Cut the cord and throw the battery away

[Warren Mickley]

I don't think the "Joiner and Cabinet Maker" was written by someone who had an apprenticeship and worked in the trade. That is my opinion as someone who does work in the trade. It reads more like Salivet (dilettante) than Roubo (professional) and more like Moxon (former printer) than Nicholson (former cabinetmaker). All five of these books are valuable, but we must read them with different lenses.

I have taught teenagers (easier than older guys) and had them work in my shop. "It is not easy to get an good idea of the actual education program of a young apprentice". Well I would say yes, especially if you have never done anything like it.

[Pat Barry]

You are missing the point a -Neanderthal wood worker is or isn't . It is that simple you use all hand tools ( neaddrthal . ) or you don't . Some could be called hybrid some could be called normites but if one uses any power tools at all you simply can not be a neardetthal wood worker .. Period.
Not sure what apprenticing has to do with the issue. Heck you could apprentice on a ryobi .

Kind of like. Being half pregnant

I'm not sure I've seen any examples of Neanderthal woodworking Denny. I mean of course, historic Neanderthal period pieces (other than simple clubs). They didn't have any metal tools back then - maybe we should just reserve conversations here for woodworking with broken rocks.

[Denny Tudor]

Yes, but the "half pregnant" forum doesn't ring as appealing as the Neander one

There is no shame (at least none in my book) to any path, from Norm to Neander. But I think the OP's initial post was simply asking those who transitioned exclusively to hand tools (not worth going down the Byzantine route of discussing using candles vs. electric light) to share their "tales of withdrawal" because he is contemplating it.

So, to the OP's original question, I can't share a bona fide tale of full transition because I am certainly not a Neander, even though I prefer hand tools for the most part. I did fantasize about it, but couldn't do it: I quickly bought a combo machine and bandsaw after a few weeks of attempting to build a Roubo bench from rough lumber only with hand tools. So, my tale is more one of relapse than one of withdrawal .

Thanks for feedback on your experience . That was what I ask originally.

Btw Your right . No shame in living any where on the spectrum from
Neander to hybrid to normutes. But still important to be accurate on labels isn't it.

[Kees Heiden]

I have taught teenagers (easier than older guys) and had them work in my shop. "It is not easy to get an good idea of the actual education program of a young apprentice". Well I would say yes, especially if you have never done anything like it.

Well, we have two or three students in the workshop every year. Different trade, but I suppose that means your remark isn't directed at me.

[Mike Holbrook]

Maybe working on becoming a Neander is a little like being a recovering alcoholic. Maybe it is a process more than a place you can exist in exclusively...

Hello everyone my name is Mike and I am a machine woodworker. It happened by accident really. I wanted to save a little money on home construction. The guys building the house made me use a nail gun and skill saw. They laughed and made jokes if I tried to use screws and a screwdriver or cut nails with an actual hammer. I was shamed into it really! I am trying to get away from the electric machines, but someone is always shoving an electric drill, skill saw, chop saw, nail gun in my way!

Like others have posted I do not like all the dust and noise. I do more and more with hand tools. I believe there is a greater skill set needed to get jobs done with a smaller set of hand powered tools. Like I believe Warren has mentioned, probably in another thread, one starts to develop a familiarity and fondness for individual hand tools. I see this as something that takes time, experience and familiarity to develop. I do not see a hard line of demarcation. As I get better and better doing specific jobs with my hand tools I pick them up more and more often.

If one does some of their own: construction, electrical, plumbing, it becomes hard to abandon electric tools all together. Probably can be done, but maybe not "efficiently".

[John Vernier]

"No shame in living any where on the spectrum from Neander to hybrid to normutes. But still important to be accurate on labels isn't it."

Normutes being the silent majority of power tool users.

[Steve Voigt]

But still important to be accurate on labels isn't it.

Yes, it would be, if "Neanderthal" were actually a legitimate term with an accepted definition (other than the anthropological one), and not a tongue in cheek moniker that is pretty much only used on this sub-forum. As such, the term means what the consensus of users take it to mean, which is "hand tool user." Not "hand tools to the exclusion of all else." If you want to be accurate with labels, don't define a term to suit yourself, and then insist that everyone else is wrong. That would be a good start.

By the way, I know at least four regular readers here who use no power tools, even grinders. The fact that none of them have posted their "tales of withdrawal" should tell you something about the premise of your question. That, and the fact that insulting the locals usually isn't the greatest opening strategy.

[Denny Tudor]

I guess I will bow out now and let all those touchy egos continue a debate I never asked for.

Thanks to the very small number that answered the original question .

ADDED: on the other hand maybe I got more answers than I thought from people who tried .

[Stewie Simpson]

Call a spade a spade.

Neanderthal Woodworking is an exclusive; not inclusive membership for die-hearts.

die-hearts; One who is ridiculously; overwhelmingly; passionate about a specific thing, person, place, verb, or adverb.

Sign me up as a Hybrid Woodworker.

Stewie;

[Stewie Simpson]

Given the opportunity; would the craftsmen of a much earlier century have switched to powered machinery to dimension their stock; a study of later history suggests they would have.

Stewie;

[Patrick Chase]

Maybe working on becoming a Neander is a little like being a recovering alcoholic. Maybe it is a process more than a place you can exist in exclusively...

Hello everyone my name is Mike and I am a machine woodworker. It happened by accident really. I wanted to save a little money on home construction. The guys building the house made me use a nail gun and skill saw. They laughed and made jokes if I tried to use screws and a screwdriver or cut nails with an actual hammer. I was shamed into it really! I am trying to get away from the electric machines, but someone is always shoving an electric drill, skill saw, chop saw, nail gun in my way!

In step 1 you're supposed to confess your powerlessness over your addiction, not rationalize it. Clearly you haven't quite hit rock bottom yet :-).

[Patrick Chase]

Call a spade a spade.

Neanderthal Woodworking is an exclusive; not inclusive membership for die-hearts.

die-hearts; One who is ridiculously; overwhelmingly; passionate about a specific thing, person, place, verb, or adverb.

Sign me up as a Hybrid Woodworker.

Stewie;

Me, too.

Nit-pick: At least in the US the idiom is "die-hard".

[Lenore Epstein]

Me, too.

Nit-pick: At least in the US the idiom is "die-hard".

Thanks, saved me a post.

[Kees Heiden]

Given the opportunity; would the craftsmen of a much earlier century have switched to powered machinery to dimension their stock; a study of later history suggests they would have.

Stewie;

Hmm, that would depend on who you would ask. For example, the English sawyers for a long time resisted change. Each new sawmill could face some fierce opposition, they even burned down several of them. Sawing by hand was their bread and butter and the new fangled mechanisation was a thread to their existance. Likewise the employees of the many large factories that were comming up in the 19th century. The work and the standard of living for most factory workers was misserable, I suppose many of them cursed the mechanisation, but they had no choice.

If you would have asked the rich factory owners, then yes of course they were enthousiastic about mechanisation.

But of course it's not all black and white like that. I remember a tale from a poor land worker from the early 20th century who was very happy to exchange his shovel for a tractor later in his life. But at that time, mechanisation went hand in hand with a better quality of life for everybody. Something that wasn't so evident in the 19th century.

[Stewie Simpson]

Old Chinese proverb; When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.