Woodworking Thoughts
Some musings of a designer-craftsman-teacher

Synopsis: Tage Frid says that the only trouble with designing and working in wood is that it is so beautiful in itself. A block of wood, planed, sanded and oiled, is already admirable. So the more you do to it, he says, the worse it is going to get. Working with a material of such natural beauty, Frid feels that we have to design very quietly and use a simple form. He talks about his experience as an apprentice, what vocational education offers, knowing your materials, design that also works functionally, furniture design, and his view of the term “designer-craftsman.”
I have chosen to be a designer-craftsman. Most of my life I have concentrated on designing and working with wood only, and having spent more than 40 years with that one material, I am still learning through experimentation and looking for new techniques in forms.
The only trouble with designing and…
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