"Robatoy" wrote in message
...
When discussing the tools that feller was selling on eBay (That 33K
shop) one of our contributors referred to the old Unisaw 'quality'.
That got me thinking.... (yes, it happens).
I think quality is like art. You know you like it when you see it.
The look and feel of things.

All modern equivalents, even if proven scientifically superior, miss
something. I think it's a piece of the craftsman's/machinist's
heart/guts who made it. Is that what we call quality?

I was looking at a very old Carl Zeiss microscope one day with its
replacement, a brand new Wild Heerbrugg, sitting beside it. The proud
owner was extolling the virtues of the new Wild, the clarity of the
optics, but why didn't the focus mechanism feel the same?

It is mystical.

Sure is.

How often do we see the question, what is the best (fill in: automobile,
table saw, gas range, camera, stereo, hand gun, plane, pencil, whatever)?

Invariably, someone will tout a high priced item while another says my
Harbor Freight version gets the job done. There is something about quality
and craftsmanship that cannot be put into works alone. It is the feel, the
sound, the resonance in one's heart that says, "this is quality".

Getting the job done is important, but what make it satisfying in the joy of
the journey.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/