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<p>[QUOTE="James Conrad, post: 255806, member: 5066"]1850 is too early to expect machine made furniture for most of America</p><p><br /></p><p>I am going to disagree on this. Prior to the 19th century, water power was the dominate source of power in america however, steam power went from 5% to 80% of the total power generated in the US from 1838-1860. Any way you slice or dice it, that's an incredibly rapid change.</p><p>While it's true that machine dovetailing was not perfected till later, steam powered saws, planers, lathes, etc changed the way furniture was built in a big way. Thomas Day, a free black man from Virginia operated the largest & most successful furniture work shop in North Carolina during the 1850s. To craft his cabinets and other furniture pieces, including beds and bookshelves, Day worked with hand tools in his earlier years, but in the 1840s he introduced steam power into his workshop.</p><p>This steam power quickened Day’s crafting process and increased production levels, because Day could easily replace structural pieces made from standardized design templates using steam power, and could have ready-made elements for when orders were placed . Notably, scholars today can often pinpoint which pieces of furniture were created around this time because they are partially hand-crafted and partially machine-fabricated, indicating that the steam power was new and still being integrated into the crafting process.</p><p>Bottom line? Once steam power came in and expanded production, if you didn't have it in your shop (no matter what you made) there is no way you were going to be able to compete with those that did.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="James Conrad, post: 255806, member: 5066"]1850 is too early to expect machine made furniture for most of America I am going to disagree on this. Prior to the 19th century, water power was the dominate source of power in america however, steam power went from 5% to 80% of the total power generated in the US from 1838-1860. Any way you slice or dice it, that's an incredibly rapid change. While it's true that machine dovetailing was not perfected till later, steam powered saws, planers, lathes, etc changed the way furniture was built in a big way. Thomas Day, a free black man from Virginia operated the largest & most successful furniture work shop in North Carolina during the 1850s. To craft his cabinets and other furniture pieces, including beds and bookshelves, Day worked with hand tools in his earlier years, but in the 1840s he introduced steam power into his workshop. This steam power quickened Day’s crafting process and increased production levels, because Day could easily replace structural pieces made from standardized design templates using steam power, and could have ready-made elements for when orders were placed . Notably, scholars today can often pinpoint which pieces of furniture were created around this time because they are partially hand-crafted and partially machine-fabricated, indicating that the steam power was new and still being integrated into the crafting process. Bottom line? Once steam power came in and expanded production, if you didn't have it in your shop (no matter what you made) there is no way you were going to be able to compete with those that did.[/QUOTE]
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