Originally Posted by
FBinNY
There's the key difference. You focus on ownership of tools, I focus on skill and experience, and judge based on results.
If someone with a solid record of good workmanship told his secret was having his work blessed by the Pope, I'd say, "OK, I'll wait until you get back from Rome".
Not quite. It's not about owning the tools, it's about
using the tools. I'm focused on the use of a measuring device, to check and verify the results of the highly subjective "going by feel" method. I completely respect that a skilled and experienced wheelbuilder can get pretty close, and when they measure their results may not have to change a thing. But why wouldn't you at least check? That seems lazy to me, when the tensiometer is sitting right there. It's about
subjective results being verified by
objective measurements.
I used the example of aligning a radio, or setting bias on an amplifier. Yes, I may do it by ear first to get it within range, and sometimes when I connect a signal generator and oscilloscope I find that I nailed it. Usually though, minor improvements are still possible when you actually measure. Or aligning a cartridge within a turntable headshell. I can get it pretty close by eyeball, but afterwards I'm still going to get out the protractor. There's satisfaction in knowing that the results are as good as is possible, not just subjectively good enough. I should note that there is the phrase "Close enough for Rock and Roll", but that's usually said tongue-in-cheek.
If you need your work blessed by the Pope, I'm out. Superstition is even more subjective than going by "feel" or by human hearing. Unless of course the Pope has a tensiometer and he's the one that's going to measure for you.