But honestly the whole point is the ritual and slowness (kinda meditative).

@gracej99 nailed it about the time savings. I switched to carbide for aluminum a while back and the finish is night and day. Even on a 5 part run the extra cost is nothing compared to hand deburring for an hour. I run feeds a bit higher with carbide too, just make sure you've got good chip evacuation or it'll weld up quick.

Nah, I still prefer my old rubber hose, works fine for me.

Ok hold up, you're right about the basics part but game theory? That's a stretch. Flux isn't some strategy to beat the system, it's just chemistry. Solder needs flux to wet the joint properly, period. Without it you're basically trying to stick metal to metal with no cleaning agent, which is why that guy's pad lifted.

@perry.jesse is onto something with that stamp idea, I saw a post where someone carved their own and it changed their whole setup. Two markers might be fast for a basic grid but you're right about burning through paper, I'm already noticing my notebook getting thin. Have you ever tried the stamp approach or just stuck to drawing it out?