charlie belden
>Dean:

When I was talking about the rate at which hand vs power tools operate, it was not in terms of time to do a procedure (edge join a board, flatten a face or create a quarter round edge) the point I was trying to make is that working with hand tools can provide subtle feedback - lacking in some power tool operations.

An analogy might be in a car's steering - rack & pinion steering vs progressive power steering vs ordinary power steering. The first gives you great "feel" but is a royal PITA at low speeds - like parking. Progressive power steering provides most assistance at low speeds and none at higher speeds. Ordinary power steering is great at low speeds, but you lose "feel" at higher speeds.

So when tuning the fit or a drawer or a panel, handtools allow a level of finesse that's almost impossible to attain with a power tool for several reasons - often that you can't easily see what's going on - or where it's taking place.

And the "because it's fun" - for someone who enjoys playing with wood (as opposed to working with wood) time and effort are secondary to the "doing".

For someone who wants a piece of furniture, and has champagne tastes but a beer budget, keeping it "fun" - as the mentor - gets tricky. You want the mentoree to end up with a piece close to what he/she wants, enjoy the making, or at least not have it become an Are We There YET!? experience that'll sour her/him on woodworking, and have a sense of accomplishment - I MADE this (fill in the blank).

In the case of the linen cabinet I described, I gave her the joinery options - Cope & Stick with router bits in a router table, true mortise and tenons using a chisel and bit mortising machine, a horizontal mortising machine, pocket screws - or loose tenon M&Ts cutting the mortises with the DOMINO. I described each method and showed her examples of each. Helped to have a sketch of the piece so she could get a feel of how many she'd be doing. The DOMINO was the best solution - for this person - and, coincidently - for me. But it was her call.

I play with a balancing act. I like the feel of wood - planing, shaving and shaping, scraping or even sanding. I like to feel what had been a not quite smooth area become smooth as a sharp, hand controlled, human speed operated cutting edge brings a surface almost glassy smooth - indistinct details in the wood appearing - pleasing the eye even if just in a tiny way.

But if I've got to bead the corners of the legs of a bonsai display table, and I've got four tables to make, I'll set up a beading router bit in the router table before I'll break out the LN beading tool. One of a kinds - maybe the LN. Four - it's the router table and bit every time. No deadline - I'll use handtools when I can. But if the clock is ticking and someone is waiting for the finished piece . . .