[TheForge] Reproductions, was PLEASE! Stop the Stupid comments

[Andrew Vida]

Bob Rackers wrote:
> 
> My simplest explanation is this.
> If the end product is most important, then do it however you want to get it
> done as efficiently as possible.
> In other words, if your primary concern in blacksmithing is to make as much
> money as possible doing it, then do what it takes to do that.

	If you're making furniture, farm the work out to Mexico.
	You can't really compete with them.  They do really lousy
	work, but people buy it up like there was no tomorrow.
	One trend I've noticed is that people will pay for crap that
	looks passably good.  Most of them will not pay for better
	craftsmanship no matter how much better it may be made or
	what heirloom potential it may hold.  This was abundantly
	apparent in Scottsdale where folks have more money than God.
	Go into a store like Roche Bobois where they carry hand made
	furnishings at premium prices... the place is empty.  Go to
	Paco's up north of Shea around 30th street; they sell this
	horrible stuff made in Mexico, both iron and wood.  Looks like
	it was made by chimps stoned on acid and the place is crowded
	every time I've been in there.

	When I was fabricating I used whatever techniques I could to
	speed up the process.  Electrically welded joints, faked collars
	etc.  In the end I still made very nice stuff, but it was like
	pulling teeth to get people to pay for it.  We did work for
	designers, architects and directly for the buyers, some of whom
	were extremely well heeled cash-wise.  They still did not want
	to pay more than X for piece Y, and X was usually pretty low.
	It's a tough way to make a living, especially in the post NAFTA
	era.  I don't know if it is felt as strongly further north, but
	in the southwest you could really notice it.
> 
> If the process is the most important, then stick to the traditional process.
> If your primary concern is learning how things were done when blacksmiths had
> no choice but to do them that way, then using more modern methods isn't going
> to teach you much.

	For me process is important, and it is precisely because of
	that that I choose not to make my living at smithing.  If you
	go the fully hand wrought route, you better have some patrons
	willing to subsidize you.