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Remember when we all used to forge our own nails from bar stock?
Back in the 90s, my mentor in Kentucky had me making nails by hand every afternoon for a year. We'd cut, heat, head, and point each one, and a good day was maybe 60 nails. I switched to buying factory-made around 2005, not because I couldn't do it, but because the time cost got too high for most clients. The quality is super consistent now, but I do miss the feel of a perfectly formed nail you made yourself. Do any of you still hand-forge nails for special shoes, or is that skill pretty much gone from regular work?
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young.kim3d ago
Sounds like a waste of good work time.
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young.nora2d ago
Oh man, I totally get where you're coming from, but it's the opposite for me. When I build a small script to handle a boring task, it feels like buying time later. Yeah, it takes an hour up front, but then I save that hour every single week after. It stops being busy work and lets me focus on the parts of the job that actually need my brain.
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Honestly, I used to think that too until I tried it. Tbh, there's something about making your own tools that changes how you see the work.
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