snipped from a post:
>"But of all these traditions, they aren't necessarily
>"of" the customer, they are "of" the builder."

j@e-issimo...
there's too much (below) to address, but i feel
the snipped quote speaks volumes. this subject reminds
me of another thread from the old CR list days in which
we were discussing "custom" and "geometry" and similar
issues that involve overlapping the builders and the
clients so that the order could be executed. iirc, you
cited pal tesch and wrote (i quote from memory...),
"your fit, my frame". i am of the belief that the builder
has a vision for his work and only concedes what he/she
must in order to conduct commerce. in other words, i need
to make money. i want to make "my" frames my way. to
succeed, i need to make each of "my" frames different so
that each fits the rider superbly well.

somewhere along the way, perhaps in the wacky 70s, or as
a result of a numbnut from the press writing about "custom"
frames, folks got the idea that consumers can tell a builder
how to make the frame and what to make it with.

what does this have to do with the "lug cutting by a third
party" thread? i feel that framebuilding is a skillset as
a whole, and sourcing out for parts made by others puts
builder/building in that shady area that most builders
want to distance themselves from: the rest of the bicycle
industry. mind you, i don't think it's a thing. i
just don't see it as a frammebuilder's thing.

as a sidebar, this reminds me of the not-so-recent trend
of industrial made cf type frames made with ti lugs, some
staid, some nice, and some incredibly ornate and engraved.
merlin, i.f., and jamis come to mind as some brands that
offer this type of work. at that level of production i
can see the need to procure pre-finished parts to ease
the flow in manufacture.

last thought: i think there'd be WAY more money to be
made if these "lug carvers" simply sold carved lugs as
gift items. why bother trying to market it all as part
of another party's work. if done well, you could even
offer a single lug without the need to carve a matching
set of three.

last-er thought: some day i hope to sell the prototype
lugs i made for bridgestone/rivendell as well as all
the hand-made samples i carved that evolved into the
richie-issimo and newvex lugs and crowns so that i could
raise capitol to finance future projects (and my cyclo-
cross racing team)!!!
thanks for reading!
e-RICHIE