What does it really mean? 

 

I have been signing my projects “Hand Crafted by Bruce Macdonald” for as long as I can remember. Originally, I used a pen, then a branding iron and more recently my CNC router to perform the task. It is my “certificate” of authenticity and a way for my great-great grandchildren to remember who built that piece of furniture. However, it seems like the definition of “Hand Crafted” has evolved over the years. 

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Oxford defines it as “to make skillfully by hand”. Taking that definition literally would mean only a wood project made entirely with hand tools such as chisels, planes and hand saws could qualify. Does this mean that every piece of furniture that passed by a table saw, a drill press, a planer, a lathe or a mortising machine is no longer “Hand Crafted”? I don’t think so. There are very few woodworkers today who don’t have any electric powered tools in their arsenal. 

A search on Etsy for “hand crafted” yields results that are most certainly not entirely made by hand. So why am I bringing all of this up? Simple – CNC has come to the home workshop. 

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As woodworking tool technology has advanced, computers have gradually become more and more prevalent in the shop. From a digital readout on your planer or drum sander to load sensing motors on your lathe to table saws that electronically prevent accidents to routers that can practically guide themselves along a workpiece, we must accept the fact that this technological world we live in has infiltrated our woodworking arena as well. There is a plethora of woodworking apps for your smart phone enabling you to work smarter, faster and more accurately. I am not trying to fan the flames on the hand tools vs. power tools debate - many authors have already done so. Rather I want to position the CNC router, which is becoming ever more affordable for the home woodworker, as just another tool. Nothing more. A CNC router has no artificial intelligence (AI). It doesn’t think nor make any decisions. It cuts where you tell it to cut. It goes to a point in X, Y & Z space, cuts, then moves on to the next point. It can ruin a project in a fraction of a second just as easy as it can make a real eye-catching detail.  

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A CNC router can perform repetitive tasks without complaining. It doesn’t get tired. It doesn’t need to take vacation. It can boost productivity (if that is one of your goals) by cutting in minutes what would take hours to do by hand. It can carve intricate details into wood that even a very experienced carver would have trouble with. But without a craftsman designing the component in CAD/CAM software it is but a very large paperweight unable to move let alone create anything. 

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In woodworking, people say that a machine cannot deliver the same creativity and passion that a skilled woodworker can. I totally agree if a robot is doing the creation and execution. Making one of something is an entirely different problem than making 10, 100 or 10,000 of them. We all have our reasons for embracing woodworking whether it is to demonstrate our love of the craft, to make an heirloom piece to be remembered for generations or purely to turn a profit. Whatever the reasons, creativity and passion are driven from within and a tool, be it a hand chisel or a CNC router, is simply a mechanism used to realize those goals – efficiently, accurately and safely. Just as there is a learning curve to sharpen and use a chisel to its’ full advantage, so too is there a learning curve (and a steep one) to making a CNC router cut something beautiful, accurate and timely. 

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Most home woodworkers today that have embraced CNC are using it as a supplement to their projects as opposed to making a project from start to finish on the CNC. Maybe it’s an inlaid plaque, a carved façade, an intricate drawer front, some carved in verse or a curved juice groove in a cutting board. The CNC adds capabilities to the home woodworker that were only dreams a few years ago. Whatever the reasoning, CNC is here to stay just as the table saw is and you will undoubtedly see more and more woodworkers embracing this technology as an integral part of their craft. 

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Why is it then that some people view use of a CNC router as “cheating” and believe you are using technology to supplement skill? The reality couldn’t be any further from the truth. If you use a CNC machine and palm your work off as hand carved, then yes, it’s cheating and you have no business calling it “Hand Crafted”.  If you use a CNC to add detail to your work, to help create interest, in short, to make your project “better” then that is not cheating. Think of it this way – Our hands extend our mind, machines extend our hands and technology extends our machines.   

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Pneumatic nail guns have all but eliminated the need for a roofer to carry a hammer. The end result is not to drive some nails, it is to put a roof over the house. In the same way a CNC router’s raison d'être is not to cut material very quickly and accurately, it is to help you create an end product that you can be proud of. 

Finally a couple of quotes I thought sums all of this up nicely. 

“If a fellow were to straddle the fence of technology and traditional craftsmanship, he might render inspired projects that celebrate both and exceed the standards of each.'” – Harold Horchover  

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“The method we choose to interpret our woodworking creativity is as much a reflection of who we are as the finished product, and that reflection has the same rights and weights as any other. Let the CNCs scream… and let the creation continue, because all roads lead to that same little piece of heaven, where someone’s eyes get big and they just have to touch something you just made.” – Phil Gilstrap  

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So the next time you see a wood project that was made by a craftsman using his or her CNC router and it is signed “Hand Crafted by:” don’t dismiss it thinking there was no crafting behind it. Trust me, I know firsthand there most certainly was. 

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Bruce Macdonald, Dunrobin, ON