More of what I do....and a pretty good rant! LOL!

How many years to acquire that level of skill? Beautiful work…

All I can say is wow….........................
How do you transport those things…..

-- With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine. Just watch out for the exhaust. - Mike -

I just stumbled on this Tony. You do very nice work. I understand where you are coming from I think. Until I retired I was in a business that required results and you had to get it done. Hand tools would have been nice I guess but there just wasn’t time. Quality could never suffer and it never did but the attitude was always get the job done. We used hand tools where they were required but power whenever we could.

As for the Zen of the job, in my mind there is nothing that compares to the scent of yellow cedar coming out of a planer. A hand plane just doesn’t bring the scent out the same. .... I loved every hour of my boat building career and was always my happiest when I was creating a living vessel.

Maybe I’m wrong but I think we have things in common.

-- Paul M ..............If God wanted us to have fiberglass boats he would have given us fiberglass trees. http://prmdesigns.com/

Very nice. Are the curves built up, steamed or laminated?

As to the rant, there are tool snobs on both sides of the power tool and hand tool divide. However they are powered, quality tools are a joy to work with but the flip side to that is buying a Steinway piano doesn’t automatically make you ready to play Carnegie Hall either.

You can do good work with either. Seeing the quality of your work, I can pretty confidently say that if you were without your 16 in jointer and had to use a hand powered jointer, you would still be able to do work to the same standard, albeit a bit more slowly. You could probably come pretty close with a flint adze as well. The craftsman produces the work, not the tool.

-- Woodworking shouldn't cost a fortune: http://lowbudgetwoodworker.blogspot.com/

I love the maple staircase!

Hi Tony. I am far from being a hand tool elitist, but I am always very happy when I can do some decent work with one. I choose hand tools only when they are the easiest option. My 5 function combo machine with the jointer and planer is basically a European hobby quality machine and therefore has many limitations. And even though it has performed very well for the past 16 years, it keeps my satisfaction level pretty low. I also have limited dust extraction, so with the airborne dust and the noise it can be nice to work quietly and virtually dust free with hand tools in my little shop.

I like to use hand tools when practical, but I am just a retired hobbyist with plenty of time on my hands. I don’t really think most of the folks who love hand tools are looking down on others. They are just expressing how good they feel when working with them. Thinking about how many years it has taken me to learn sharpening and using a few hand tools properly, I can well understand their joy. The pro’s like yourself are in an altogether different league and I think most everyone understands that hand tools are not an option for folks who make a living at woodworking. That in no way diminishes your stature or your skills as a craftsman.

Your stairways look really grand and very well crafted.

-- Mike, American in Norway

Thanks for the complements. Very humbly appreciated.

Drew, Ive been building custom stairs and railing for about 22/23 years now. Still learning everyday.

Whome, we try to build as many in the shop as possible and transport can be anything from the back of a pickup, a 20’ flatbed trailer, a 30’ enclosed trailer. Some can’t be transported assembled and need to be built ‘onsite’.

Paul “Maybe I’m wrong but I think we have things in common”
Nope….I don’t think your wrong at all. I love what I do, and the way I do it.
22 years later, after many MANY 12 and 14 hour days, it’s pretty rare for me to not look forward to the next days work. There’s no shortage of frustration and humility on some of these jobs. Sometimes, so much so that you just want to cry. But…I thrive on it. Kind of ‘sadistic’! LOL!

David
95% of the curves are laminated(stairs and railing) Some of the real tightly curved, declining rail components are carved out of a solid block.
Thanks for the response to my rant. I fully agree with what you’ve posted here(although I don’t agree with SOME of what you posted on the thread in question)
I hope I’m not giving the impression that the hand toolers, you included, need to defend your choices. Or that I don’t understand why you’ve chosen the path you have.
Over the many years I’ve collected a pretty large arsenal of hand tools(varying styles of hand planes included) and I’m fully capable if sharpening a chisel or a plane iron to the point you could confidently shave your balls with them.
They all have a place. Some aspects of the joinery in the work I do CAN’T be done with power tools.(thus the ‘arsenal’).
It’s not the hand tools I have an issue with at all….it’s the condescending elitist attitude of some that are holding them.
Please feel free to comment further…I’ll do my best to behave myself!

-- Come to the dark side....we have cookies...

Thanks for the comments Mike. I agree with you…’most’ don’t look down, but a fair amount do. Truthfully…I read it everyday on this and other forums. 9 out of 10 times it doesn’t bother me at all…I guess it just builds up once in a while.
Thanks again Mike.

-- Come to the dark side....we have cookies...

I use both power and hand tools, so I don’t have any particular ‘beef’ here.
I agree with Shipwright about the wood-scent too; until I realise that the reason for the increased ‘perfume’ is the amount of irritant dust the planer creates, above the use of a hand plane! So, as much as I enjoy the scent of cedar wood, I wear a face mask when I use the planer!

Best of luck

John (UK)

-- Working fast helps you to arrive at your mistakes in spectacular fashion. (Me 2009!)

Ok Tony….your’re my hero of the week !!!
Fantastic work. I have yet to tackle a complete curved staircase. I have done curved rails but not the whole monster that you have tackled quite nicely.
I’m in the same camp as you. Both power and hand tools can be blended to achieve the needed or desired result.

-- Gary; Marysville, MI...Involve your children in your projects as much as possible, the return is priceless.

Gorgeous work. Completely agree with your ideas, and really respect the work that I have seen.

-- - Steve Campbell

Tony you do outstanding work and have a lot of talent. How long have you been working at this. Your work is beautiful.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com

-- If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. Henry David Thoreau

Absolutely beautiful staircases! Each one does look like a labor of love – and a treat for the eyes.

-- Steve - Impatience is Expensive

Tony, Thanks for posting the pictures of your work. I admire the craftsmanship that went into making them. It is beautiful work. The reason I am replying though is to say, Great Rant. I agree with your sentiments.

-- Mel

I grew up being told that it was a poor workman that blames his tools.

I think that can’t go the other way also. It’s a true craftsman that can create a thing of beauty with whatever is at hand.

A year or so ago a young Kenyan friend of mine sent me a photograph of a begger working in a small village.
The fellow had no arms as they had been cut off during one of the frequent “cleansing” operations that go on over there by different groups.
This fellow owned a machete and made one legged milking stools using only his feet and his mouth. These wouldn’t ever be called a thing of beauty, but he was more of a craftsman than I will probably ever be with my machine and my hand tools.

-- Improvise.... Adapt...... Overcome!