Originally Posted by
Doug Dawson
They were just playing with you, English. ;^) Either that or you thought you were hiring the Amish, but what you got was Irish Travelers.
I noted that you'd have to have some decent skill for working straight, which an experienced hand tool worker has. (Analogously, if I asked you to draw a circle by hand, you'd probably come up with something that looked like a child's drawing of a sun, but a skilled artist could draw something that was actually round.) I tend to reach for a hand tool before I'll turn on the machine, but like you I too am getting old.
Re accuracy in drilling, I've been doing car repair and restoration for most of my life as an avocation, and many a time have had to drill (and thread) holes in engines or transmission housings etc., and I do it by hand with a power drill, and it always works out well. Some hand/eye coordination and mechanical sensitivity is helpful.