WoodNet Forums: Sharpening a Disston Acme 120 No-set saw

That really hits home.

I work in a production oriented career field. The culture of it seems to have a divide.

There is an old school and a new school.

Production schedules were always met and are important, but the old school espouses doing your best work no matter how hard or challenging, even if it takes longer. Usually these types are so good, they make perfection look easy. Their ways of instilling this ethic in others were gruff. Few words, little advice, lots of scowls and sideways glances. The message was get good at this and do it soon, no whining. Those learning could see how well they did and when you started to get there, you started getting included in their conversations to and they would start eating their lunch with you.

The new school is all buddy buddy, no one cares how well they do as long as it is close enough, even management is happy if it is close enough and under the schedule. they want to just get it over with as soon and as easily as possible. Fast and easiest way, yet without an eye to the details, and often many of those details are overlooked or omitted for speed, and because they lack the skill to really do them anyway.

Culturally there is an age gap in this quite often, and there is weeping and gnashing when the new school is caught not performing as well as they could, and are reminded that sometimes they are not even meeting certain minimums.

There is no hard fast rule, not always an age gap either, but often there is. Just something I notice in the trades. Some people are inherently perfectionists, or lazy or what have you.

Men like Wayne Anderson and Mike Wenzloff, Bob Zajicek and Ron Brese are for example amongst other people who have no one looking over their shoulder, they are just guys like yourself, imaginatively doing the best they can do. They are not like all people, maybe not even most, but we admire them for doing what they do, pushing to make things as nice as they can and just because they can.

To do things at that level, one has to want to, and push themselves. Results like these people are after are not always fast or easy but come easier with developed proficiency. Results that do not measure up are a reason to keep after it rather than quit, and eventually amazing looking work comes forth that cannot be described without the use of the word fine. Please notice, there was not failure, only results.

In here, we for the most part a type of people who are of a kindred spirit. We want to create, and we want to do as well as we can. Learning these manual skills is not easy. I grew up with them, these are what I did some of my youth and much of my life, but I am the worst player of video games on earth.

In your posts Daryl, you generally do show how nice things can be if one just pays attention to the smaller details, and try to finesse them. Doing them of course helps you become more proficient and helps maintains it, as well as illustrates for others how well something can be done when done well.

This is another installment of the thought process behind what it takes to do things well. It is an ethic, and methodology. There may be many approaches in woodworking or anything, but not all of them lead to fine. Fine has a different way of going about it.

You help remind us that good is the enemy of great, and I for one love being reminded of that. It is an example I have to set for others in my career all the time, and things are not as old school anymore. It is a more difficult thing to do. I hope that others pick this ethic up from you, and thanks for showing close up what going further can really achieve.

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~Rob
http://www.evenfallstudios.com/woodworks
Woodworking Knowledge, Skill Development, Discussion

"It's psychosomatic. You need a lobotomy. I'll get a saw."

Calvin & Hobbes