Where's The Quality In "custom" Gone

[K-Man]

...One excellent example is the Crossbreed holster that combines leather and kydex. There's umpteen thousand people offering a knock off of that design now.......

Tucker Gunleather is the originator of the leather/kydex hybrid holster. Crossbreed copied the design off of him.

[BillB]

K-Man,

There are two sides to the Quality question, at least in my experience in life both as a leathercrafts man and as a Scientist.

The first side of Quality is that of the person producing something. Wether it be a piece of leather work or a scientific experiment or Theoretical paper. This Quality is based on the persons ethics and standards.

The second side of Quality is that of the person or people receiving or purchasing the product. This has a lot to do with perception. There is rule from the Sword of Truth fantasy book series that comes to mind. It goes like this: "Anyone can be made to believe a lie, either because they want to believe it is true or they are afraid it is true. Even Wizards can be fooled." In the scientific world the last "great" example of this was the "Cold Fusion" issue from the 1990's. Everyone wanted to believe it was true since we were all trying to find alternate energy sources. In the end it was found to be a poorly run experiment and had not followed basic scientific principals dealing with quality control. You can see similar effects at any craft show where folks want to believe they are getting a "handcrafted" or "custom" made item. A Native American friend of mine had to break ties with a long time friend since that friend was selling "Hand Made Native American" items that had come from China and was telling the customers about it.

In the end we have to live with ourselves and what we do and answer to our maker, Great Spirit, God ... for what we have done. I control my destiny. I can not control others. If someone brings an item to me and asks my opinion, I will provide it with constructive criticism, not destructive criticism on how the item could be better. That is the best I can do and I am willing to live with it.

The above is my opinion and I hope you find it useful.

BillB

[TwinOaks]

Thanks, K-man, I had the two confused. Since I don't do that type of work, I was relying on (faulty) memory.

[TexasLady]

6/25/11

electrathon (aka Aaron), that was a good story. You told it well, and I liked it.

Something similar happened to me long years ago, when I was a teen-ager. (Off topic now, as this is about 'art', but not leatherworking.) They had just come out with Mod Podge, the clear texture that can be painted over a picture to make it look like a 'painting'. I was with an older friend. The man at the art store showed me a miniature painting of roses and said that 'he had done it'. I showered him with praises, not knowing it was Mod Podge on top of a photograph. When he proudly showed me the jar of Mod Podge, telling me that I could buy it, and then that I could 'make one just like it',... I felt hurt, because I'd thought that I was 'supporting' him in his exceptional artwork. Seeing the misunderstanding, my older friend explained to the gentleman that I'm an artist, and that I'm able to actually paint a miniature bouquet of roses, such as the ones in his photo, from scratch. He said, "Oh." What he thought would be a great sales pitch didn't work out so well. - TexasLady

Edited June 26, 2011 by TexasLady

[JC Javelle]

An artist and craftsman is their own worst enemy. I have thrown away tons of work (drawings, paintings, clay work, wire work, etc) because I knew it was crap according to my own standards. I get ribbed and and whined at, "oh why did you throw it away? you do such good work!" Horse manure. If it isn't up to your own standards, it isn't worth keeping, never mind selling or giving away.

Now, standards vary. Some artists and craftsman have a bit of a perfectionist streak going on, so anything below the best of their ability or better isn't worth anything. Others, if it got done without looking like a train wreck then it is good enough. Now, what the customer wishes to buy, the best that the artist can offer, or the stuff that just gets them by, is up to the customers discretion. Quality, like beauty, is as much in the eye of the beholder as it is the craftsman. We live in a throw away society. Handmade is good enough to many who are used to the sub par; ie. a pair of boots lasting them the year, maybe two, is good enough. Never mind those boots that can last you the decade and feel more comfortable the older and more worn they become. People don't see that spending the big chunk of change the first time will save them money in the long run. Or they do, and they just don't care.

I for one, like something that lasts. I typically don't like buying damaged product. But, occasionally, I do. Why? Personification. I am my own worst critic, and it shows when I buy mass produced stuff. I see those little scuffs and marks, and I always have an internal debate, oh the manufacturer could have trimmed that excess, oh they could have done this, that, and your mother. But when I come across something hand made and one of a few, sometimes, those imperfections bring something else to the board. A bit of uniqueness and personality that makes it one of a kind. Sort of like with people. So what if they have some underlying issues and obvious imperfections, scars, bumps, bruises. Would you take them any other way? Maybe. Would you take them as is, right now, regardless? Yes.

As for the OP, it feels like a vent. And if you read or listen to enough vents, you know they come from a place where you don't care about faux pas or being politically correct. You're venting and complaining about every little molecule in the issue. You just don't care otherwise.

[TexasLady]

6/29/11

I'm sorry. I'm a little bit 'lost'. What does OP stand for , please? Thanks. - Texaslady

[dirtclod]

Texas Lady OP means other person or other people.

Their is poor custom work (where the maker should be shot for running the hide that animal gave up ) good custom work and then their is great custom work. That you wonder how in the world did they do that. I've seen things made were it looked like they held a rat by his tail and let the rat naw it out and the people were tickled to death with the quality. I try to make a good product one that i am proud of and one that the customer is proud of. Am i the best? Heck no !! Am i pretty good, maybe, i get by. But no where nearly as good as somethings i see on here. Those folks are the real custom makers in their field.

To me quality in a lot of peoples eyes is hearing other people say he or she is the best i ever seen or they do wonderful work. If people hear that enough they belive it wheither it's true or not. Then theirs the good BS er that can sell anything and make people think they have the best one ever made. And the one i used to hear quite a bit ( well he or she worked for a real custom builder ) and my question always was so ! Just because they worked someplace don't mean they learned how to do it or know anything about it. For all you or i know they swept the floor and that's it. For me it comes down to pride in what you make, if you do your best then that's your best work. But all ways try to improve. You don't become a Master at any craft in a year or two. It takes a life time to if ever to become Master of your craft man or woman. Making one or two things doesn't mean you / they are a custom maker.

Edited June 29, 2011 by dirtclod

[Rayban]

I believe OP in this case means Original Post.....the first one that started all this hub bub.....

[dirtclod]

Other person and other people were the first things that popped in my head.

[Art]

Original Poster

Art

6/29/11

I'm sorry. I'm a little bit 'lost'. What does OP stand for , please? Thanks. - Texaslady

[TexasLady]

6/29/11

Thanks, fellas. Any of those options is better than the total blank I was drawing. - TexasLady

[Hennessy]

Rayban: You're right - there is a forum for asking for critique of one's own work.

That doesn't apply in this instance, does it?

And, yes, rdb took the action he felt appropriate.

I'm still curious how one determines levels of quality and what the parameters are in establishing those levels.

easy answer! would i sell this to me mother?