Overheard a customer tell my boss that 'real carpenters don't use lasers'

I was working on a job site last Tuesday and a guy came by to pick up a custom shelf. He saw me setting up my Bosch laser level and told my boss that real carpenters could do everything with a spirit level and a chalk line. I just kept my mouth shut but it got under my skin. Like yeah, I can totally measure and mark every single stud location by hand too, but the laser saves me 20 minutes per wall and gets it dead on every time. I don't think using better tools makes you less of a carpenter. It just means you work smarter. Have any of you run into old-timers who look down on laser levels or track saws?

3 comments

3 Comments

price.jake29d ago

Hold up, has anyone thought about how the guy complaining probably isn't the one who'd have to fix your mistakes? I bet that customer isn't on your crew, doesn't have to work with your speed or accuracy. He's not the one who'd be redoing a crooked shelf because the chalk line got bumped. It's like old-timers who gatekeep using a hammer over a nail gun when nobody's paying them to swing it for eight hours. If he wants to spend his Saturday squinting at a bubble level, fine, but you're the one on the clock making it perfect.

noah_barnes27d ago

Last month some guy tried to tell me I was wasting time using a chalk line when I could just "eyeball it" for a shelf install. He wasn't the one who would have to rip it out and redo it when it was off by an eighth of an inch and the doors wouldn't close right. People love giving advice they never have to live with the consequences of.

troyp3729d ago

Wait, hold on. Wait. @price.jake, are you saying that guy actually uses a bubble level on his Saturday? Like, for fun? I'm trying to picture that and I just can't...