Of course my argument is ridiculous. That is the point. I apply the
same rigid logic to all processes that some use against casting a
hand carved wax. If my argument is ridiculous, then the argument
against casting is suspect.
There are 6 simple machines out of which all compound machines are
made. There is the inclined plane, the wedge, the screw, the lever,
the pulley, and the wheel and axle. A file is a compound machine. It
is a lever that is covered with a multitude of wedges. The size of
the wedges on your files determines the finish of your product. You
can’t make a fine finish with a rough file.
It is unfair or deceptive to represent, directly or by implication, that any industry product is handmade or hand-wrought unless the entire shaping and forming of such product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by hand labor and manually-controlled methods which permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design, and finish of each part of each individual product.
Here, I must give credit to Nealthejeweler for correcting me. Raw
materials are exempted so wire and sheet do not have to be handmade
to make handmade jewelry.
Notice also that construction, shape, design AND finish must be
manually controlled. The “and” means that if everything except for
one aspect is manually controlled, it is not handmade. Of course,
when you use a file, your hands are not able to control the finish of
your work, the design of the file does.
For those who say that the interpretation of this law has been
determined as a “term of art” by precedent. There is no precedent if
no one has been prosecuted under this law. If anybody knows of a
prosecution of this law, please identify it.
The legal issue is not if there is a significant hand labor and
manual control, the issue is if the hands and not a machine
determined the construction, shape, design and finish. I used the
example of a millgrain, which makes a line of tiny bumps. Your hands
determine exactly where the line is placed. However the actual
positioning of each bump on the line is not determined by your hands.
That is done by the chance positioning of the tiny wheel when you
place it against your work. In other words, it is determined by the
tool (i.e. machine).
Really, my arguments are ridiculous because they are based on tiny,
petty facts. They ignore the overarching truth of the matter. The
truth has to do with the perceptions of our customers.
It has been said that casting a handmade wax does not produce
handmade jewelry because during the casting process, the flow of the
metal is not controlled by hand. But consider, the shape of the
casting was determined by the shape of the mold. The shape of the
mold was determined by the shape of the wax. Finally the shape of the
wax was determined by a handmade process. In other words, the shaping
of the metal during casting is not done by hand, but the shape of the
cast product is determined by a handmade process. It is interesting
that a process that might not be manually controlled produces a
product which has a shape that was determined by a handmade process.
Still, the important fact is simple: If you show a customer how you
hand carve a wax, invest it, cast it and finish it, the customer
will almost certainly conclude that it is handmade. If you show the
customer a wax that was one of a thousand that was pulled from a
rubber mold, the customer may conclude that the final product was not
handmade.