Old and New Tools

I've been reading some other instrument builders blogs, some of them talk about the need to use spokeshaves and other ancient tools that builders in the past have used.


I think the only reason they want to use a spokeshave is so they can say " I used a spokeshave on this ". In my opinion, the only reason the old builders used spokshaves is because electricity hadn't been discovered yet. They were intelligent people, they would have used Dremel tools and belt sanders if they had the chance. True, many of them did beautiful work, but, todays builders do equal and better work using state of the art tools.

I remember years ago working for one of my first employers in the building trades. He was using a handsaw on a 6 inch x 24" beam. I asked him why he wasn't using power tools to do that. He replied that that was they way he learned in the old country and if it was good enough for them it was good enough for him. I found that terribly illogical, but, he was the boss and I let him do it.

Seems to me, that is like having something frozen that needs to be thawed,Not using a microwave oven, but building a fire out of logs because great-grandma did it that way. I will continue to use modern tools and will gladly let others turn up their nose because they used obsolete tools.