Thanks for this Peter - paying attention- really paying attention- is a rare thing. In my teaching I talk about learning from my daughter who is on the autism spectrum- she is very good at paying attention to a task she is focussed on with all her senses - she looks, she listens, she feels, she smells ... and she becomes really good at the things that she focuses on.
I like where this is heading, and for me, the file is the perfect example. As a lefty, I found the handedness of the file an obstacle to learning its rudiments. I expected the file to accommodate me, and it didn’t. Once I developed the mental model of the file as a handed tool, though, the handedness of it actually became an invitation to pay more attention. (I see this as part of the gift of being left-handed - we get to see some design assumptions that most people cannot.)
I'm left handed as well, and have suffered tool design since the "lefty" scissors in grade school. I've never thought of the file as handed, probably because I almost exclusively use it by pulling, which might correct for the handedness or at least make it less obvious. I love hearing from other lefties!
Lefty scissors are the worst! I had a suspicion you were left-handed. The way you write and talk about tools suggests you stop and think about them in a way that most people don’t. Maybe that’s that “space and time to explore and learn”? Just a guess.
If I don’t remember to push in line with the length of the file it tends to skate along the work surface, parallel to the teeth. Slightly more forgiving when pushed right-handed. Pulling is definitely helpful.
I love language and words. I recently read about the vast differences between “files” and “rasps”, especially mechanical v. hand manufacture. Hand cut rasps seem to be the darlings of woodworkers’ beautiful curves...with files taking on the last mile of curve making. Or did I read this all wrong?
I think that is a reasonable analysis, but a high quality rasp, deftly used leaves a surface that is ready for sanding. If you've ever seen the Sam Maloof book, you will know what can be achieved with a rasp!
Pete, thanks for this essay and others' comments. I am grateful for your words that express the "mindedness" and "quietness" that becomes a skill too. As another left-handed person, I find that being left-handed provokes mindedness in order to adapt to a right-handed world: in tools and thought. And for raggedness, I could not help but spin-off into thoughts of fractals.
All these old files I bought for 50 cents at various flea markets. Can they be sharpened. Of should i just grind them into a knife blade? Or just give to the scrap yard?
Thanks for this Peter - paying attention- really paying attention- is a rare thing. In my teaching I talk about learning from my daughter who is on the autism spectrum- she is very good at paying attention to a task she is focussed on with all her senses - she looks, she listens, she feels, she smells ... and she becomes really good at the things that she focuses on.
We need people like your daughter, I'm convinced that people with her ability are essential to our existence, thanks for sharing
I like where this is heading, and for me, the file is the perfect example. As a lefty, I found the handedness of the file an obstacle to learning its rudiments. I expected the file to accommodate me, and it didn’t. Once I developed the mental model of the file as a handed tool, though, the handedness of it actually became an invitation to pay more attention. (I see this as part of the gift of being left-handed - we get to see some design assumptions that most people cannot.)
I'm left handed as well, and have suffered tool design since the "lefty" scissors in grade school. I've never thought of the file as handed, probably because I almost exclusively use it by pulling, which might correct for the handedness or at least make it less obvious. I love hearing from other lefties!
Lefty scissors are the worst! I had a suspicion you were left-handed. The way you write and talk about tools suggests you stop and think about them in a way that most people don’t. Maybe that’s that “space and time to explore and learn”? Just a guess.
If I don’t remember to push in line with the length of the file it tends to skate along the work surface, parallel to the teeth. Slightly more forgiving when pushed right-handed. Pulling is definitely helpful.
I love language and words. I recently read about the vast differences between “files” and “rasps”, especially mechanical v. hand manufacture. Hand cut rasps seem to be the darlings of woodworkers’ beautiful curves...with files taking on the last mile of curve making. Or did I read this all wrong?
Mark,
I think that is a reasonable analysis, but a high quality rasp, deftly used leaves a surface that is ready for sanding. If you've ever seen the Sam Maloof book, you will know what can be achieved with a rasp!
Pete, thanks for this essay and others' comments. I am grateful for your words that express the "mindedness" and "quietness" that becomes a skill too. As another left-handed person, I find that being left-handed provokes mindedness in order to adapt to a right-handed world: in tools and thought. And for raggedness, I could not help but spin-off into thoughts of fractals.
All these old files I bought for 50 cents at various flea markets. Can they be sharpened. Of should i just grind them into a knife blade? Or just give to the scrap yard?
Jon,
the only sharpening that I've heard of for files is to etch them with acid. I'd love to know if and how it works!