my reply to 'this all'? how's this:
one doesn't need to be a logger, an arborist, an environmental
engineer, etcetera to be a fine cabinetmaker or luthier. one needn't
even have felled the tree(s) used in the final bookcase or violin.
one may not need even visit the forest; in the hands of a talented
or experienced artisan the wood will be transformed...
that said, i feel that at this level, the frame is more a product my
experience as a racer/user/participant, my understanding of how
to intuitively match tube lengths with limb lengths, and most im-
portantly how to take material (stuff...) and 'coerce' it into becoming
more than just an assembled pile of parts. perhaps it's alchemy;
assigning a description or a word to it doesn't matter to me. what
i do know is that, based on my experience, how a frame is made
is as important-more important-than what it is made of. i also think
geometry takes a back seat in this 'order of things', too. ideally,
everything must gel. however, in the commercial environment, the
controlling factors are money and time. as such, assembly normally
defers to the most efficient process rather than the best. in my opinion,
most (fine) framemakers live outside the lines of 'commerce'. to compare
what they/we do with mass market manufacturers and assemblers from
this or any era is missing the point.
i have to leave it there...
e-RICHIE