Showerthought: I just made my 500th pair of tongs

I was cleaning up the shop last night and started counting the old ones in the scrap bin. I hit 500 total pairs made since I started my apprenticeship in Spokane. It hit me that I've probably shaped over a ton of steel just into tong reins and jaws. The first fifty took me weeks, each one a fight. Now I can knock out a basic pair in under an hour if I have the stock prepped. It's not a fancy knife or a gate, but it's the tool that lets you make everything else. That number made me see how much pure repetition builds the muscle memory for everything, even complex scrollwork. Has anyone else tracked a simple, foundational item they've made a crazy amount of?

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iris5656mo ago

That's a wild number to hit. Makes you think about all the simple stuff that goes into a craft. For me it was probably drilling pilot holes for screws in my first cabinetmaking job. Must have done thousands before it felt automatic, where you just know the bit won't walk on you. That basic move sets up every joint that comes after.

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lopez.wren6mo ago

Count the hours wasted on those tongs instead. That's a ton of steel and time that could have gone into finished pieces people actually want. Muscle memory is fine, but you get that from making real things too. Obsessing over a basic tool for that long just sounds like avoiding the harder work of design and finish. I learned more from my first complex hinge than from a hundred simple repeats.

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