My thoughts on traditional furniture and old school techniques.

If there is one thing I know inside and out as a Cabinet maker it is Welsh dressers .

Being Welsh may have something to do with this , but it is also an exceptionally practical piece of furniture.

Welsh dressers, as they are commonly known, have evolved over the years and I will make a post on their history before too long.

A standard Welsh dresser will utilise the following:

Mortise and tenon joints ( The backbone of woodworking)

Dovetails joints ( The refined part of Cabinet making )

Halving joints ( A staple of Cabinet making )

Over the years I have made many different styles and sizes.

If anyone can master these three joints , in accordance to the law of wood, they have the keys to the 'Kingdom of Cabinet making'.

Dressers became slightly unfashionable in 2000, in the UK I would say , but I kept promoting them and kept getting orders for them.

Couple that with the recession and I am one of the last left.

One thing I have learned with furniture fashions is that 'oak' and 'traditional' will never go out of fashion.

Granted the demand may dip in a particular decade and orders may dwindle.

The fact remains that if you can master the traditional techniques and study the proportions of antique furniture you will always succeed.

Furniture has developed over the years and for two reasons only.

Practicality and aesthetics.

The rest is quite rightly history.

New materials are being made every day and that is great because it offers more scope for designers, makers and clients.

Here is a big statement that may rile some designers/ makers.

TO IGNORE HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF FURNITURE AND JOINERY EVOLUTION IS FOOL HARDY!

Now that was a strong comment and I use it carefully.

I am all for new and contemporary designs.

As more and more materials and techniques are discovered the possibilities expand.

My point is that a rejection of the traditional in order to create a contemporary item can lead to some very watered down designs.

To simplify and streamline is efficient and commendable.

To remove the essence of design is not.

In my mind anything made today is contemporary because it has been interpreted by a contemporary person.

Weather it is a good design or not is down to the observer.

Hope fully thought provoking ,

 
 

 
 

If you have any questions about woodwork, furniture or being self employed as a crafts person let me know.

I know my wood and I have spent years teaching myself furniture making , furniture history as well as living it as a self employed cabinet maker .

I am also in the process of writing a

'How to series: Setting up a Woodworking Business'

Which you can read here;
Part 1: Workshop
Part 2: Tools and machinery
Part 3: Finding a good timber yard
Part 4: Deciding what type of woodwork you are going to do.
Part 5: Advertising and getting customers
Part 6: Dealing with Customers.

Still I am learning every day and the journey is the point.
We have started a woodworking community here on steemit and would welcome you. We have a discord channel, link here: Woodworking on Steem Discord Channel And a weekly woodworking post competition ,
you can read the post here

 
 

 
 
@woodworkcurators is a daily curation service for the woodworking community.

You can read about us here
 
 

 
 

Steemfollower is a great way to get more upvotes from like minded steemians.
 
 

 
 

Many thanks for reading,

Until next time,

@jist