And you thought LN chisels were pricey..
Bill5507
| Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
Check out the set of chisels towards the bottom of the page on this link…
http://www.chbecksvoort.com/coolstuff.html
Replies
Ridiculous and a waste of money.
Seems that everyone is worried about the price. This is not untypical of japanese chisels that are custom made. Check out the high end chisels on Japanwoodworker.com This is more of a collectors set of chisels. Some people collect art others tools etc... Some guitars are much more than others but you can buy a cheap one as well and after all it is still just made of wood, so where is the added value? The great thing in this country is people can spend their money as they want on what they want where they perceive value.
Also it seems like a good thing if he can make a lot of money from woodworking. There is no badge of honor in making small amounts for your labor and skills. I would be surprised if he only makes 30 thousand per year. Maybe he does classes, speaking, and articles and the woodworking is not his only occupation anymore.
that begs the question... if he designed them, had them hand made, only one set made... why doesn't he want them??
Mike Wallace
Stay safe....Have fun
I wonder why he's selling T-shirts, photographic art, dovetail gauges, and bookmarks?
I thought he was pretty successful with his furnituremaking commissions.
I think, maybe because he will hand cut up to 300 dovetails for one piece of furniture, he'll need other revenue streams to actually make living.
He says he makes 40-50 pieces a year. I expect that is what he sells. That places his income above $75k. (I expect a lot above.)I don't like his work - too many straigh lines. But I expect that it is well executed.
"He says he makes 40-50 pieces a year. I expect that is what he sells. That places his income above $75k."
An article in Woodwork magazine (August 2003) reported that Becksvoort grosses $80-100k / year, for a net income of $25-35k.
His net is sort of lousy. If he's selling that many pieces and only grossing 100K then the work is being sold to cheaply.
We don't know what these pieces are. They may be little shaker boxes for all we know selling for $1000.00 each. At his website most of his work seems to be in the $2500 range, so if he makes 75 pieces or so a year, then he obviously makes quite a number of smaller bread and butter type items.
If he averages in the $2,500 range for his bigger work then that's obviously the problem. That's not enough.
I stand corrected. Cases $3450-$8150 Tables $1950-$13200 Lighting and accessories $275-4650 Chairs and beds $1650-$8400 Music stands $925-$2675 So obviously if he makes 75-100 a year and makes 40-50 pieces a year a lot of them are the lesser priced items.
Edited 1/7/2005 3:48 pm ET by Peter36
Clearly he's not making 50 to 75 'big pieces' (as I would call them) a year so you've hit the nail on the head that the sales mix necessarily includes lots of smalls - projects that take a week or less to complete.
I met Chris Becksvoort at a craft show and thought he was a little uh, stoic or standoffish. But maybe that's some New England/Maine thing. He could probably suss out I wasn't going to buy, just had a few construction questions. But his work is certainly top notch.
Could be indicative of other problems, his appearance at a crafts fair that is, I assumed he stayed busy with booked commission work. Would have thought that his reputation would keep him busy and that he didn't have to run down work by selling/advertising at fairs. Oh well, I stand corrected.
I suppose we get a 'bigger than life' impression of these guys. Even me, and I don't miss many opportunities to burst that bubble. We should all remember that there are a lot of custom makers out there who never appear in FW.
His "net" may not be that bad.There is tax net and there is real net.To get my tax net I deduct on my tax forms: $6000 or so for my HSA. $20,000 for retirement. $12,000 for a loan from my mother-in-law (she does not want the loan repair only enough income to live off of.So that is $48,000 that should be added to the tax net to get the real net.I expect that his real net is a lot better than indicated.
more money in merchandising..??????
something just plain wrong with that concept....Mike Wallace
Stay safe....Have fun
I suspect that those chisels were meant more for show than for shop use, sort of like a ceremonial sword. Chris may have decided that he'd rather have the money for some reason. I'd love to see some close ups of the metal work.
John W.
I suspect the chisels might have been a gift from a previous associate, and he would rather have the revenue than a set of ultranice chisels he isn't used to using! He's quite a craftsman, does fine work, but, like others, I do not care for his style of straight-line work. It's definitely reminiscent of Shaker pieces, but certainly for other reasons. However, I really get a kick out of examining the background of the photos of his shop that accompany his articles .... and other working craftsmen as well!
The real disappointment was seeing the dovetail gauge pictured with a pencil .... I can't recall ever using a pencil laying out a joint .... and bet he doesn't use one either, lest he couldn't turn out the fine work he does!
John
Edited 1/5/2005 6:07 pm ET by TAILSORPINS
John,
I agree about the pencil.
But I have heard from people who do very fine work, laying out with one. They either use a very fine point, or abrade the tip into a "chisel point." Their work is as good as I've seen using a knife for scribing. But, in general, pencil layout is not too accurate.
Rich
How's that go? Measure wiht a micrometer, mark with a crayon, cut with an axe... ;-)
Measure with a home made ruler, mark with a big magic marker, cut with a chainsaw.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Personally, I use artist's pastel "chalk," the soft kind, to do all my marking.
It's perfectly fine to lay out the first part of a dovetail joint with a pencil - tails or pins whichever you cut first. It's when you register the tail piece to the pin piece (or vice versa) for marking out that you need to use a knife or an awl.
If you are using a knife to lay out the first half of a dovetail joint you are making the process needlessly fussy.
Look around - there are lots of nice brass and wood dovetail gauges around. They are used to lay out the first piece, again pins or tails, for cutting. You wouldn't want to repeatedly register a knife or awl to a brass or wood gauge for obvious reasons.
If there is one thing Becksvoort can do is cut flawless dovetails.
Regarding straight lines - he specializes in Shaker furniture and derivative work so straight lines are to be expected.
All of the Tasai chisels I have ever seen advertised are VERY expensive. I would wonder if anyone uses them. Hand forged and he supposedly uses pieces of old - 100 yr+ - wrought iron, according to Japan Woodworker catalogs.
If you look around his website you'll see some prices on some of his standard designs. I don't think I'd be too hasty to criticize this guy'sefforts. Maybe just wanted to do a few other things after hearing there was a market for them?
I think he's a great craftsman. That's why I'm a little surprised by the tchockes.
I bet he messed up on the price. It is on the same page as $ 5.00 book marks and $ 15 thing-a-ma-gigs. But then again maby he is trading up!
Jim
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