OP
N80
Super Member
Someone showed me the trick of adjusting the saw blade depth to the minimum required to make the cut a long time ago. It makes a big difference for any cutting job.
I know that they say it is a poor craftsman (carpenter, mechanic, or whatever) that blames his tools, but in the last 15-20 years of trying to DIY as much as possible (built my own log cabin (kit) 15 years ago) I have learned that 1) Good tools are incredibly important and 2) There are more poorly designed and poorly made tools out there than good ones. When we built the log cabin I had a Black and Decker circular saw. I was too dumb to know that it was the tool that caused me to make poor cuts and to struggle constantly with it. One day I finally noticed that the base (which was made of thin stamped steel) was warped and twisted. Right then and there I threw it in the scrap fire. I still have the blob of aluminum that melted out of the motor housing hanging on my wall as a reminder. My wife went right out and bought me a Makita, which I used for the rest of the cabin and this shelf project and I was shocked at how well it worked and realized I wasn't a total dork in not being able to do good work with the other one.
I don't always buy the best of the best. I cannot afford Snap-on of Mac tools for the types of jobs I do. But I do research and I do make sure I'm getting tools that will do the job. So sure, if you have good tools, you shouldn't blame them. But not having good tools can make a competent person look like a doof and the work he does look like garbage.
I know that they say it is a poor craftsman (carpenter, mechanic, or whatever) that blames his tools, but in the last 15-20 years of trying to DIY as much as possible (built my own log cabin (kit) 15 years ago) I have learned that 1) Good tools are incredibly important and 2) There are more poorly designed and poorly made tools out there than good ones. When we built the log cabin I had a Black and Decker circular saw. I was too dumb to know that it was the tool that caused me to make poor cuts and to struggle constantly with it. One day I finally noticed that the base (which was made of thin stamped steel) was warped and twisted. Right then and there I threw it in the scrap fire. I still have the blob of aluminum that melted out of the motor housing hanging on my wall as a reminder. My wife went right out and bought me a Makita, which I used for the rest of the cabin and this shelf project and I was shocked at how well it worked and realized I wasn't a total dork in not being able to do good work with the other one.
I don't always buy the best of the best. I cannot afford Snap-on of Mac tools for the types of jobs I do. But I do research and I do make sure I'm getting tools that will do the job. So sure, if you have good tools, you shouldn't blame them. But not having good tools can make a competent person look like a doof and the work he does look like garbage.
