Previous: The right job for the tool

There's one more thing about an impulse to use manual tools over power tools: It takes more effort.

(I had to avoid using the word "tendency" instead of "impulse" when describing which tools I use. Although in the garden I use manual tools, in the garage I use power tools. If there is a tendency, it is towards the latter.)

So, I've gotten to the point of why we actually use power tools to begin with. It is easier. It is supposed to be easier. Use the magic of electricity or hydraulics or combustion or whatever to provide more force or speed or power or whatever. It is a luxury to not have to use power tools and instead rely on something slower or more difficult. It says "I have time to burn".

The luxury, though, can also take a bit of personal force—picking things up and putting them down, running a spade into the (clay) dirt repeatedly, breaking up the clods with a garden hoe and then flattening out the resulting turned (clay) dirt. I haven't been to a gym since March 2020. This is my gym now. I get work done, and work gets me done.

There is even one more thing: quiet. A handsaw versus a power saw? A hand drill versus a power drill? A whisper in my ear versus an explosion.

That's why wood joining seems so appealing—quiet time with a mallet and chisel.