Knuckle Dragging and Loving It!

[Richard Gillespie]

Spent the day working on a platform bed my oldest son wants me to build for my youngest granddaughter. First cut the birch plywood panels out with my skill saw and a ZBI and for once didn't have splinter heaven. Thanks Dino!

Then I decided to sweeten the edges prior to edge banding. Built a bench hook and used my LV Low Angle Jack as a miter plane. I can't tell you how impressed I am with the results. Found that some of my cuts were slightly out of square or bowed. Using a miter plane made short work of those problems. Started the edge banding and used an antique miter box to make the cuts. So far that's going great. The way I currently feel is I'm going to pull out a hand tool at every opportunity. I only hope the rest of the project goes as well.

[Tom LaRussa]

The way I currently feel is I'm going to pull out a hand tool at every opportunity. I only hope the rest of the project goes as well.
Glad to hear you're having such fun with hand tools. :)

But I have to sort of object to your "knuckle dragging" characterization.

In machine-based woodworking the greatest amount of skill resides with whoever designed the machine. Indeed, the whole point of machines, the very basis of the industrial revolution, is to allow unskilled, even illiterate workers to produce goods that would otherwise require the services of an experienced, highly skilled, craftsman.

With hand tools the balance tilts back to the woodworker -- which is as it should be.

Note: I'm not anti-power tools. Power tools are wonderful for those things which they do best. In particular, they are great for processing rough wood into the correct basic shapes and sizes for our projects.

[Richard Gillespie]

But I have to sort of object to your "knuckle dragging" characterization.

In machine-based woodworking the greatest amount of skill resides with whoever designed the machine. Indeed, the whole point of machines, the very basis of the industrial revolution, is to allow unskilled, even illiterate workers to produce goods that would otherwise require the services of an experienced, highly skilled, craftsman.

With hand tools the balance tilts back to the woodworker -- which is as it should be.



I'm sorry you object to my use of "knuckle dragging". It is a tongue in cheek reference to using hand tools used in this and other forums. There are skill sets used with hand tools that I'm trying to master. The joy I was expressing was at successfully expanding my horizons once again.

However, I disagree with your statement about the purpose of the power tools in woodworking. In the shop I worked at there were three levels of experience, helper, journeyman and craftsman. We had some that were helpers for years and were not capable of raising above that status. Some rose to journeyman status and a few to craftsman. I never rose to the craftsman level, I lack the creative gene. You can tell me what you want done and I know how to do it but I don't visualize it till you tell me about it.

The purpose of the machines in the shop was to speed up the processes for the journeyman and craftsman. This produces more pieces faster. The saving of time is the money saver justifying the cost of the machine. You still have to understand the wood and the look various grain patterns give to build better looking cabinets and furniture. Some will never understand that concept. Power tools are wonderful inventions but they have their drawbacks. The three biggest in my opinion are noise, cost and dust creation. I left the cabinet shop because of allergies to dust and have sought ways to reduce or eliminate my dust exposure in my own shop.

[Chris Padilla]

Knuckle-draggers are snow-boarders.... :)