Just realized I haven't used a hand router template in over a decade.

Back in my dad's shop, we'd spend a whole afternoon making a perfect plywood jig for a set of drawer fronts. Now I just draw it in the software and the CNC does it in ten minutes. Do you still keep any of those old hand jigs around, or is it all digital now?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elizabeth3d ago

My dad's shop was a museum of jigs. I kept one as a doorstop and recycled the rest into shop furniture.

kaih363d ago

I've got a whole wall of those plywood templates gathering dust. They feel like a record of past projects, each one with pencil marks and saw kerfs telling a story. I can't bring myself to toss them, even though the CNC is faster and more accurate. What do you do with the old tools when the new way is just better?

willowh203d ago

Keeping every old jig is just hoarding with a sentimental excuse. That wall of plywood is taking up space that could be used for new projects or better storage. The pencil marks tell a story of the old way, which was mostly just slower and less exact. If the new tool does it better, the old one becomes a museum piece, and my shop isn't a museum.