Posted: 3/6/2025 2:16:29 PM EDT
 It’s Not Just Wayfair: Why Does ALL Of Your Furniture Fall Apart? Exactly. I build all of my own furniture. |
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We have very little new furniture. I think most of it is probably 50+ years old at this point. Last piece of furniture I made was in high school |
Award: 24/365 Most likely to be an appendix.
"Arfcom makes me happy. Arfcom is like a giant, heavily armed, dysfunctional family that smells like cheetos and gun oil." - Undefined
"Arfcom makes me happy. Arfcom is like a giant, heavily armed, dysfunctional family that smells like cheetos and gun oil." - Undefined
| Most case goods come from Asia now. Upholstered furniture still mostly US. But the business is so competitive that whenever someone comes out with something unique, 87 other manufacturers brought it in, tear it down and try to copy it to be made as cheaply as possible to withstand shipping it to the showroom. ETA worked in that industry 30 years. |
Randomness Manster, Knower of Things (GreyWlf52)
Joined:
Aug 2015
Posts:
336554
EE: 100% (1)
USA
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Deadpool: How's the Kullen coming along? Ikea doesn't assemble itself, you know. Blind Al: You're telling me. I don't mind the Kullen. It's an improvement on the Hurdal. Deadpool: Please. Anything's an improvement over the Hurdal. I'd have taken a Hemnes or a Trysil over a Hurdal. No, I didn't get excited until I saw the Kullen. |
Something really awesome... in Latin (Wes-WMD) - WWII Historian - MGD - Task Force Dagger -
Team Ranstad "The Fantastic Bastards" - Camp Patriot - Plus Things&Stuff
Team Ranstad "The Fantastic Bastards" - Camp Patriot - Plus Things&Stuff
| Looks like I won't ever buy furniture if I can help it. The dining room set, dressers, will all just move to the next house. Will do repairs on them. |
Award: 24/365 Most likely to be an appendix.
"Arfcom makes me happy. Arfcom is like a giant, heavily armed, dysfunctional family that smells like cheetos and gun oil." - Undefined
"Arfcom makes me happy. Arfcom is like a giant, heavily armed, dysfunctional family that smells like cheetos and gun oil." - Undefined
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Originally Posted By DirkericPitt: I don't identify with that video. We've bought 5 or 10 pieces in the last 10 years, from multiple local stores. All have been great, solid wood. Of course we live in the middle of amish country... We are in the same boat, we have bought many Amish made pieces in the last 15 year or less. They are very nicely built. Not cheap for sure, but the old saw about getting what you paid for does ring true. |
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The cost of lumber and materials and the cost of tools has risen so high, chosing to make it yourself has to be scrutinized carefully. There are reasons to DIY but you will always lose out on delivery date and cost compared to some piece of crap from IKEA, et all. Somewhere in the middle, not mentioned in the video, is unfinished furniture. It was a thing in the 1970's and early 80's. The items were solid wood, reasonably well made with about 3 tiers of quality available. You could see what you were getting because the items were bare wood. One more thing that lead to decline was styling. That end table was terribly ugly. It was well made but ugly. |
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People no longer want to have the same style of furniture for 40 years, and companies like IKEA evolved to meet the demand. If most people were offered their parents furniture from decades ago, they wouldn't take it. What politicians from the pre-WTO era didn't grasp was how little the Chinese cared about intellectual property rights - they have been stealing in order to compete directly with American companies for decades, and we let it happen. You can still find "finish it yourself" furniture in a few of the classic styles, but it is most commonly imported Vietnamese rubber tree wood, built up from smaller pieces with finger joints and butcher block style construction. It's a step up from MDF crap from IKEA, but it still doesn't have the nicest joinery, as it still has to ship mostly flat-packed. |
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Poor or no real joinery (like dovetails, or wedged tenons, good rabbett joints) Dowel joints can be OK, but you can't let the joint be supoorted by only one dowel And glue joints need to be made long grain to long grain. End grain glue joints on the own dont cut it. But all of these thing take more time, skill, and better quality of materials to create. And that cuts into profit margins. It doesn't help IKEA if their furniture is solid and lasts 100+ years either, Five maybe ten, they are Ok with |
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There is still quality stuff made in the US. Lots of Amish makers in Indiana area. We have several bought over the years. I have started making stuff in the last couple of years. One of Americas faults is everyone cares about price more than anything else. Its a race to the bottom in the end. |
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