Hand vs Machine

Thanks Bill, that was really relevant. Thought provoking. Boy i now need to wipe up all the drool on my desk.:D After seeing both those guy work it made my mouth just hang open and drool. I like both the machining and the hand work.

Hey did you see the old tool chest in one of the pictures. Thats one thats on my list but I want to make it without machines as much as possible. Sort of to see if any of those genes my grandfather had have come down the line. :):thumb:
 
well bill, i can relate to both sides some.. on the crest rail i could have had a molder machine do it in one pass, but i did not have one, and i enjoyed making it the old way much more. every shaving felt a little bit better as i got closer to the final shape. and the final piece will always have alittle bit of me in it...but there were still other parts that the new way was much nicer.
 
I believe it all comes down to a matter of self satisfaction.
If you want to use your hands to do every possible aspect of woodworking, one will use their hands and forget about power tools.
I feel anyone that believes they are building furniture the way their ancestors did, 300 years ago, well, Id have to disagree with them for various reasons.
First and most important, is that most handworkers, use tools that were forged and manufactured in the best possible places all over the planet.
Hundred dollar japanese trim saws, chisels forged out of the finest steel ever milled at any time.
Technology has advanced hand tools to a different level.
Now if a handworker was forging his own blades, and carving his own wooden handles for his tools, then using those tools, Id say , yep, hes following his ancestors.

I have bought a smoother plane from Mr. Moskowitz, and in the hands of someone like me, with zero skill, zero experience, a fine tool makes simple work out of a difficult task, even makes it a fun experience.
Ive planed edges smooth and taken edges down to where I needed to go by hand, and it was a good feeling of self satisfaction.
But Im using the top hand tool(s) money can buy.
 
On a recent restoration I had a table top that was in sad shape. Normaly I'll take the table apart and send it out to have it flatbed sanded. This proved to be problimatic due to the way the table was made so I just took my jack plane out and 4 hour later I had a pefectly smooth and flat table. I'm reminded what Sam Maloof said when he was using a rasp to shape a table leg in his workshop. "there is no right or wrong tools just what ever your most confortable using and gets the job done."
 
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