Use the Saw, Fear the Saw
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Use the Saw, Fear the Saw
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Re: Use the Saw, Fear the Saw
#2When I was four years old, I was playing with a stick in the back yard and my dad accidentally got parts of his four fingers cut off by his radial arm saw. It did not slow him down too much, but I was always afraid of that saw.
Re: Use the Saw, Fear the Saw
#3This reminds me o sharp knifes argument. In programming you may want to provide tools that can shoot you in the foot, if the alternative is not as powerful. here is a conversation with DHH about it [0]. For instance, you may consider dynamic languages if the alternative is too much type gymnastics.
The first time I've seen the argument was in the prag-prog magazine that sadly is not active anymore.
Re: Use the Saw, Fear the Saw
#4When I was four years old, I was playing with a stick in the back yard and my dad accidentally got parts of his four fingers cut off by his radial arm saw. It did not slow him down too much, but I was always afraid of that saw.
Was the stick ok?
Re: Use the Saw, Fear the Saw
#5This is a shorter version of Neal Stephenson's metaphor of Unix as a Hole Hawg drill from "In the Beginning was the Command Line".
Re: Use the Saw, Fear the Saw
#6Still given the option, I would prefer the tool that gets the job done that is safer and reduces error over one that is just sharp edges. For example, TypeScript vs JavaScript.
Re: Use the Saw, Fear the Saw
#7Or, just don't use a table saw. Get a tracksaw. It simply isn't true that a table saw is "required" for woodworking. Yes, there are cuts which take more time and/or are more difficult with a tracksaw, and in general you need to think more. But you don't waste a ton of space centrally in your workshop, and you get to keep your fingers, as it's a much safer tool.
The mythology is strong: I am especially amused by youtube woodworkers who, when cutting sheet goods, make "initial" cuts with a tracksaw, because it's so much safer and more practical, and then do "final", "precise" cuts on their table saw. I cut my sheet goods once, with a tracksaw (parallel guides FTW), and they are perfect.
Re: Use the Saw, Fear the Saw
#8When I was four years old, I was playing with a stick in the back yard and my dad accidentally got parts of his four fingers cut off by his radial arm saw. It did not slow him down too much, but I was always afraid of that saw.
Radial arm saws fall in the category of dado-blades etc.; woodworking tools really on the far end of dangerous, and not even commonly used in a lot of countries (excepting the US for some reason).
Re: Use the Saw, Fear the Saw
#9I don't like the 'fear' part. You should respect your tools, not fear them. Fear makes you do stupid things, respect stops you from doing stupid things.
Re: Use the Saw, Fear the Saw
#10Or, just don't use a table saw. Get a tracksaw. It simply isn't true that a table saw is "required" for woodworking. Yes, there are cuts which take more time and/or are more difficult with a tracksaw, and in general you need to think more. But you don't waste a ton of space centrally in your workshop, and you get to keep your fingers, as it's a much safer tool. The mythology is strong: I am especially amused by youtu…
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