Just hit 500 shoes shaped in a single month and it's making me rethink my whole process

I've been at this for 15 years and my usual count is around 350. This month, a big ranch in Bozeman needed a full herd done before a show, and I pushed hard to get it. The crazy part is, my wrist isn't killing me like it used to be when I did half that number. I switched to a different rounding hammer, the 16 oz. Cliff Carroll, about six months back and it's cut my shaping time per shoe way down. But now I'm looking at the pile of steel and wondering if speed is always good. Some of the old guys I learned from would say rushing a shape hurts the fit, but my clinch numbers are still tight. What's the real limit here before quality drops? Has anyone else pushed their personal count and noticed a change in their work?

3 comments

3 Comments

mason.julia3mo ago

Wow, speed can be a trap...

the_seth3mo ago

Mason.julia, speed reminds me of that time I rushed a project and had to redo the whole thing.

adam_anderson62mo ago

Totally get what you're saying about rushing. I've been there too. But sometimes you need that first fast draft just to get the bad ideas out of your head. The real trick is knowing when to speed up and when to slow down for the fix. It's a balance, not just one or the other.