this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2025
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Growing a moustache is pure genetic luck, and you can learn how to swing a hammer in about thirty seconds.
You cant downplay hammer skills, though. There is almost no skill ceiling with hammers. Put any blacksmith up against an amateur, and you'll quickly see the difference between 30 seconds of training and 30 years.
Also the smith will still be hitting their target after a few hours of constant hammering. An amateur is gonna lose their accuracy within the first hour.
When we were doing our time for our Habitat for Humanity house, my ex-wife and I framed houses on two different days. Within an hour, my arm was numb and I couldn't hit shit.
It feels like there was more to this story. Like the introduction of a completely unused second character...
Yeah, I was waiting for the, but my ex-wife...
Checkov's ex.
I just redid my bathroom. I could go 30 mins tops swinging a 3 pound hammer before I was done for the day.
I recently rebuilt a big chunk of the interior of my house. I used to be good with a framing hammer but osteoarthritis has left me able to do maybe 4 or 5 swings with it. Fortunately, I discovered decking screws for this project. I just feel sorry for anybody that has to demo this shit in the future.
I'll absolutely grant that hammering is a skill that can be improved upon and that a skilled hammerer is quite the thing to behold. I think of the times I've seen experienced blacksmiths banging away for hours with forearms that look like Popeye's, barely breaking a sweat. So yes, there's a skill tree to be developed.
That said... a lot of people seem to have an idea that using tools, or even more broadly the inherent strength of their own bodies, is somehow beyond their ability, and a lot of the time that's just beginners' jitters. Absent of a particular physical limitation, most people probably can learn how to effectively use a hammer (or a hand saw, or a screw gun, or a crow bar, or any number of useful items) within a couple minutes. It's our collective mistake for teaching people that they haven't got ready access to those skills and strengths.
Generally, most of the tools in the house are considered "mine", and yes I do often break out in a dry sweat when my wife wants to borrow them.
This isn't because I don't think she could learn to use them, but rather because the only time she picks them up is when she's in "get it done" mode in which case a fuck up is costly in terms of time and money to fix... we me usually being the one to fix it. I'm pretty sure she similarly shudders when I grab a needle and thread from her office. We have a truce on laundry and dishes.
Thing is, I've got a shop full of bits and pieces where I fucked something up. BUT, I generally fucked it up on the inexpensive test projects until I was happy I could do a reasonable job, or where the cost of failure was just generally not too high. I don't believe that my wife couldn't similarly become a good carpenter or whatever, but rather experience says that she doesn't have the interest of patience in learning to do so.
Well put. Thanks for entertaining my pedantry.
The trick for hand saws is sharp blades and patience. Don't rush it. If you put it where you want it and have patience, most things practically cut themselves (save for something like a tree). If your blade is dull, you're more likely to make a mistake.
Light pressure, too. That one still gets me sometimes.
Watched a video on these old Dutch guys, house framers. Apparently they're kinda famous. I'll never forget the dude casually walking along the roof and slamming 5" nails with a single stroke, one after the other like a machine. I've tried and tried, can't even do it with a 3" nail.
Plus, it’s not obvious to even otherwise capable people how best to use one. My BIL is a generally pretty smart guy, but my sister had to show him how to use a hammer after they got married (he wanted control of his swing and didn’t trust himself, so he was holding it right up against the head(
Why was your BIL required to use a hammer after marrying your sister. Is there some ritual I am unaware of?
He had to hang a picture, but it was just there to indicate adulthood
Swinging your hammer is easy.
Avoiding your fingers is the tricky bit.
I remember an episode of Little House on the Prairie from my childhood. Pa has to get a job at the quarry, and he and a buddy are put to work drilling holes in the rock with a long metal spike and a sledgehammer. One of them has to hold the spike in place while the other bangs on it with the sledge. How the spike holder still had any fingers attached at the end of the day is beyond me. That shit traumatized me.
The trick is to look at the nail and not your fingers. If you look at your fingers so you don't hit them, you'll hit them.
I just turn my head away entirely and squeal as I gently tap around hoping to hit something.
There's a very similar concept in motorbiking, target fixation. It essentially says that you go where you look. If you're riding along and there's a pothole in front of you, it's easier to avoid it if you look either to the side of it or past it. If you look at it, you subconsciously turn towards it.
also choke up on the hammer. gives you less oomph, but more control.
Phrasing
No no, that's honestly how you say it
yeah it means move your hands more toward the heavy end. make the lever shorter.
Damn, that’s why I keep hitting my toes. Gotta look up!
"The trick is not minding that it hurts."
yeah my lip is just an eighth of an inch too short so a mustache on its own does not look right unless I go full walrus