Building with Tools and Materials

Working with tools and materials has been part of how I learn to build since junior high shop class first set me on that path.

I like making things with my hands because physical work forces ideas to answer to reality. Materials have properties. Tools have limits and strengths. Precision matters. A thing either fits, functions, and holds up, or it does not.

I enjoy good tools, understanding how to use them well, and creating objects that make life a little easier, cleaner, or more capable for myself and other people. There is a particular kind of satisfaction in making something useful and seeing it work in the real world.

Most of my hands-on work has involved electronics and wood because those are the materials I have had the most access to, tools for, and immediate reasons to use. I am also very interested in metalworking and precision machining. Watches, firearms, and precision instruments interest me not only for what they do, but for the level of craft, material understanding, and exactness they require.