Tool Guyd had a post on a very interesting tool chest the other day…
Now, I’ll admit to admiring the art involved in the design and building of an over $1500-dollar tool box but appalled at just how impractical it really is as a tool box.
Some obviously has got their form follows function manta ass-backwards.
Which has what to do with VolksCruisers exactly?
For starters, I love working with wood and I understand that whether you’re building a guitar or a boat it is best to have some standards where quality is concerned. In my opinion if you’re not doing a good job you really shouldn’t bother.
That includes boat interiors.
The problem sets in where all of a sudden you’re being told that the sort of finish you should be doing is akin to a Stradivarius violin or other works of art. Which is not that I object to building works of art but living in a work of art is problematic especially when it’s a cruising boat.
Just like the $1500-dollar tool chest it’s simply not practical in the real world. Or, to be more precise, it’s just silly.
A good cruising boat need to be practical and easily cared for What it should not have the sort of Bespoke Baroque woodwork where form is more important than function.
Here’s a well built simple chart table that I really like.
It’s practical and does the job. No complicated woodwork, no exotic wood species, or ten coats of varnish that needs to be maintained. In terms of design it is actually quite refined as there is nothing there that’s not earning its keep.
Or as a one of my design teachers would say when he thought a design was especially praiseworthy.
“Now that’s a clean design.”