I'm forwarding this to chat, as my message to Clay bounced back.
Agnes
Hello Clay
I was not implying Stuart's bobbins at all, I have lots of his bobbins
and they are gorgeous, and I know how much work he puts in the
finishing, decorating etc.
I was merely saying that he does use a CNC machine to make the basic
bobbin, but does all the finishing, inserts, decoration etc. by hand.
He is Mike's other "teacher, and we have a lot of respect for his work.
The other bobbins I referred to, i.e. the plain, unpolished, undecorated
ones for painting etc., are mainly produced in the Netherlands, and it
is where
the Hesters buy theirs.
Agnes
Clay Blackwell wrote:
Dear Agnes,
I do hope you're not implying that Stuart Johnson's bobbins are inferior!
And, I would suggest that a better adjective to describe mass produced
bobbins is, "inexpensive", not "cheap".
While a lathe with a computerized template can replicate the same shape
over and over, it still does this one bobbin at a time. And, if the
design isn't good in the first place, then you have lots of ugly
bobbins. So whether a bobbin is hand-turned or turned with a template,
it is basically made the same way, and the primary difference is that
the bobbin designer can employ additional staff to help in the
production. Numerous people have stated in the past few days that we
prefer our bobbins to be alike when working with projects that require
many, many bobbins. To me, it isn't important to know that each bobbin
was carefully turned by hand... what is more important is that it is
the same size and weight as the bobbin next to it.
While the shape of a bobbin is important, for me an equally important
quality is the finish. Some bobbins are left unfinished and are
utilitarian and often used to paint on. Some bobbin turners put a layer
or two of shellac or varnish on their bobbins, and if they don't polish
in between, the finish is clumsy. The truly masterful bobbin makers
apply their finish while the bobbin is still on the lathe, creating a
velvety smooth finish. These are my favorites, and not many people do
this.
Clay
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