Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander
Which option sounds better; Machinist replacing Blacksmith in all industrial applications or Blacksmith/TL8 simply looking a lot different than the skill at earlier TLs, but still common in industry independently of Machinist?
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A blacksmith makes Blacksmith/TL hand tools, basically. I can use my forge and hammer to make a lot of tools -- hammers, drifts, axes, punches, files. tongs, etc. Whatever TL, it's not Blacksmith to use power tools, plasma cutters, arc weld, or use a cutting torch, that's Machinist/TL6+, IMO. A Machinist/TL makes tools or parts (using or making power tools) used in whatever setting of his TL. And those aren't tools in the sense of hand tools only, but most any applicable tool that's not a complex machine. So grinders, sanders, complex dies, routers, drilling/rifling jigs, presses, blowers, etc. IMO, a Blacksmith/TL5 cannot make an industrial setup for interchangeable gun parts at TL5, a Machinist/TL5 can. It's not hard, for instance, to make a knife grinder from parts you get on the internet. A Blacksmith/TL8 could use that knife grinder, but to build it you'd use Machinist/TL8.