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Craft versus Technique
I was talking to the great Dave Platt one day many years ago. I forget what the subject was, but he told me that in his building he always "tries to substitute technique for craft".
The examples he gave me were making louver panels and cowl rocker bumps. He said it would be silly to try to make these "by hand" and "by eye". Instead make a single mold or jig, you only make one time, and you can then create as many louvered panels, or rocker bumps, or whatever. Even better, they will all be identical to each other, and (once the initial mold or jig is made) all of them will be quick and easy to make.
When making a jig it doesn't matter what it looks like, it's just a tool, so you don't have to fiddle with it too much, and once it's done, you can make all of whatever you want to make super-easy and all the pieces will be identical and consistent with each other. For instance, holding an Ultra-Micro battery in place with 2 magnets is super-simple, the magnets could be 1/4" to the left or right, 1/4"-1/2" forward and back, and the battery would hold, and the plane would fly. On the other hand, using a jig allows you to make sure that if you switch the magnetic battery mounts, you will be able to make sure that ALL your batteries fit ALL your Ultra-Micro planes, and that doing this will be quick and fool-proof.
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