Discussions: Paul Sellers, Part Two
Last week, I began a discussion with Paul Sellers, director of the School of Woodworking at Homestead Heritage Craft Village near Waco, Texas. The Foundational course, in which Paul teaches hand tool usage at the school, is growing in popularity and his answer to last weeks question touches on how we need to get young people involved again in woodworking.
This week, I asked his opinions about craftsmanship.
Joel: Inexpensive, mass-produced furniture is everywhere these days. Is there still a need for the kind of craftsmanship your school promotes?
Paul: What you say is true. Today, most furniture is mass-produced in factories. All too often a mass-produced piece sells for a price similar to what most individuals might pay for the wood alone.
Competing With Mass-Production
People often tell me that small woodworking companies cannot compete with the type of furniture production that comes from factories, and in one way that’s true. But this statement assumes that the only way to view this is from an economic perspective. In my own case I’ve spent the best part of my life earning my living as a full-time woodworker. Until we began the Homestead Heritage School of Woodworking in 1995, I worked in the shop next to my house, making everything from small kitchen items to furniture.
I have enjoyed passing on my skills to my children and being with them through their growing years. Part of their education was to develop craft skills that included woodworking. I don’t know if they will find their vocation as woodworkers, but they now have woodworking skills sufficient to build fine, hand-built furniture, musical instruments, boats or whatever else can be made from wood. Best of all are the memories I have of working in the woodshop with them during their formative years.
They will be able to build heirloom pieces for the rest of their lives, if that’s what they want to do. Another benefit has been in teaching dozens of other young people on every level from raw beginner to advanced to work with wood. Many are now woodworkers in their own right; some are amateurs, and others earn their living from it. The list of benefits would be too long for the space we have allocated.
The Demand for Highly Crafted Items
But to respond to the question, it is my opinion that there is still a market for fine, hand-built furniture, and so my answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’. Most people want to buy the best they can for the money they have available to spend. Some are forced by circumstances to buy the best they can with the little money they have, especially when they first get married. For others, money may not be an issue.
I think that many people know quality when they see it, even though they may not be able to afford it. I see many people in this category. They see hand-built furniture as a good investment, believing that it will last for generations. I have known people to save until they can buy what they want, rather than buy something inferior that they all too often regret because it is made from pressed fiber board to poor standards of workmanship. Custom designing pieces is a service that appeals to many of our customers. They come to our show room or look through our portfolio and will usually connect with the craftsman who will actually make their piece. They can leave it all to the craftsman or stay in touch with progress reports throughout. We now have long-term relationships with our customers that span twenty years.
Not only do we teach woodworking here at the school and other venues, but our background is furniture making and design too. When our craftsman teachers are not in the classroom, they are in the shop building hand-built furniture that sells to individuals throughout the USA. All of these pieces are truly hand crafted in every sense of the word; many of them we design personally for our customers.
Moreover, custom designs are a mainstay of our furniture making business. Many people are looking for something unique in that they want something designed and built that will last for several generations; they want real wood and a quality that bespeaks the integrity of the men that made it. That’s hard to find in today’s world of high-tech mass production.