and bulky stuff around now days.. so they have asked for a opinion on a smaller variety. so what is hear now may not be tomorrow.. like bill lantry says nothing is forever..

To add to what Bill Lantry mentioned, I inherited several pieces of antique furniture from my grandmother. Nothing exceptional, but it's well-built old stuff nonetheless, and likely to last another 100 years with minimal care. But after I'm gone, there won't be anyone in the family who needs or wants it. Any of my nieces or nephews already have their own supply of antique stuff from the grandparents (or great-grandparents), so I don't see them taking it. And my wife's no help either, since she really doesn't like the look of antique furniture in the first place, and this stuff has no sentimental value to her at all. Instead, she likes (and intends to keep) the Danish Modern stuff she inherited from her mom. Personally, I'd like to get rid of everything (mine and hers) and start with a clean slate, but I just don't see that happening in this lifetime.

My feeling is that Quality, custom made items, will be coveted, while those persons who have little means will have to go to the low price alternatives.

Bruce

I replied to the poll thinking of custom furniture, not commercial furniture. Good, well designed furniture will hold its value and furniture of known makers (like Maloof) will go up in value.

Hand made furniture made by people like us will be handed down to our descendants and they will treasure the furniture, not because it's a unique design but because it represents a link with their ancestors. Think about how you'd feel about owning a piece made by your great grandfather or great grandmother.

Mike

Mike Henderson said:

I replied to the poll thinking of custom furniture, not commercial furniture. Good, well designed furniture will hold its value and furniture of known makers (like Maloof) will go up in value.

Hand made furniture made by people like us will be handed down to our descendants and they will treasure the furniture, not because it's a unique design but because it represents a link with their ancestors. Think about how you'd feel about owning a piece made by your great grandfather or great grandmother.

Mike

Click to expand...

well mike before i read your post i had a vision today first off i said i was gonna be silent, but we all know how hard that is sometimes.. but to get back on the subject at hand.. i was working on these again today and had a thought that i had dad help me plane the lumber for these and he also helped on the cutting of the stuff in some way to make it into lumber, so why not have him help threw out this project where i can, make it less work on e perhaps and there arent to many folks that can say that my grand father and great grand father made these for me so my grand daughter is gonna get a bigger piece of family than she knows.. and the daughter will have a larger piece as well sometimes i do have a good idea and i dont drive a ford

I think many people are getting tired of the "throw away society" I know I am. I have come to disdain most of the furniture sold at the big box stores and furniture warehouse stores. In my opinion it is junk and never holds up under normal use. Another trend I have been more aware of is a movement back to a local economy. I am running into more and more people who prefer to do business locally and I really like this direction.

Another thing I have noticed is that high quality figured woods are becoming more scarce. I used to be able to get figured maple fairly easy but find that modern forestry practices are eliminating forest conditions that caused wood to be figured. (specifically birds eye maple) The same is true with many of the jungle woods from South America and Africa. The worlds appetite seems to be growing for this stuff and supplies are shrinking. In the end this should drive up the price of fine furniture made from these woods.

I sell non traditional lumber on a small scale and there is a growing market for "different" lumber. I'm talking about elm, red stained box elder, etc. Heck even the ambassador made some really nice looking drawers for his shop out of hackberry. (and he stumped me trying to identify it)

Where will the furniture of today be 40 years from now?
The commercially made stuff will be gone. It is made to cheaply and designed not to last. There is a thing called 3D printers that are coming on the market and they will change manufacturing profoundly in the next few years. You will be able to buy a 3D plan off the internet and print that piece out in your own home.
The market for fine furniture will always be there but it will always be a small nitch, kind of like expensive art is today.
Hand made furniture for personal use and enjoyment will probably still be around but eventually will go the way of buggy whip makers.
Just my opinion.
Regards
Joe