TIL a dull scimitar can make a shoulder clod take an extra 45 minutes

I was breaking down a whole chuck last Tuesday and hit a section near the shoulder clod that just would not separate cleanly. Thought it was my technique or the angle, so I kept fighting it for way too long. Finally stopped to touch up my knife on a 1000 grit stone and the whole thing finished in under 10 minutes. Anyone else ever waste that much time before realizing their edge was the problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

caseywalker8d ago

Doesn't it feel like half the problems we run into are really just us fighting against some tool or system that's not working right? I've done the same thing with a dull pair of scissors trying to cut through a thick cardboard box, spent ten minutes wrestling with it when a quick sharpen would have saved all that frustration. Or when my phone's charging cable was slightly loose and I kept blaming the outlet for not holding a charge. You start thinking it's your skill level or you're doing something wrong, but really it's just the gear being tired or worn out. The funny thing is once you fix that one little thing, everything else clicks into place so fast you feel dumb for not checking sooner.

the_laura8d ago

Are you sure it's always the tool's fault, though? Sometimes I think we're too quick to blame the equipment when the real issue is that we're not using it right or we didn't take the time to learn proper technique first. I've seen people swap out a perfectly good saw blade only to realize later they were forcing the cut at a bad angle. And with that phone charging cable example, maybe the outlet really was the problem, but you only fixed it by coincidence when you swapped the cable. It's easy to get wrapped up in the idea that a quick fix solves everything, but sometimes you just need to step back and pay closer attention to what's really going on instead of assuming the tool is the bad guy.

ray_burns8d ago

@caseywalker you ever notice how the worst part is how long you'll keep blaming yourself before you even check the tool?