Heard a kid call our gear 'steampunk' and it got me thinking

I was packing up after a job in the old part of Lancaster and this boy, maybe ten, pointed at my rods and brushes and said they looked like something from a 'steampunk movie'. It made me realize how much the tools have changed since I started in '98, but the basic job hasn't. We used to use way more horsehair brushes and heavier rods, now it's all carbon fiber and poly brushes. Anyone else miss the feel of the old gear sometimes, or is it just me being sentimental?

2 comments

2 Comments

black.amy24d ago

Old gear felt like it had a soul. You could feel the work in your hands. This new stuff is just plastic and buzzwords. It gets the job done faster, sure. But it doesn't mean anything. That kid saw more history in your old tools than we get from a whole truck of the new carbon fiber junk.

the_alex24d ago

Honestly "felt like it had a soul" is a bit much. My grandpa's old steel wrench was just a heavy, rusty thing that hurt your hands. The new ratchet gets my car fixed in half the time and doesn't round off bolts. That's what matters to me. Sometimes a tool is just a tool.