There will always be personal preferences, but doesn't a availability of both approaches bring good service to a variety of customers, and allow the discussion to come full circle. Say fine handmade is the best, but some people don't need/want/know the best, and if in the least you are supplying a product that 'raises' the lifestyle (standards), and is honest in terms of conscientious methods, especially compared to what is currently being offered out there by many of the concerns, it seems like a most beneficial approach to gain the mix of quality and quantity. There is also the fact that people purchasing the lesser expensive but still quality item, will become more sensitive to the options, and may likely choose the all handmade version the next time around. The subtleties are often lost on people unless they have a chance to develop their eye (where are the customers?). I venture that most of the people buying top of the line bikes from the large manufacturers can't recognize a hand cut lug from a cast one. Using cast lugs may not be artisanship (I tend to disagree with so general a statement), but good workmanship is not exactly 'chopped liver', and something to be so readily dismissed for possible inadequacies. Keep in mind that it generally takes a lot of time and effort to achieve a good design, associated with the problems to replicate in quantity, as in fine cast lugs. Those are 'handmade' hours that are instilled into the project. Don't just look at the finished product without thinking what went into it. Removing casting lines may only be at the tip of the iceberg. It makes a difference in your mental allignment on the subject. There is much precedent for excellent designs that were brought to a fruition of mass use through quantity production. 'Arts and Crafts' interiors at the turn of the 20th century were comprised of a mixture of handmade and quantity production methods. This period of design is regarded as one of high taste and achievement. Perhaps a better question is not is it handmade or otherwise, but is it genuine or generic, as part of a totality of concept.
Dennis Young Trying to rake the leaves with my feet in Hotaka, Japan
> I think if a builder takes some old stamped lugs out of a box and alters them
> by adding or removing material for a new and pleasing look then the builder is
> an artisan. If the builder takes some IC lugs out of a box and removes the
> casting lines and other blips--that aint artisanship.