I've seen this video before Ron, the cnc carving in my book is awesome! I would personally have no interest in creating like this, but for the production shop who needs to put bread and meat on the table for their family, this is absolutely awesome. More power to em!

That big honking wood turning is insane!

Love the chainsaw!

Some of the finest craftspersons have adopted methods of making their lives easier. Here's an example of what was used by early craftspersons- who were typically thought of as hand tool users-

http://www.finewoodworking.com/item/57920/inside-the-shaker-workshop

 

I see nothing wrong or offensive about a commercial operation, producing hundreds or thousands of an identical item, using the best technology that they can get. 

Nor do I take offense at a small shop's use of CNC machines. A bit jealous but, not offended.

As for me though, I'll stick to one offs and my crude attempts at carving with my one and only carving knife. Although, that Arbortech carver looks mighty tempting.

At the 15:40 mark, you gotta love the way this guy roughs out his forms! My gosh!!! I was laughing when I saw this.

On my phone so i didn't watch the full video.  I see no problem with a cnc for production work and hope to have one in my shop this fall.  My plan is to use it for cutting juice grooves and shaping certain cut outs that we currently band saw and router template. 

Can a CNC be set up to make exact duplicates of an original carving? If it can, I'll bet the Chinese are doing it illegally They have no rules. I see where small mom and pop type businesses have been hurt or bankrupted by that tactic. I also saw where Amazon has been accused of setting this up with the Chinese. ???????????

7 hours ago, Ron Altier said:

Can a CNC be set up to make exact duplicates of an original carving? If it can, I'll bet the Chinese are doing it illegally They have no rules. I see where small mom and pop type businesses have been hurt or bankrupted by that tactic. I also saw where Amazon has been accused of setting this up with the Chinese. ???????????

Those are good points Ron.

Here is my take on it, if you have a mom and pop shop that are involved in carving intricate details such as that on their own furniture by hand, the reality of it I feel is they are really small, and they are very local, and their work is known well by furniture connoisseurs who appreciate the hand carved cabriole leg or the intricate Baroque carvings and the clientele this mom and pop shop has, is paying big, very big bucks for this type of work. This is their customer, and their customer is not going to go out and buy a Chinese made knock off. When it comes to furniture those in the know will pay well for good hand made work, and the shop that is performing good hand made work is not targeting Walmart as their wholesale customer.

 

It's not like digital media that is copied by the Chinese then sold back to the US, this hurts the cd and music and gaming industry really big, because purchasers of such goods really don't care, as long as it works and it's cheap, they'll buy it.

 

So my opinion is, no, CNC does not open up problems with the mom and pop shops, in this small area of woodworking your talking about, carving and such.

Amazon in cahoots with the Chinese, I'd like to read up on that one, can you link me up with an article Ron, I am intrigued!

John, I have read several articles about how Amazon allows Chinese rip off of American goods. This is just one of them. They have also been accused of finding Chinese who will copy products illegally and will sell on Amazon

 

http://learntogrowwealthonline.com/does-amazon-sell-fake-products-2

6 hours ago, Ron Altier said:

John, I have read several articles about how Amazon allows Chinese rip off of American goods. This is just one of them. They have also been accused of finding Chinese who will copy products illegally and will sell on Amazon

 

http://learntogrowwealthonline.com/does-amazon-sell-fake-products-2

Thanks Ron, reading it now, great stuff.