Do you like working with your hands? I bet quite a few of you do but you might be surprised to find not everyone understands the attraction. There’s a growing resurgence in respect for this type of work, for the value it delivers, the feeling of pride among those who practice it and, not a small thing these days, the knowledge that it can’t be done by someone thousands of miles away. If a repair is needed here, it’s done here.
A new book just coming out, Shop Class as Soulcraft, written by philosopher turned motorcycle mechanic Matthew Crawford, explains the value and unrecognized pleasures of hands on work to the growing number of students never exposed to any type of shop class and to the many others who still hold a rather dim and inaccurate view of highly skilled manual labor. The book is new but this widespread misguided view of hands on work is not. The main issue, that needs to be debunked among those who scoff at hands on work, is the view that it’s a lesser form of intellectual labor requiring little high level thought or capability, contributing less real value to the world than those who work only with words and ideas, even when performed by those who do it very well. How little they see.
A large segment of the population has never experienced what many readers of The Kneeslider know very well, the feeling of deep satisfaction and accomplishment that comes from an intense focus on building and rebuilding, restoring and repairing. It’s our secret, not because we’re trying to hide it, but because many folks have their minds made up, their preconceived notion of dirty, greasy, hands on work is of something done by those who don’t quite measure up in the esoteric world of words and ideas. They’re quick to dismiss it until their world comes grinding to a halt, mortgages meltdown, financial markets crash and the movers and shakers find themselves wandering helpless with nothing to offer in return for a day’s pay. However, even when their world is humming along, at the end of the day, after pushing paper, holding meetings and making endless phone calls, they may get an eerie sense that something’s missing, that, added all together, nothing really was accomplished and tomorrow will be much the same.
During times like these, a few intrepid souls will discover something amazing, working with your hands, fixing things is deeply satisfying! A broken machine runs again, an old rusty motorcycle looks like new, an engine silent for years rumbles to life, … you smile, the world is a better place, life is good.
These accidental explorers in the hands on world may be trying to revive long dormant skills gained in their early years, quickly finding why they enjoyed it before or perhaps a part time hobby is expanded to full time and they ask themselves why they waited so long. The roads are many but the results are the same, hands on work offers a chance to see real accomplishment because you can literally point to it. The difference between before and after is real and tangible, compare that to your energy draining 10 AM conference call.
Of course, moving from hands off to hands on may be difficult if you’ve spent your life chasing … something … anything … who knows what, and your rusty skills have atrophied too far or you had little knowledge and skill to begin, but like everything else in the hands on world, that’s a solvable problem.
These periodic rediscoveries of the virtues and pleasures of working with your hands can be a little amusing because some of us have seen it so many times before, however the young are struck with awe because it’s so obviously a totally new concept as they urgently inform us, “Hey, making stuff and fixing things is cool!†Hmm, … I would have never guessed. But it’s not just the young, those previous “Masters of the Universe†are equally caught off guard if by chance they encounter the undiscovered pleasures of complex machines and useful tools and then discover the nontrivial amount of serious thinking necessary to master them.
Over the last couple of months, articles have begun to appear in publications like The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and Forbes showing those who have made the transition to hands on work, or are trying to, and advice is offered that perhaps we need to reexamine sending every young person to college, or at least to rethink that future in investment banking. Books are appearing to show a new generation what hands on work offers, but, there’s a long history of similar books and similar articles, as well.
One of my personal favorites, written in 1976, is Samuel Florman’s “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering.†The book focuses on the unrecognized interrelationship of engineering and the humanities and attempts to show why those who believe there is some sort of natural division between engineering and the arts miss the point. Many passages touch on the appeal of machinery and the pleasure experienced by knowing how to make it come alive.
In a chapter entitled “Look long on an engine,” a line he takes from a poem, he quotes from the novel The Sand Pebbles the scene as Machinist’s Mate 1st Class, Jake Holman, (played by Steve McQueen in the movie) looks over the main engine:
He looked at it, massive, dully gleaming brass and steel in columns and rods and links arching above drive rods from twinned eccentrics, great crossheads hung midway, and above them valve spindles and piston rods disappearing into the cylinder block. … Under his controlling hands, when they steamed, it was going to become living, speaking music.
Dull? Unthinking? Inartistic? I think not. Steve McQueen didn’t think so, either.
A fascinating essay from Harper’s long ago, “Aristotle’s Garage†by Don Sharp, starts with the author examining the inner bore of a brake cylinder and quickly slides into a comparison of Plato’s politics with Aristotle’s zoology. All this philosophy from a simple brake cylinder, just think if the repairs were more complex!
The point of all this is that “mindless†or “unthinking†are hardly words to describe the activity we engage in as we work with our hands. It can certainly be those things but only if the practitioner brings nothing more to it. Our hands are intricate tools guided as accurately as our minds will allow, the proper diagnosis the result of careful observation, logical deduction and methodical testing. The finished repair displays a wide range of our abilities, our decisiveness while determining what needs to be done and our integrity, either as we perform the work to the highest standards, or something less. Our character is reflected by every repair, there’s no hiding behind committees and bureaucracies, judgment is honest and direct. Is it any wonder many find it so refreshing while others a little terrifying? If you’re the sort who prefers to dodge responsibility for things gone wrong with a deft bit of verbal brilliance, the clear judgment of hands on work can be a scary place, politicians need not apply.
If this nascent trend continues to grow and just a few more people try hands on work, or at least rethink their view of it, perhaps the pendulum will swing in that direction for a while and it will gain greater respect, inevitably, though, it will swing away once again and hands on work will lose out, waiting for another, equally inevitable, future rediscovery. Of course, some of us will continue on knowing full well the challenges and rewards available from the hands on world and the level of thought necessary to perform at the highest levels. If no one else gets it and the trend dies, why don’t we just keep the fun to ourselves?
Kenny says
Too true and put in words more eloquent than i could produce.
This is exactly the reason I got into engineering in the first place, now if only some one had told me that my job would comprise of trawling through hundreds of pages worth of documents, before i signed up.
It just leaves me itching to get some dirt under my fingernails when i get home.
shaas says
This essay reminds me of my basic welding class at the local tech college. While walking down to the break area with an investment broker that was taking the class so he could weld up his own airframe, commented “I have a whole new respect for the trade”.
Tin Man 2 says
We, in this day and age have let others guide our children into a frame of mind that was unthinkable just 50 Yrs ago. Manual labor has been denegrated to 2nd or 3rd class status. The true producers in this world are seen as a comodity to be used, and often abused. Respect for others must be relearned, and or taught or we will end up a nation that is full of people who can not or will not actaully do anything.
dresden says
I gotta take a welding class this year. I have wood skills, but metal will open up a whole new set of doors, project ideas, and opportunities. This is why I like owning an older bike. It didn’t come from a good home, it had a lot of problems, and I’ve been able to fix them all. It’s also why I like owning my house too. It’s one big learning experience. I love it.
Scott says
Well said! We are all not neglecting passing on the connection between the cerebral and the tangible. My ten year old son is constantly asking me if we can build it, instead of asking if we can buy it. We have been doing this for years and it is paying off, progressing past legos to things that are meaningful. This school year we built a robot from scratch (not the leggo kit), rehabbed an offroad go-kart and then built a working longbow for a class project. He is on the science olympiad teams where they build straw bridges (3rd in state) and water rockets. Our conversations are in the tone of “When you go to GA Tech” not when you go to college. The art of engineering will at least be passed to some of the next generation.
I think more parents who understand the merits of hands on need to turn off the computer and the TV, go in the garage and build something. Grasping the concepts of physics at a very young age enables you to see the world very differently. It allows you to appreciate the continuty of how things work and go together. Every boy likes to take things apart, he just needs a man to explain why the cam shaft is shaped that way, or why overhead valves can rev higher than pushrod engines. Maybe that boy will put it all together and see the art in the science.
Pete P. says
Lately, there has been a lot of discussion but various pundits about the state of modern education, and the trend toward “over-collegization”. Many students (mostly male) realize that they are getting a piece of paper that will assist in gaining a secure future for them and their families, but it does not mean that their work will be enrichening, satisfying, or appreciated.
We have made a college almost mandatory, at the neglect of the tradesmen who really solve our daily problems, and shape our world.
I am marching down to my local vo-tech to take some welding classes! I have pre-ordered the book.
Nolan says
I remember when I was a kid working on stuff all the time, told my dad I wanted to be a mechanic. He told me to keep that skill under my belt but go to college. I went to school to be an engineer, but I loved working with my hands. The dream became reality when I got hired on a large engine manufacturer in engine development. I can wrench as much as I want or engineer as much as I want now!(and break a few engines while I am at it)
hoyt says
Kneeslider – excellent writing and book suggestions.
This is incredibly valuable reading for the pre-teen, teenager, and corporate drone.
It is amazing how “big” your world becomes when viewing a small area through the lens of a welding hood.
Sticker Boy says
There’s nothing better than starting a hands-on project thinking “I don’t think I’ve got the skill or patience to do this…” then finally, after many hours of toil, standing back and being proud of the finished product.
Charley says
Like Kenny, I also studied engineering in college because of my love for mechanical things, but wish I’d been told that as an engineer I would spend my days in a cubicle writing reports, listening in on conference calls and scheduling projects. After a few years, I realized I wasn’t going to get the satisfaction of being a “doer” from my job and enrolled in the machine shop program at my local community college. Four semesters in, I have learned manual machining, CNC programming, inspection, and metallurgy. I get such a thrill from holding a functional part in my hand that I made myself on a mill or lathe from a hunk or raw steel or aluminum. I have gained so much respect for the skilled trades and have learned that these “doers” (fellow students and instructors) are among the most intelligent people I have met. As for the respect given to people who work with their hands, I believe it all comes down to one question: Would you rather be stuck on a deserted island with a skilled tradesman or a college graduate with an MBA? I think the answer is obvious…
Brad says
Well I’m in my fitties and have been doing mechanical and electrical work all my life, mainly because I could not afford to get things repaired any other way, and being in the bush for many years gives you the ability to do it or do with out. So with that said, I look around me now and see young people who can’t or won’t fix anything, they just throw it out and get new stuff?? This to me is a big bonus as one mans junk is anohter mans treasure, and I say keep it coming guys and gals, if I can fix it and use it , then I am a happy man.
Brad
lostinoz says
Growing up, I always knew that college wasn’t an option for me, so I made the most of everything technical I could be taught. Our school didnt have a CNC machine, but I did learn how to fabricate parts, use a lathe, weld (mig tig and stick) design and read blueprints, rough frame houses, electrical systems and diagrams, small engine repair and every automotive class available to me (repair, body/paint, advanced, and transportation services.. think transportation logistics), a great teacher told me when I was in 7th grade “there are those that talk, and those that work, never be afraid to get your hands dirty, the man that can accomplish the task at hand is better than 100 that talk about how to do it but dont know how to start.”
I’ve seen the trends in the schools canceling out vocational training, gone are the classes on how to maintain your own engines, few and far between are the metal shop or drafting classes, its all computers and college based courses. What is also missing is the PRIDE that is learned from actually seeing something youve created work and look like you had envisioned. It also taught something else, patience, when trying something new, it rarely if ever works or looks exactly right “the first time” so its a matter of doing it over. This is something that kids now dont understand.
Its good to hear the praises (if only in limited quantities) of the “working man” and to see so many people interested in learning the trades, if only for their own projects. Self-reliance on projects gives birth to a pride in ownership that no $80,000 bike can bring. The project may not have all the bells and whistles, it may not even look as good, but your time, blood, sweat and ambition to create are worth so much that it cant be valued. Even a $1000 project bike to you is priceless when someone comes up to you and says “nice bike” and you can reply “thanks, I did all the work myself” and proceed to show him every custom one off part that you created, and they are in awe of your skills. Its not the skills of making the part thats hard, that can be learned, its having the ambition to make them thats hard.
Steve K says
Great essay! Having blue collar roots and an engineering degree were two blessings I have enjoyed. My dad taught me how to work hard in the family business. He taught me how to fix things. Now at 60, I can look back and appreciate the skills I learned along the way, and only wish I had found a few more. Besides maintaining the home and vehicles, I take pleasure in The Three B’s: Bonsai, Bikes, and Brewing Beer. The bike satisfies the Need for Speed. The bonsai use my eyes and hands to creat or style a small tree to reflects a much larger one. At the end of the day, the beer that I made from malted grain, hops, yeast and water gives me the final satisfaction of a great product.
Thanks again for the essay. I will share it with my daughter, the PhD.
Gray Skelton says
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet and simple life and to work with your own hands . . . . . . ” I Thessalonians 4:11 To those of us who want to follow the advice of the Apostle Paul, working with our own hands should be our ambition. Amen
Walt says
Outstanding essay, Paul. I’ve always spent more time working on my bikes than riding them, and make no apologies. I have loved learning the skills of mechanics, metalwork and painting. The feeling that swept over me when I heard my 1932 Harley cough, then run smoothly after ten years of restoration was wonderful. Craftsmanship has given me a new connection with my ancestors (among them an auto mechanic, mechanical engineer, cobbler and plumber), with my uncle the Harley and Indian dealer, and my dad, a hobby woodworker.
davidabl says
Remember that he’s not only working with his hands, he’s also a sole proprietor without a boss telling him what to do. Another big,big difference from life in Cubicle land.
kim says
Nah, not me. As much as I admire people for being good craftsmen, I really rather do without myself. But I have to, out of neccesity, because modern bikes don’t cut it for me, and the lottery tickets I buy aren’t he right ones. I’ve worked as a carpenter (and did fine), and in order be able to work on a succesion of vintage bikes, I had to learn how to rebuild them, and how to fix the things if trouble arose a long way from home. Like when I burned a valve crossing the Rockies, which is very far from Denmark.
Lately I’ve turned the Nimbus into bobber, and had to teach myself how to weld, amongst other things. So now friends come over to have ME weld their stuff. But really, if I could go to a workshop with a drawing and a long, detailed list of what kind of bike I’d want them to build me, then that would be my dream scenario. See ya all in 4 to 8 months (depending on specs), then come back, wave the visa card around a bit, start up the thing and ride.
Sure, there’s some satisfaction in a job well done, and skills bring less anxiety about mechanical breakdowns when travelling out there. But I’d be happier if I only had to be able to change the oil and adjust the valves.
John says
Conspicuous, are the absense of the serial posters of this site that are the know it all critics of other peoples work.
Motorod says
There is nothing more satisfying than the feeling you get after resurrecting some old wreck or basket case found at a garage sale or a boneyard and taking it out every day. Salvage title? Who cares. It’s not about return on investment, it’s all about the task. And the ride.
fearnow says
This lifelong knuckledragger thanks you. I may have to insist that my wife read the above, so that she can perhaps better understand that ‘working on my bike’ goes both ways.
David says
I have used the education I received as a young machinist apprentice 40 years ago as much or more than the degrees that followed. The power and understanding that comes from turning stock into functioning form is great and indeed spiritual. “Let him who has eyes see.”
B*A*M*F says
Thanks for linking to this. I’m going to order the book.
I really wanted to go to school for auto restoration. My parents felt I needed a bachelors, and that if I wanted to I could go back for auto restoration. I went and got a BFA in industrial design. One of the best choices I’ve ever made. In our program you had to learn to draw and learn to work in 3D. We were required to build appearance models. I learned to use so many tools, as well as how not to use a couple if them.
After college, I got a job with the engineering wing of a manufacturing company as a cube jockey. Not long after starting there another company I had applied with offered me a position. I took it and didn’t look back. I now get to design crazy things (6′ tall fire hydrant cabinets and giant functional light switches). I then get to roll up my sleeves and build them as well. I make a hair less than I did before, but I’m immensely more satisfied with my work. Having access to a CNC router, spray booth with HVLP setup, and a welder after hours is also cool.
Claymore says
I agree with you Paul, fixing something that was broken is a great thing.
I found that while I’m really good at dis-assembly and diagnosing problems, it’s goes much better if I team up with a friend, or one of my kids on reassembly. It’s even more fun that way too.
Masonv45 says
“Sure, there’s some satisfaction in a job well done, and skills bring less anxiety about mechanical breakdowns when traveling out there. But I’d be happier if I only had to be able to change the oil and adjust the valves.”
Kim, sounds like you’re another “Reluctant Mechanic” – same as me.
Journeyman says
I have been involved in working on and building motorcycles since I purchased my first Big Twin in 1964, while I was still in the Navy. When I was discharged, I traveled on that Big Twin rigid frame, covering most of the continental USA and a few of the southern parts of Canada learning just about everything about that motorcycle from the breakdowns along the way. Enough of the qualifying,
For the last 30 years I have done mostly motor work as motor or engine machinist.
I have a fully equipped shop, and I have always thought I would find a younger man with some solid basic skills even if they were automotive. My health has slowed me down but I have no desire to retire completely. I have advertised, talked to instructors that I new when I taught nights at the local vocational school with no success finding anyone who doesn’t want to just show up do the least amount that he can get away with, and get paid which is always less then he thinks he is worth. The fellows today don’t want to take the time to learn, or stand there while I am trying to instruct them on how to do anything, they just think it doesn’t take any skill, and when I won’t let them near a bike or a machine they go storming out the door saying I have no respect for them. They have no patience or any clue what it means to take the time to do it right the first time, they just want finish the job as fast as then can, without any pride in their work. I would be willing to take the time to train anyone that seems they want to learn but so far that hasn’t happened since they know it all. These are the facts of life today. I really hope for the good of our country, those who see the problems, and are willing to get involved like those above, can find the help from the educational community, and the government. I really hope for once politics aside, there is now someone with the power who might actually do something that he promised in his campaign, and turn this loosing situation around, before it is to late.
Thank you for allowing me the space to voice my opinion. JM
Mark L. says
As the engineering manager of the worlds largest manufacturer of stent, heart valve and artificial heart testing equipment, I personally find an extraordinary amount of pleasure in working with my hands.
I am an electrical engineer by profession, but a mechanical engineer by heart. During the day, I design super high reliability electronics for medical equipment. The kind of equipment that has to run 10-15 YEARS without a single failure EVER, and essentially NO maintenance. While the work is technically challenging, it is not very satisfying on a personal level, as there are so many design constraints that you really never get the opportunity to express yourself in any of your work.
So, for a hobby, I have the pleasure of working on the Roehr 1250SC with/for Walter, and as a hobby at home, I build cars and bikes with “interesting engines”.
My current car project, now that I have finished my 410 HP Lotus Esprit Turbo, is a 7.3 liter V12 twin turbocharged Jaguar. I have designed and built my own fuel injection and direct ignition system for it, my own intake and exhaust manifolds, did my own porting and valve work on a flow bench that I designed and built myself, all while on my own rotisary engine stand with worm gear drive that I designed and built myself, so that I could turn 600 lb. Jaguar engines upside down to work on with one finger.
My bike project is building a replica of the Honda CB1100R concept bike that was introduced last year at the IMS. Using a 1250 Bandit engine, and my own frame, bodywork, etc.
What I wind up with are unique toys that are of the quality level that I want, and with a price tag that I can afford, and the satisfaction that comes with knowing that I built as much as I possibly could myself, that I did it my way, and if it breaks again, I can fix it myself.
I find the actual process as much fun, or more so than the finished project. I have taught myself to weld, to build frame jig, a powdercoat oven, a flowbench, a lot of other specialized tools. I have learned basic machining on my old manual mill and lathe, and many other things that I would have had to hire out, and I move at my own speed.
So, next time you see someone with grease under their fingernails, rather than think that you are better/smarter than they are, you would do well to think twice.
After all, he might hand you a depth gauge and ask you how many thousandths deep that bolthole is, and what the thread pitch is.
Interested? My best advice? Just pick up a wrench and do it. If you don’t know how, read a book, take a class, or find someone to teach you. I find the learning process as satisfying as the finished project. Just don’t be afraid to try.
After all, it’s probably already broken, so get over that issue now!
Mark L.
Justin Willman says
Motorcycle constuctors.
Enjoy the knowledge of when a valve opens and closes and why.
Enjoy the knowledge of when to change the timing to suit the individual personality of the rider at all levels.
Enjoy the camshaft vs port/valve combinations available to provide the power feeling you want.
Enjoy then combusting the correct air fuel ratios vs ignition times.
Enjoy and understand your engineers reasons for building that particular motorcycle regardless of cc or ci ,their all designed for a reason so find it.
Enjoy the history of 100 years of engineering to change your bike so you love it!
Build what you want,but have a go at all levels of tuning.But try all at full throttle.
If you can’t ride it at full throttle work out why not.
When you do build your bike right,you will love it.
Den says
Ahh the philosophy of the workshop, it reminds me of ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTAINENCE, there is even a BMW on the cover.
It is wonderful to here about all of these peoples’ amazing skills and projects, Kim’s Nimbus is a personal favourite of mine, I had a picture of it as my computer desktop wallpaper for a while, about a year ago. I would also love to see the CB 1100 project, that Jag’ sounds amazing too and I really hope Journeyman finds a good apprentice.
I think that our modern culture has forgotten that some of the greatest innovators in history were tradespeople:
Leonardo Da Vinci – Painter
John Harrison – Carpenter
R Buckminster Fuller – Machinist
Henry Ford – Machinist
Soichiro Honda – Mechanic
Earl says
There’s no satisfaction quite like that of good honest work. I’d like to meet someone like Journeyman, because a smashed foot means landscaping is no longer an option for me.
A beautiful piece of writing and I’ve sent this link to several people who have no particular interest in motorcycles but will love your words.
"SGT Mick" says
Journeyman, you are just the man I needed for inspiration. I am 37 years old, and will soon be transitioning from a short yet honorable career in the Army. I’ve decided to enroll at Wyotech’s Daytona campus for motorcycle technology. I’m a little nervous though. “Can this old dog learn a new trick,” so to speak, and compete against a faster generation, is what I’m thinking. After reading your comment, it has given me greater confidence to pursue this dream. You seem to have a big heart Journeyman, and I highly respect that. Thanks for the inspiration you’ve given me. If you or anyone else cares to comment, I would greatly appreciate anything you have to say. I respect any advice you can give also. I’m looking to specialize in domestic motorcycles at Wyotech just because I think this fits my personality more, but I’m open to any ideas anyone can give me about the career choice as a whole. Thanks again–SSG Mick