Special Report: The New Woodwork Economy

When I started woodworking a dozen years ago, everyone knew how to get started. Buy a few old Stanley planes and fix them up. No money for sharpening stones? Grab some sandpaper and get those blades “scary sharp.” Chisels and saws were the same; buy used, restore, get working. If you had to buy new, then premium makers like Veritas and Lie Nielsen sold the best, even for rare and fragile tools like dovetail saws and joinery planes. And wood was just…wood. Most people could drive to a hardwood dealer. If the imported exotics were too expensive, dependable domestic hardwoods like oak, ash, and cherry could be bought at reasonable prices. The poorest of us cut our teeth on construction lumber and we built some nice pieces from southern yellow pine and Douglas fir. With 2x4s going for $2 each, no one struggled too hard to find a little wood. Furniture making has never been easy, but getting started was straightforward and affordable.

And none of that is true anymore.

The most affordable options are gone and many of them aren’t coming back.  Vintage tools have skyrocketed in price, while good lumber has become increasingly scarce and expensive. Over the last two years, these challenges have gone into warp speed. The Covid pandemic, an unpredictable economy, and backed-up global supply chain have caused big problems with the tools and materials that craftspeople count on.

Last year, we saw record prices for wood, and that stopped a lot of projects. We got a break at the end of last year, when prices dipped back into sane territory, but this year brought another surge in the price of lumber. Construction lumber, hardwood, and composites like plywood are all affected, so every corner of the craft is feeling the pinch. At the same time, delayed shipments from overseas have caused basic tools to jump in price. Dependable, affordable tools are increasingly out of reach.

Will these problems blow over? Not likely.

Consider the trends that drive high prices. Tens of thousands of Americans are relocating  from troubled states like California and settling in states like Texas and Tennessee. Most of these people want houses and that’s driving a building boom that might last for a long time. The demand for wood will reach far beyond the US and that’s going to keep wood prices high…maybe for years.

While we’re at it, a number of these people are part of the “Great Resignation.” They’re leaving traditional jobs for new positions with more flexibility. Lots of them are going to work from home. People who stay home and have a little extra money usually take up new hobbies….like woodworking. We should expect thousands of new people to enter the craft in the next few years. I’m glad they’re coming, but these new craftspeople are going to increase demand for tools, wood, and supplies.

It’s time for us to face the new reality of our craft. Things are going to be scarce and expensive for a while.

Is our craft doomed? Will it become the hobby of the wealthy? Not at all. The future of our craft is bright and it’s going to stay accessible. We just have to understand the New Woodwork Economy. Not only will vintage tools become more expensive, even affordable imports will be pricier than we’re used to. Imported woods will become even more expensive, while domestics and even softwoods will cost more than ever.

We can survive and even thrive in this new economy by understanding three key ideas: small, local, andhigh-tech.

Get Small 

When I began woodworking, the “standard” wood shop was a two-car garage filled with expensive machinery. I had this kind of shop for a while, but I realized that big machines take space and maintenance and they don’t help me enjoy the craft. In the new economy, the hand tool woodworker has a huge advantage over the machine-focused one. My “new” shop takes up a corner of my basement and consists of a bench, a chest of tools, and a bandsaw. While my next-door neighbor waits for his hollow-chisel mortising machine to be shipped in from Taiwan, I’m quietly knocking out projects. I never need to wait for blades, belts, or carbide bits. I can service and sharpen every tool I own. Even the bandsaw is pretty simple.

Even if you’re already in the hand tool crowd, you might be feeling the pinch of high lumber prices. That’s why this is a perfect time to get small. That Shaker dining table you’ve been planning might need to wait. There are plenty of smaller projects to work on in the meantime. Have you built a step stool? A milking stool? A bench? A gift box? Each of these projects can be made from small quantities of inexpensive wood. Each of them teaches valuable skills that you can transfer over to larger projects when the wood is a bit more affordable.

If these projects are still too pricey, you can get even smaller. Have you studied Slöyd, the Scandinavian art of hand carving? There are many good books on the subject and Slöyd focuses on a small kit of affordable tools and projects made from random scraps and tree-branches. If you're focused on furniture, this all might seem a bit quaint, but you cannot dismiss these projects until you try them. Hiding inside are skills that you probably need.

Go Local 

The Internet has made the world much smaller, but it’s also given us the false perception that imported tools will always be cheap and just a click away from our doorstep.  The truth is inexpensive imported tools depend on a fragile global supply chain just to be manufactured. To arrive in our doors, these tools must travel overseas, make it through customs and then get shipped again to reach our shops. It’s a complex system that’s only possible because of ultra-cheap foreign manufacturing and inexpensive shipping. As soon as this delicate system is disrupted, prices jump up and formerly cheap tools start to reach premium prices.

When this happens, we have to look at domestic makers, even when they cost more. For North American tool buyers, the top makers are Lie Nielsen and Veritas. Lie Nielsen makes top-flight tools, but their prices are out of reach for most beginners. The Canadian maker Veritas makes outstanding tools that cost considerably less than other high-end makers. For North American customers, Veritas even offers free shipping, making them a surprising competitor to Amazon. If you’re in the U.S., Veritas tools cross the border without political wrangling or costly tariffs, making them dependable as well as affordable.

I know that many of my readers are in Great Britain and continental Europe and these places have their own local makers. I’ve reviewed several tools by the German firm E.C. Emmerich and they’ve all impressed me with their quality and value. Similarly, the Kunz brand recently introduced a premium “plus” line of planes that are beautifully made and surprisingly affordable. For the American consumer, even European imports are out of reach. Most retailers aren’t even stocking them. But the British or European buyer can still go local and get good tools at reasonable prices.

Embrace High-Technology 

Woodworkers are a conservative bunch. We love the beauty of the past, but we can also get an unhealthy fixation on “tradition” and ignore innovation. In the New Woodwork Economy, even the hand tool crowd will need high-tech, cost saving solutions, not just in tools and wood, but also in operations like sharpening.

Most of us start sharpening on sandpaper and then move on to oil or water-stones when we have the money, but times have changed. Oil stones, especially natural ones, are starting to look like a dinosaur. In the 19th and early 20th century, America was a global leader in the mining of novaculite, the naturally-occurring microcrystalline rock that gave us the legendary Arkansas Stone. Around the world, these stones displaced local alternatives and became a standard for fast, effective sharpening. But like so many other industries, mining these stones is only cost-effective at high-volume. Compared to the early days, demand for novaculite has slowed to a trickle and many of the largest mines have closed. For years, I’ve been recommending natural Arkansas stones for final honing, but I’ve also watched these stones steadily climb in price as increasing demand collides with a tiny supply. My favorite hard Arkansas stone now costs nearly $100; far too much money for a single sharpening stone.

Synthetic stones (both oil and water) are constantly improving and are likely to keep getting better and cheaper as manufacturing improves. On the other hand, many of the stones are imported, which means prices and availability might be uncertain for years.

The brightest spot in sharpening is diamonds. When I began in the craft, diamond honing plates were already popular, but they were also expensive and only professionals and wealthy amateurs used them. Diamonds are yet another place where technology is on our side. Increasing demand will lead to innovation and drive prices steadily downward. Just this week, I purchased a set of four diamond honing plates and paid only $20 for all four. For the price, these diamond plates are surprisingly nice. Only time will tell how long they stand up to shop life, but even if they only last few months, I can confidently tell any new woodworker to forget about sandpaper sharpening. Inexpensive diamond plates will continue to improve and prices should only decrease over time. By embracing new technology, we can keep our woodworking efficient and affordable, a real craft and much more than a hobby.

The Way Forward 

I’m a furniture maker, but also a historian and I’ve read a lot about woodworkers of the past. We might imagine these craftsmen as cranky traditionalists, set in their ways and slow to change. In reality, they were dynamic and adaptable. They worked in weird locations, made do with homemade tools, and were quick to take up any technology that saved time or effort. Even the notoriously stodgy Shakers were absolutely cutting-edge in their use of new machinery and techniques. Woodworking of the past was constantly in flux and new tools and processes transformed the craft from one year to the next. The modern woodworker is in the same boat. This has never been a stable, unchanging art. Cheap prices, plentiful vintage items, and steady trade just made things seem predictable. Going forward, we must adapt to a new world of scarcity and higher prices, but we can be ready if we have the right outlook.

In the first half of this year, I'll be exploring affordable tools, domestic manufacturers, and small projects with a special focus on the new challenges we're all facing. My work has always focused on affordability and accessibility, and I'll be doubling down on these ideas in the near future. 

Thank you all for being here and making all my work possible!