# Woodworking Chinese Fair.



## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi.
Recently I visited the 14th International Exhibition on Woodworking Machinery and Furniture Equipments, held in Beijing, China.

It was amazing, to see all kind of equipment dedicated to woodworking, specially CNC equipments. There were machineries from Vietnam, Singapore, Taiwan, India, Germany, Switzerland, China and many other countries. Most than three quarters of the fair was aimed to CNC equipments.

Everything was focused on industrial levels. No room for hobby or DIYers. Anything that you can image can be done with these surprisingly machines using solid wood, MDF, plywood, marbles, granite, etc.

Using technologies such as laser, high frecuency, super adhesives and many others, any material becomes in a masterpiece.

Sadly, in my opinion, these advanced equipments kill the warmth coming from the handcrafters. For instance, I always knew that the luthiers are very dedicated persons when they are working in an instrument but, to see how the pieces are made in an endless row, was not good.

I get my incomes from engineering. I am a weekend woodworker, not a professional (not yet) but hearing to a salesman saying that one of these machines can replace up to 36 persons, was not good either.


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Alexis,

sadly people do not want to pay the price of things produced by those 36 workers. It's a fact of modern life, and as someone who has not been able to find work in their chosen profession for 3 years, I can attest to the cost of that attitude on the workers who have been displaced. But it is the current reality and we have to learn to adapt to it.

Darryl


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## ggom20 (Feb 1, 2012)

hello!

Nice visit!
Got more picts?

Anyway, it's true things change.

how about cutting trees with ax
splitting them , and planning with ax or adze ?
hand saw, chisels.NO router.
with no technology things take time, but then one think twice and
carefully looks to the grain direction.


Regards


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## Noob (Apr 18, 2009)

Interesting read, thanks for sharing. Here in America, shop/woodworking classes in our schools are shrinking or being removed completely and being replaced with classes geared toward white-collar jobs. Instead of encouraging our youth to look into a career in something in the woodworking field, it is being discouraged. Therefore we have less skilled woodworkers and have to rely on CNC machines or other advanced technologies to be able to compete with other companies and China in particular.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Paulo.

In North America you have many resources (educational programs, scholarchip, expositions, etc.) for training the people in specific areas such welding, woodworking and others. In my country there is not this kind of resources. If you like to do some handcraft you need to be an autodidact and look at for yourself. 

I have a woodturner friend that has been doing all kind of spindles and turned pieces for many years using lathes made by himself. I spend hours in his workshop looking him and his sons doing these kind of pieces. I enjoy with the movements of their hands, bodies and head. This is the handcrafter's warmth that I was refering to. I will never see these in a piece produced in a CNC machine, independently of the piece's beauty.

Best regards


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## allthunbs (Jun 22, 2008)

Hi Alexis:

The woodworking fair that you witnessed is devoid of the one element that shows the difference between a craftsman and a factory worker -- imagination. Someone has to build the prototype, and thus, the work of art, that the machines will follow.

No CNC environment can "read" wood. All they can do is stamp out a copy and hope it fits. Only a craftsman can feel how the wood is working and adjust accordingly. This is what makes some of the greatest craftspeople. It is true of sculpting and knitting and any other craft you can imagine.

The CNC environment has it's place. It takes a work of art and makes it affordable for the masses. But it still takes a craftsman to produce the original. Go see how many Windsor Arm Chairs are produced in CNC environments. Take a look at a Malouf chair and see if you could produce that in a CNC environment. Even a simple set of shelves that are more than a few boards nailed together need the hand of a craftsman to create.

Ask a greedy man and he can manufacture a broad range of products but ask him to create one and he can't do it. There is a need for us to remove greed from the equation and substitute artistry and then learn how to compensate the artist.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Ron.

I totally agree with you.

No doubt about the niche for CNC machines has a wide applications range. But, does this masive production of pieces lend to a prices reduction? I think it doesn't. Maybe I am looking this at from my personal standpoint: as a hobbyst. 

I used to work in a foundry workshop and I enjoyed a lot when I need to inspect the models to pour the molten metal to produce some pieces. Obviously, they were made out of wood. All of them were made, maintained and repaired by woodworkers. The truly artists, as you wrote.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

*More pictures.*



ggom20 said:


> hello!
> 
> Nice visit!
> Got more picts?
> ...


Hi.

Some additional pictures showing the amaizing quantities of thing that can be done with CNC machines. From hinges doors installation to detailed sculptures.


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## yipijian (Mar 29, 2012)

machina cannot totally replace human beings. :lol:


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## ggom20 (Feb 1, 2012)

Best way to survive become silcium.
Regards


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## allthunbs (Jun 22, 2008)

ggom20 said:


> Best way to survive become silcium.
> Regards


Gerard:

What is "silcium"? I think you mean silicon. 

Nope I cannot agree with either of you. The contributor from China has learned little from the Japanese. It takes discipline and _imagination_ to create. That's why Japan has living legends -- to retain the knowledge and discipline to create. Machines can only copy. It takes a human mind to create. A computer can play chess only because it stores and follows rules. Remove the rules and the machine is useless.

IN all of the pictures of the show above, there is nothing new. All are copies of machines produced over the years from the start of the industrial revolution, and probably long before.

Show me the difference between a spring pole lathe and the lathe in the picture. Both have a source of energy and both have a method of holding the workpiece. What's changed? We added an electric motor and some fancy electronics to replace the pulleys but not the belt.

I could go on but I'll save that for a blog somewhere:wacko:


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

papasombre said:


> Hi, Ron.
> 
> I totally agree with you.
> 
> ...


Hi Alexis,

Thanks for sharing the pictures of your trip. It shows why we have a hard time competing with overseas companies. They mass produce items quicker than they can be designed. 

I have a line of 3d wooden jewelry that I designed on the computer and cut out with a small CNC. I had a man approach me with a proposal to cut the parts with his multi-head CNC machine and said we could both make a lot of money, he also proposed raising the price because he figures we could make even more off of the production. I chose to mass produce them myself 3 to 8 at a time and spend the time to clean, sand, finish, and hang them myself so I know they are are good value for the quality of each item. I know with the touch probes as cheep as they are that one day someone will copy one of my designs and compete with me for customers. That will tell me I have a good design if someone wants to copy it.

I made match plates for my father when he was doing metal work. He made bells and all kinds of wall hangings and specialty items. It was fun and I learned a lot from the experience.

Thanks again for the pictures,
Mike


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