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A good wood worker tends to know the tools of the trades and more importantly know when to not use a tool and when to invent a new one.. That said not every cab

A good wood worker tends to know the tools of the trades and more importantly know when to not use a tool and when to invent a new one.. That said not every cabinet is a work of art some are just there to be functional for long enough to justify their creation. I feel system interviews that dive deep about decisions and insights are far more useful than hitting a leetcode jackpot. Though it puts a high bar on the interviewer as well.

simonhamp 6y ago
Most wood workers likely won’t know or care how to build their tools from scratch
- stan_rogers 6y ago
  In the sense of going from rocks to iron to steel to finished tool, no, but otherwise, yes. Making specialised saws, scrapers, chisels, spokeshaves, planes and so forth are part of the luthier's, cabinetmaker's, and shipwright's existence. And that's just the tools, leaving workholding aside. Add in jigs and fixtures and there's a whole lot more. Not everything you need to do the job can be had off the shelf.
  - kerneltime 6y ago
    +1 I have been tracking luthiers and it is fascinating how detailed and varied each builder is.. the likelihood that the instrument will sound good is well correlated to how much time the luthier puts into refining his process. I don’t understand the rational for not wanting to learn DS/Algos this is just one part of it, there is also the whole business/customer side of writing code. There is a difference between never getting a demanding customer who understands the difference between a good instrument and something glued together and not wanting to know how to do something more than glueing it together is appalling. As a coder if you want to learn DS/Algos and you do not find a job the values that maybe there is more to learn so that find a job that values it. It will be competitive and you can fail but it is not wasted.
  - simonhamp 6y ago
    That’s quite niche and by and large not the majority of wood workers...
    - stan_rogers 6y ago
      It leaves out framing carpenters, basically. I could have added patternmakers, timber fitters and so on, but there comes a time when adding to the list just for the sake of adding to the list becomes tedious. I, personally, have never been more than a hobbyist, but I've made my own tools both for woodworking and metalworking. This whole "get it at the store" thing is pretty new, and has mostly to do with building out of nothing but sheet goods using only power tools.

simonhamp 6y ago

Most wood workers likely won’t know or care how to build their tools from scratch

stan_rogers 6y ago
In the sense of going from rocks to iron to steel to finished tool, no, but otherwise, yes. Making specialised saws, scrapers, chisels, spokeshaves, planes and so forth are part of the luthier's, cabinetmaker's, and shipwright's existence. And that's just the tools, leaving workholding aside. Add in jigs and fixtures and there's a whole lot more. Not everything you need to do the job can be had off the shelf.
- kerneltime 6y ago
  +1 I have been tracking luthiers and it is fascinating how detailed and varied each builder is.. the likelihood that the instrument will sound good is well correlated to how much time the luthier puts into refining his process. I don’t understand the rational for not wanting to learn DS/Algos this is just one part of it, there is also the whole business/customer side of writing code. There is a difference between never getting a demanding customer who understands the difference between a good instrument and something glued together and not wanting to know how to do something more than glueing it together is appalling. As a coder if you want to learn DS/Algos and you do not find a job the values that maybe there is more to learn so that find a job that values it. It will be competitive and you can fail but it is not wasted.
- simonhamp 6y ago
  That’s quite niche and by and large not the majority of wood workers...
  - stan_rogers 6y ago
    It leaves out framing carpenters, basically. I could have added patternmakers, timber fitters and so on, but there comes a time when adding to the list just for the sake of adding to the list becomes tedious. I, personally, have never been more than a hobbyist, but I've made my own tools both for woodworking and metalworking. This whole "get it at the store" thing is pretty new, and has mostly to do with building out of nothing but sheet goods using only power tools.