An old timer told me my grinder was making me lazy, he was right

I was at a hammer-in outside Little Rock last spring and this 70 year old guy watched me knock down a weld with a 4.5 inch grinder. He said, 'You're spending 20 minutes removing metal that your hammer should have placed better in 5.' At first I was ticked off, but then I looked at the piece and saw all the dips and low spots I was hiding. I started paying attention to my blow placement, letting the fuller and the peen do the work instead of the disc. Now I rough out a blade bevel maybe 15 minutes faster and my steel has a cleaner grain flow. Anyone else ever get called out for relying on power tools too much and actually learned something from it?

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grant_torres3d ago

Got told something similar by a farrier up in Montana. He watched me grind a horseshoe nail flat and said I was gonna burn through the temper if I kept at it. Made me stop and actually learn to drive the nail straight on the first pass. Still use the grinder for cleanup, but now I only touch it for maybe two minutes instead of ten. Funny how the old guys always point out the thing you're trying to hide.