A friend of mine, Steve Rollert asked Francis Whitaker around in1999, "What advice would you give to a younger smith just starting out?'' and his answer was ''Learn to use power tools to their full advantage.'' Francis was in allot of pain and discomfort with a brace on his hammer arm in his later years from over a half a century of pounding. He did have a 25 LG but I think he did more work by hand, especially when he was young (I know I did) than he had to....''Nobody stays young forever''.