Someone's gone mad. It may be me, but I dunno...
Monday, February 28, 2011
And down the rabbit hole I go again
Just now I followed a link to a newly marketed bench strop. It's a block of wood with a couple of socket head screws to take bits of MDF with leather on. Or not. Depending. Some number of dollars are asked for it. I genuinely thought it was an elaborate joke. I looked at the other products and there's a surface plate "cover kit" (soft fleece, no less - cosy) and a piece of ply with, um, a hole at one corner to facilitate shaping things. Apparently it's not a joke.
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I think that the products he makes fill a fairly small, but important role in the woodworking world. He produces workshop accessories for those that are either unable or unwilling to build them for themselves.
ReplyDeleteI don't find his products terribly appealing personally, I build all of my workshop accessories from scraps scrounged from job sites that I work on. I have no problem building these things for myself, but I have more time than money. I think that the people that buy his products are probably in the same group that buys a set of Lie Nielson planes without batting an eye. This is neither good nor bad, but I do think it's good that he is there to produce these tools for those that want them.
(Just for the record, I want to point out that I very much see the value in high-dollar, excellent quality tools. Unfortunately, my taste for the fine things in life exceeds the capacity of my wallet, and I can't own all of the tools I would like to just yet).
Simon
Guess that's what passes for top line innovation these days.
ReplyDeleteNorm B
Personally, I had a hard time going past the $180 shooting board, although... I have seen priced higher.
ReplyDeleteAh, but did you notice that you could order the plywood with either a left-hand or right-hand hole! 8-)
ReplyDeleteSimon, I absolutely agree that if there's a need, why not fill it. I suppose I'm simply nonplussed that there's the need to fill. To me it doesn't feel at all the same as buying a L-N or a Holtey or whatever, but there we are. Good luck to him.
ReplyDeleteAlf, I agree that they are not the same.
ReplyDeleteI'm imagining a doctor wanting to get in to woodworking, as an example. For many doctors time is a premium commodity, and money is not an issue at all. For these people (I imagine), they would much rather be building projects in their precious spare time, and they can afford to buy the accessories that otherwise they might build.
I think it's not so different from the discussion of using planes to totally dimension stock versus using a thickness planer: it all depends on what you want to do. If you enjoy dimensioning stock, then by all means do it. If you really just enjoy building projects, then save the frustration and buy planed lumber or a thickness planer.
I see the value in building your own shop accessories, particularly as a beginner, because it is a good excuse to get some woodworking practice on something that won't just go into the scrap bin at the end of the day. For some people out there, though, building shop accessories is just another chore that gets in the way of what they would rather be doing.
Simon