Do you see your Woodworking as "Quality"?

”Quality is in the eyes of the beholder”.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Hmm, for me it is the fit and finish of the work that exudes the quality.

I see a lot of guys on here that build furniture, so their projects require precise joinery from start to end, and after all their man hours and precision work, they have to sand, and stain. I can comprehend and appreciate those projects, just not duplicate theri efforts at this point, but that to me exhibits quality.

I also see a lot of lathe workers on here. Bowls, pens, lamps, etc. which amazes me as I have virtually no knowledge of how they accomplished those beautiful pieces. So the quality of their work is exuded in the final presentation, and though I don’t aspire to lathe work at this point I can appreciate the form and function of it.

Keith, this is obviously a very subjective topic. We tend to be our own worst critics and often focus more on the “flaws” in our work than the successes. But I do not believe that this is an undesirable trait. By critically examining ourselves we will strive to improve the quality of the product that is produced, with the implicit understanding that we will never achieve perfection despite our best attempts at doing so.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Perfection has been defined as “being as it should be.” In woodworking it probably relates to the accuracy of the joints, the consistency of the lines and the overall balance of the finished product. I’m betting that we all strive for perfection. Quality is a measure of how close we are to perfection, it is a scale.

-- When you give someone a chance it may well be their last.

Scott,
I read and reread your post and thought…I could not agree more.
Thank you for commenting.
Keith

-- Keith, Charlotte, MI www.julyswoodworks.com www.TheBenchDawg.com

Russel, ”Quality is a measure of how close we are to perfection, it is a scale”

So true.
As our skills improve the bar continues to rise.

Thank you
Keith

-- Keith, Charlotte, MI www.julyswoodworks.com www.TheBenchDawg.com

Quality is relative

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop Southern Oregon

nice spam.

-- Dan, Sterling Alaska, http://sullcon.homestead.com/ Before you criticise some one, walk a mile in their shoes...then you will be a mile away and you have their shoes!

I think I would fall into the category of one of the new people that is getting better and improving the quality of my work.

To answer your question to me it is being able to produce a finished piece as close to as possible the vision I have in my head when I start, and improving my skills to be able to do it in a reasonable amount of time. The time factor for me is key to finishing a project before you lose interest in it or other things in my life pull me away. Perfection is an illusion and there will always be room for improvement, I look at most of my work as evolution and what I learn from 1 project is applied to better the next.

-- Alex

This is sort of the antithesis of the post a short while back where we should point out our difficulties and errors so others can learn from them. And, I think that pointing our our level of experience lets everyone know the level of comment that could be made.

-- The smell of wood, coffee in the cup, the wife let's me do my thing, the lake is peaceful. http://web.me.com/deceiver6/Deceiver/Craftsman_on_the_lake/Craftsman_on_the_lake.html

Look you don’t have to be a concert pianist to know when someone hits a wrong note.Just like woodworking even an amature knows when his work is not correct.Most of us come into the world with a sense of artistic apreciation from the womb. I believe this is cultured during nurturing years but everyone has ability.Some have other regions of their brain that is more developed as they are nurtured throught to adult hood learning is a forever process no-one is perfect and there are nearly always slight flaws in man made objects ,but that’s what makes them beautiful and unique .Newcomers should be encouraged constantly to show their work and await Praise and criticism so long as it is helpful .I am teaching my nephew to turn wood at first it seemed he had little talent then he took off and seems to be very quick to learn and is doing great in my opinion.Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

A quality piece is any one better than my last project. :-)

I’m only half kidding there, because I realize that my perception of quality changes as my level of experience and skill changes. I think it is only natural in any pursuit that the more we know about something, and the better we become at doing it ourselves, the higher our standards of quality become. For example, a newbie woodworker might look at some of my boxes and consider them quality work. But I have to look at guys around here like Dennis Zongker, Les Hastings, Lee Jesberger, etc. to see real quality.

Or to give a non-woodworking example: I play the piano. To a non-musician I play really well, but to a trained professional, I’m just a rank amateur. So I guess you could say that quality is relative.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I measure quality by the way the product is built and the materials used. And of course the finished product.
Solid woods vs. PB
Whether it be a butt joint or a mortise and tenon.
Whether you use nails thought the front and putty or attach with a different method.
One coat of wipe on poly, 5 coats of lacquer, polyester…...
A craftsman can achieve a product that looks stunning no matter how it is built but the overall combination of decisions involved for each process is what determines the quality.

I think this is the somewhat the same as the ‘what is perfect’ question i.e It looks how it’s supposed to look, but I think quality goes above that in so much as the quality of a piece is best judged by others.

I mean if you are knocking out pieces that perfectly match your vision but everyone that see’s it thinks it’s a pile of junk then chances are you aren’t producing quality work.

-- I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso

Scott gave a good answer.
Personally, I’m a novice who chose to attempt woodworking late in life as therapy. I am not yet able to tackle craftsman type projects, but making anything is a triumph for me and I get encouragement from LJ’s. Progress is what I strive for, learning is a lifelong experience for everyone, I’m just starting to achieve woodworking experience. Whatever I make, whatever the “quality”, I am confident that the next project will be better quality and I will learn another method or tool use. I am very happy that I get so much personel satisfaction.

-- Roger, Rep. of Texas

I really appreciated this poem this morning, thank to you for sharing it and thanks to your brother for writing it. I’ve been feeling intimidated about providing “quality” to my clients… I should relax. Quality exists in the experience and I’ve never had a client come back at me and say… “You’ve wasted my time.”

Phew.

In my turning… when I finish a piece and it works as it was intended (I make yarn spinner’s tools)... and it spins true (rotates on its axis without wobble on a pointy point)... I can intuitively feel that I’ve made a quality piece. It fulfills a need… then I just have to make sure it gets into the right hands.

Happy Friday!

-- Lisa Chan, custom cafts and yarn accessories, http://www.grippingyarn.com

Lisa,
I copied your post and sent it to my brother via e-mail, so you could thank him yourself.
Thanks for commenting.

Keith

-- Keith, Charlotte, MI www.julyswoodworks.com www.TheBenchDawg.com

From studying 18th C “Masterpieces” of American furniture we have determined that some of them are perfect pieces. I use Albert Sacks book Fine Points of American Furniture where he rates the pieces as good, better, best and superior. Careful examination reveals that there were available better construction methods than what was used on some of the pieces. Does this mean that the period pieces are not quality? Perhaps the ones recreated today are better quality? The term quality is subjective. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder then surely so is quality.

-- Don, Pittsburgh

mic 54 this is not spam I think it is a legitimate discussion. As it has been said I think quality is in the eyes of the person you are making it for. It is true, we are our own worst critics

-- There is no such thing as a mistake. Its called a design modification Rick Kruse, Grand Rapids, MI

I personally think quality is different than accuracy. Most of the time the 2 are intermixed. I can build a quality workbench, but the trim may not be accurate but that does not make any less than desirable quality.

Now don’t get me wrong, the 2 are best when they work together. But I have seen many students build a project that is in my eyes is quality construction, but the accuracy falls short.

Another Question, is it quality if all the joints are tight and no gaps, but the cabinet doesn’t fit the space it was designed for?????

I haven’t built anything for sale so quality is whatever I end up with. I know there are flaws in my work and I know where each and every one is. They make the piece uniquely mine. The flaws do help me learn. If I made it perfect I might as well go out and buy it.

I like what has been said so far. The one thing I would like to add for my own thinking in terms of quality would be; will this peice be still in use and structurally sound in 2109, minus any blunt force trauma. Fit and finish is something mastered by China and thus sells a lot of products, but the fit and finish does not equate to a products quality or strength. Even the furniture at Walmart looks really nice in terms of fit and finish. I strive for quality in every aspect of the build process up through fit and finish. I am competative in nature and I always find it fun to compete with myself from job to job, just to see if I can top the last job. Whenever I do a job and something goes bad and I feel I took a step back, it really eats at me. This last kitchen we built I had to rebuild three cabinets because of misjudging some calculations on two walls. We primarily build kitchens, and while I understand most will only be in a house for 5 or 10 years, I still thrive to build with strength and beauty in mind.

We also build other furniture items, bedroom sets and such. I like to think the peices we build will become family heirlooms passed down from generation to generation. I feel our work should way outlast the life span of us and our customers and probably the life span of our children.

-- Jerry Nettrour

With each step forward the critical eye gets sharper and the hands need to do better for quality can be seen in the mind’s eye. ...another step, another step, the vision sharpens… Quality is just up ahead!

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

Some great comments and it makes you think. I can build a quality storage shed or a quality cabinet but due my lack of skills, knowledge or perhaps even trying I cannot yet build a quality piece of furniture. To me woodworkers have skills and some are better in some areas than others. I think this sometimes intimidates those starting out in any aspect of woodworking. I too belong to a woodworkers club and seldom will we see any project that are of lower quality. Myself I enjoy seeing all levels. I judge my level of quality by seeing what others can do. Then I try to improve my skills for better quality. What is important to me is the quality time I spend doing it. If the project works out great if not I have still enjoyed the time spent.

-- Duane, Iowa

I believe Scott said it best, we are our worst critics. I made a bedroom set from particle board and drywall mud, painted it a dusty rose as per the wife’s spec’s. I hated it, she loved it and sold the set for $400.00 when we moved about three years after. All I saw was covered up particle board, what she saw was beautiful south western furniture. Ya just never know :)

Doug in AZ.

-- If you need craft books - please visit our small business at http://www.wittywife.com

Is quality defined by how a piece looks or by the methods used? When building Windsor chairs I was taught traditional techniques and practices. Many Windsor chairs have survived a couple hundred years because of the resiliency of the design, the sophisticated engineering, and the methods used to build the chairs. However, though some chairs may have survived a good long time and be in great useable condition today, that in my opinion does not qualify a chair to be a quality chair. It is the artist and his or her rendition of the style. Some Windsor chairs are absolutely beautiful due to the chair maker’s sense of proportion and some are just plain ugly for lack of the latter. Form has to play an integral part in the quality of a piece. Every element of a piece can be executed to perfection but if it lacks form and still has the same function are we going to call it a quality piece? I have an ample sense of form and proportion but still strive to improve my techniques and artistic style.

-- Fred.... Poconos, PA ---- Chairwright in the making ----

rustic ya I know how to drive traffic to a website by posting on forums…I read the same post on another forum this am…I’m not saying there is anything wrong with it. It takes thought and finesse to use a forum to do that without breaking advert rules. :)

Anyway..the quality of my work varies directly to the size of the check being deposited.

-- Dan, Sterling Alaska, http://sullcon.homestead.com/ Before you criticise some one, walk a mile in their shoes...then you will be a mile away and you have their shoes!

“Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” (I think this is from Candide by Voltaire)
As someone said many posts earlier in another forum, a “one of a kind” means there is just a little bit of imperfection and these items may just be heirlooms some day!
If someone loves it, then I love it that they love it!
Ellen

-- Ellen on Cape Cod