by unjust » 11 Feb 2012 18:23
making one's own tools is a centuries old tradition of that shows that a craftsman has progressed in his (or her) craft to a point where they're able to work independently. one of the steps in becoming a qualified machinist is often making your own fly cutter, and an armourer their own hammers.
the reason for this is that by making the tool you are intimately familiar with every portion of it, and if it doesn't work exactly as you wish, you can duplicate your efforts, or revise it. if you have ever watched a master craftsman at work they'll have multiple tools that appear nearly identical, but have specific applications. odds are if they didn't make them themselves they modified one to suit their needs.
likewise, for a beginner in locksport, you'll be fine with a simple hook and diamond with a few wrenches, but by the time you're on to working on obscure locks you'll want some absurdly fine picks to get into those bitty little keyways. by making your own picks you'll begin to understand the difference between different metals hardness, flexibility and the like and how those impact how you pick. a more rigid hard pick may transmit more feedback, but break more easily, and by filing your own picks you'll know exactly how workable a street sweeper based pick is vs a windshield wiper insert based one.
this is NOT to say that folks who buy their tools don't know what they're doing, but that those who choose to pursue the skills necessary to make their own tools can gain a different (some would argue better) understanding of the work that they are doing. in many cases, it IS in fact preferable, if not necessary, to buy tools, because the expertise needed to make the tool you require is so specialized that while you may be able to define the tool, it's not possible to fabricate.
i.e, i may need a 1/16" dia drill bit for something, and while i can make a drill bit, making one so small is beyond my capabilities. likewise while i *could* build a metal lathe from scratch, i can probably spend about the same amount as i would in materials and (billable)time to pick up one new that'll be more precise than what i would have initially made. knowing how a drill bit cuts however will afford me further information that will better allow me to pick the correct number of flutes, points, angle of cutter, tip style and a host of other things that may matter when i'm using the bit, and allow me to choose from the myriad of possibilities.
