Rock
Well-Known Member
I had an interesting discussion at dinner Saturday night of the Blade Show with Don Cowles (my dad) and David Broadwell about jigs. Both were adamantly against them!
David held up his hands and said, "These are my jigs." They both were of a mind that they were the only jigs you needed or should use and the trick was plenty of practice practice practice. They said using a physical jig will not get the job done right on knives with more complex curves or styles and learning to make knives while using jigs was in many ways limiting your evolution as a knifemaker. I am paraphrasing a bit, but I thought it was a warning worth heeding and an interesting topic for further discussion. huh1
I don't think a child should get velcro shoe straps before they can tie their own shoes, digital watches before they can tell time, or calculators before they can do basic math. I'm not being old fashioned. Learning to tie ones shoes teaches hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity, process, and builds confidence. Math teaches everyone, even non-scientists and engineers, to think. Sometimes progress is progress. I can't read smoke signals worth a hoot.
David held up his hands and said, "These are my jigs." They both were of a mind that they were the only jigs you needed or should use and the trick was plenty of practice practice practice. They said using a physical jig will not get the job done right on knives with more complex curves or styles and learning to make knives while using jigs was in many ways limiting your evolution as a knifemaker. I am paraphrasing a bit, but I thought it was a warning worth heeding and an interesting topic for further discussion. huh1
I don't think a child should get velcro shoe straps before they can tie their own shoes, digital watches before they can tell time, or calculators before they can do basic math. I'm not being old fashioned. Learning to tie ones shoes teaches hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity, process, and builds confidence. Math teaches everyone, even non-scientists and engineers, to think. Sometimes progress is progress. I can't read smoke signals worth a hoot.