Helpful tools exist, and I'm not using them
I’m working on building a small table. I’m using a hand-cranked drill for this table project, and I need you to understand why. You see, this was my great grandpappy’s drill. He built an entire deck with it back in 1957. There’s a virtue in doing things the way they used to be done before all this modern technology of convenience, power, and precision: with your hands, with effort, and with intention. Power tools are loud and aggressive. They remove you from the work. When I turn this crank, I feel every revolution, every bite of the bit into the wood. That connection matters.
My neighbor built a table using my same plans last weekend. He used a cordless drill. It took him about an hour. I’ve been working on mine for a week. My forearms are burning with excess lactic acid. I’ve got a blister between my thumb and index finger that has its own heartbeat. The bit keeps slipping because I can’t maintain consistent pressure while cranking, so I’ve had to restart the same hole four times. One of the boards split because I got tired and rushed it.
Gramps built beautiful things with this drill. He also had time. He also didn’t have this DeWalt lithium drill sitting in its charger ten feet away from me, fully charged, with a LED work light and a twenty-year warranty. He worked with what he had. I’m working with what I’m choosing to have, which is apparently different.
I’m working on hole 18 of 48. My wife asked yesterday if I was making a point or just being stubborn. I told her it was about principle. Why use the best tool for the job when an inferior one exists? She nodded slowly and left the garage. The table will be done eventually. It will be a good table! It will have taken 10 times longer than it needed to. I’ll start on hole 19 tomorrow.
