Let me first say that defining and understanding craftsmanship we must start by being as fundamental as possible. I maybe over explanatory but it is important, especially in this definition to lift you out of your seat and place you as close to my seat in order to find a common understanding.
We begin to define. What in the world can craftsmanship be applied to? I would say everything and for this reason. If we break "everything" into two categories of 'goods and services' we can certainly know that goods have or lack having craftsmanship. It is also fair to say that if your profession is to provide a service, though money is being traded for something not of material the person providing can provide well, thus allowing us as consumers to gauge on some scale. It is this I want to apply craftsmanship to when I argue with myself to find my own understanding of the meaning.
Imagine if you will their only being one thing in the world. We'll say an undefined tool of some sort. This tool is responsible for performing, or to aid in performing a task. The task has no definition until something on which the task is performed is defined. Even then we must apply a user to this tool. So at this point in order to apply a level of craftsmanship to this tool we must also look at the things to which this tool is relative. Example; a man, a saw (hand saw), a piece of wood. Let us use the saw as the object to which we will question it's craft. Let me clarify. The saw holds a certain level of craft. This level of craft was achieved by a craftsman, applying (hopefully) his best craftsmanship. Is the craftsmanship of the saw defined by how well this piece of wood is cut by a man with the saw. I know this is only one situation in the world where we can find craftsmanship but bare with it. I mean we can start from the beginning and say the only thing that exists is the saw. How do we determine a level of craftsmanship? I would argue that we cannot accurately conclude on it looks alone. But why not. This saw may be beautiful. The steel shiny and the wood smooth and where the two meet is a perfect seam. Hand made brass rivets flush with the handle. A fine craft this saw has but if craftsmanship can be determined at this stage, the stage before the object in question is applied to the world, then we, as part of the world cannot make a judgement on the level of craftsmanship. To that it is fare to say that until the object is placed in context it does not have a craftsmanship. Craftsmanship comes from a craftsman.
I think we can take a look at the word itself, "craftsmanship", dissect, define an find it's etymology and that will suggest a direction. Craft: which through various sources I gather a basic understanding that this is a skill in making something or doing something and multiple references say by hand. "Craftsman" is obviously the person responsible for the craft and the ending "ship" means the condition of or skill of.
O.K.
lets plug our example back into what we know. The maker of the saw is the craftsman and through his experience he has a level of capability. This is what makes up the ingredients necessary to even have craftsmanship. We'll make a simple comparison:
Two saw makers, Ryan and Tyler. Ryan has been making saws for 7 years and has always aspired to make the best saws. Through the years he has always challenged everything from materials to methods and as a result makes a damn good saw. Tyler, who we will say is the same age as Ryan (if that has anything to do with it) has come from a background rendering him very capable of making saws. He went to school for engineering and has worked as a machinist and is also the type to challenge his abilities. Both make a saw designed for the same type of cutting. We have both of these saws side by side and through inspecting these saws we honestly cannot distinguish ones craft better than another. The craft is equal. We give these saws to two lumberjacks and they cut a thousand logs. The saws now have gone through a process necessary to evaluate the craftsmanship. I think declaring a winner is really irrelevant to the meaning of craftsmanship but I would have my money on Ryan for reasons of experience. How well does the saw fit in the users hand, does it feel balanced? What kind of steel did each saw have and did one dull before the other? The handle, did one absorb sweat better? Did either of them break (because that would be a deal breaker) Anyway the point in comparing two things one must always be better. Being equal would be like have two things in one place at one time. Something to think about would be: If you had to buy a saw for a thousand dollars, HAD TO, which one would you chose
Craftsmanship goes much further than the what is being crafted. Craftsmanship is everything about the crafted. Everything that went into it with purpose and then those purposes being performed. Today I think that when we began to put less care into things not only did those things become less expensive but our quality has been sacrificed. Because how well something can serve a purpose is a huge part of craftsmanship.
I just challenge people to see these things and compare only thinking about quality and then your pocketbook second because you deserve the best stuff on earth so that the stuff less than best will diminish.
