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J.L. Lawson's Old-School Steel Manufacturing Techniques

By Rain Noe - August 29, 2011

in Materials

One of the reasons why things aren't made in America anymore is because no one cares enough about American manufacturing to pay the higher associated costs. A second reason is that consumers no longer seem concerned with product durability. And both of those trends are a damned shame.

We applaud those who are trying to fight this tide, like J.L. Lawson, a third-generation steel goods producer out of California. The company has made an active decision to avoid CNC, and to instead produce their rings and bottle-openers old-school style, on a milling machine. In Anthony Lawson's words,Your product starts with a bar of stainless or cold rolled steel and is milled by hand using my grandfathers machines that have been in use for decades. That's pretty much it. Seems pretty simple but it's actually a complicated process. There are no masters or molds to work from, it's all about measurements and patience when it comes to machining. A machinist requires a certain skill set that is becoming rare, my hope is to keep this tradition alive by taking the trade in a totally different direction.

See what goes into a Lawson bottle opener:

J. L. Lawson & Co. Part I from Anthony Lawson on Vimeo.

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octo

13 years ago

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thing is - your preaching to the people that design the things the CNCs make

I work for a company that used to employ lots of machinists, but maybe they aren't the best example of craftsman for this argument
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Tony

13 years ago

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Yeah, this is a joke, complete with the poster child for not manufacturing in america smoking a cig the whole time.

I'm the first to argue that craftsmanship is an important skill and that disconnection from making things alienates today's workers, but this is silly. It's not even an interesting object, functionally or stylistically.
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Ed

13 years ago

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I'd have to agree with Adam. They're somewhat working against themselves trying to put a premium on a bottle opener. Bottle openers aren't items that stand out as something that need to be manually machined or even CNC machined.

Maybe if it were something a little different. Still on the booze theme: Some novel sort of champagne cork puller? Miniature lime juicer?

Or a shot "glass" with a little bell hidden underneath it. You slam your shot then ring the bell for a refill.

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Jim

13 years ago

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@Adam
Beautifully put.
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Andrew

13 years ago

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Totally agree with Adam's comment. Problem is, it is only we as Creatives that see the need for quality > quantity. We are trained to see what COULD be in place afterall.

The consumers will continue to want the latest and the newest until we hit a critical point where the non-sustainable objects/buildings/systems is creating "in your face" troubles that demands a decrease in quantity and an increase in quality. Perhaps that might be too late when we reach that point.
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Eric

13 years ago

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Yes, nicely done.....I am gonna catch hell for this, but...wouldn't a waterjet or a laser cutter be a bit more effective for something like your bottle opener that is cut from flat stock? You can hand finish the edges on the sander and to give it that hand made look and feel. With the time you save to have them cut out, you could develop other products made here in the USA!
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Anthony Lawson

13 years ago

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To Adam:
I completely appreciate your comment and understand what you're saying about there not being a noticeable difference between our handmade goods and something manufactured overseas. I agree that handmade products have the character and soul that you mentioned, however, just because a product doesn't look "vintage" or scarred doesn't mean that it lacks the soul and uniqueness of a handmade product. Literally dozens of different items popped in my head that, at first glance, seem flawless but still have the inherent uniqueness that came with the product being handmade.

My uncle is an amazing wood worker and has made products that looked like that could have been manufactured by a machine...but they weren't and because of the fact I could hold that handmade product in my hand and know it's uniqueness. I don't think that because a product is made with care and precise measuring that it should be looked at as lesser in quality. That being said, if you took ten of our rings of the same style and lined them up you would see unique differences in all of them.

So, while I agree with the overall moral of your story, I have to disagree with the idea that because something is made well that it doesn't have the same character or soul. Part of the reason I started this company was because of the ring my father made me a couple of years ago. It looks close to perfect from every angle but the uniqueness is there because my dad put his soul into it while he was making it.

I hope this doesn't come across as bitter because, like I said, I completely understand your point. I'm actually more flattered then offended that you took the time to write about our product, I just hope I can change your mind about it.

Anthony Lawson
J. L. Lawson & Co.
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Scott

13 years ago

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Avoiding CNC is an interesting decision. Old school manual lathe turning is indeed a vanishing skill, but so is manual wheat threshing. It's vanishing because there is no discernible advantage to doing it that way. If you're good at it, the end user can't tell the difference. It's just slower and more expensive.

One of the cool things about CNC machining is that it isn't really cheaper if you outsource it to Asia. CNC machines cost roughly the same everywhere. CNC operators are a cheaper over there, but that advantage is usually wiped out by the cost of shipping.

In the future, there simply won't be many manufacturing jobs, anywhere. It will become ever more automated, just like farming.

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Adam

13 years ago

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It seems like such an easy decision for American businesses to make -- outsourcing their manufacturing. They don't consider the hidden costs of de-industrializing this country. It destroys our economy (as you can see) and it leaves us weak defensively. During WWII, we were able to recover from attacks in the Pacific solely due to the fact that we already had the factories and workforce in place to rebuild the destroyed ships quicker than our opponents could. So what happens when we're attacked by those who we rely on to produce our goods? Also, regarding economics and employment, every one manufacturing job creates six [on average] adjacent jobs due to supply and shipping needs; whereas service jobs (McD's cook, clerk, etc.) do not. Becoming a nation of service industry workers does not benefit us in the least.

On another note: I see the value in something that is handmade; but, as was mentioned in the article, many don't, and it's because we so seldomly interact with handmade objects anymore. While I support their decision to avoid CNC, one problem I see is that when machining most of their products, it is impossible to tell whether or not they are hand-machined. Nowadays, for something that is handmade to be marketed as handmade, it must appear to be handmade. There is virtually nothing discerning their products from something that could be CNC'ed overseas for a fraction of the cost, which could be working against them. Handmade products aren't perfect, and this gives them value. They have character, soul; they're unique. That's why people pay the premium.

Moral of the story: we need to keep manufacturing at home, and we need to get consumers excited again about quality rather than quantity. That's the best way to be sustainable.
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