Meet [Ray Gascoigne]. He’s a ship builder. Well, he builds ships in bottles. He’s been doing it for years and years and years and you can see it in his hands. The details are fantastic on the ships, but I really love hearing about the tools. He talks about how much things have changed over the years from having to build your own specialized tiny drill bits from broken needles to being able to just walk right down to the store and buy some.
The part that I found most interesting is this video, as amazingly beautiful as it is, never shows the insertion and erection of a full ship.
I could watch this all day.
If anything I wish I could ask him how his hands are holding up. The wear and tear of frequent precision work combined with age concerns me and my prospects of continuing skill growth into retirement.
You can see that his fingers seem pretty twisted and disfigured.
This old man is the genuine article.