Will Sampson talks with Mitch Taylor, architectural services representative for the Woodwork Institute. He has a lot of interesting information about standards for architectural woodworking.
This episode of the Woodworking Network podcast was sponsored by FDMC magazine. FDMC magazine is your vital source of information to improve your woodworking business. Whether it is keeping you apprised of the latest advances in manufacturing, helping you solve your wood technology problems with Gene Wengert, or inspiring you with case histories about successful businesses and best practices, FDMC magazine is there to be the sharpest business tool in your shop. Learn more and subscribe for free at woodworkingnetwork.com/fdmc.
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Intro music courtesy of Anthony Monson.
Welcome to the 21st edition of the Woodworking Network Podcast kicking off 2021. Join us as we explore the business of woodworking big and small and what it takes to succeed. I’m Will Sampson.
This episode is sponsored by FDMC magazine, and don’t forget to take our survey at woodworking network.com/podcast-survey.
Today, we’ll be talking with Mitch Taylor, architectural services representative for the Woodwork Institute. He has a lot of interesting information about standards for architectural woodworking. But first I want to talk about:
What constitutes quality?
Every woodworking operation I have ever visited says they do “quality” work. But what does that mean?
I’ve been in shops that were dark and dirty, with debris everywhere and no visibly coherent production flow, but they claimed to be doing quality work. I’ve met woodworkers who did everything with manual equipment and disdained any automation processes, but looking at their finished cabinets, things like door gaps were often inconsistent. Still, they assured me they did “quality” work. At the other end of the scale, I’ve visited huge factories cranking out thousands of parts and wondered what their version of “quality” looks like.
Looking at finished work first, “quality” might seem more obvious. Parts are immaculately finished and fit together consistently and correctly. Functional products like doors and drawers work as they should, opening and closing smoothly and precisely. But those kinds of results can come from all kinds of shops at all levels of price and experience. I remember vividly years ago attending a show for students at the famed College of the Redwoods woodworking program in California and then flying immediately to attend the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City. The student work I saw in California far outshone the so-called professional work of some of the world’s top designers on display in New York City. Parts in the professional show were inconsistently fit and finished compared to the immaculate student work I had just seen. For example, if your fingers slid to the underside of a table top or deep in a drawer in the student work, everything was still just as nicely finished as the more visible portions. In the professional work, touching the underside of a table top often felt like sandpaper and forget about the insides of drawers or other less visible parts.
When it gets to bidding and contracts, how do shops know they are working to the same standards the client expects? And how do clients know what to expect? This also applies to setting a standard for work within your shop or factory. Do you have established standards for how things should be done and measurable expectations for the results? Do you train your employees to uphold those standards?
This all can be a real challenge from beginning to end. Too often customers have very little understanding of woodworking and frequently have unrealistic expectations. Architects often aren’t up to speed with current technology, materials, and processes. That means that they can specify things that are difficult or impossible to build with common processes, equipment, and materials. Or they fail to recognize newer, better ways to do things.
And then there are the subjective issues. Are handcut dovetails superior quality to machine cut dovetails? Does the customer care? Or does it all depend on the fit and finish. Speaking of finishing, is a complex, multi-step finish necessarily higher quality than a simpler, but exceptionally consistent and durable finish? Or do all finishes have to meet certain standards to earn the title of “quality.”
Shops can set their own standards as to what constitutes quality. They can take advantage of standards organizations like ANSI, AWI, Woodwork Institute, and AWMAC in Canada. But without adopting consistent standards and educating employees, clients, specifiers, and suppliers, there is no guarantee that two different people talking about “quality” work will have any hope of talking about the same thing.
Before we get to Mitch Taylor, let’s pause for a word from our sponsor. FDMC magazine is your vital source of information to improve your woodworking business. Whether it is keeping you apprised of the latest advances in manufacturing, helping you solve your wood technology problems with Gene Wengert, or inspiring you with case histories about successful businesses and best practices, FDMC magazine is there to be the sharpest business tool in your shop. Learn more and subscribe for free at woodworkingnetwork.com/fdmc.