Perfection Can Suck It

One of the most perfect chairs I have ever seen, owned by Tim and Betsan Bowen in Wales.

You don’t need me to tell you that a good portion of the woodworking you see on the internet is bullshit. One-hundred percent certified Grade-A Extruded Garden Gnome Meat.

Yes, it’s Photoshopped.

Yes, the photo is taken from the only angle where the stuff looks perfect (fire emoji here).

And yes, a ton of that crap was made entirely with CNC routers, dedicated shaper jigs, PantoRouters and tiny German craftspeople who extrude the maple dovetails into the walnut pin sockets in the drawers.

There is nothing wrong with this furniture, just like there is nothing wrong with the surgically sculpted people you see in movies. They look good enough to eat. But they’re not a realistic view of what people – or excellent furniture – looks like.

Sorry, but I am going to name names.

About 15 years ago, Thomas Lie-Nielsen showed me an end table that Garrett Hack had made for him. Garrett does impeccable work, and I hav…