[bsder]

> You'll even get better at it till you usually get something good.

This is the crux.

Sure, if I bake a loaf of odd bread every couple of days, I will EVENTUALLY get good enough to produce something good rather than just edible. After how long? A week? A month? A YEAR?

So, in the interim, I am WASTING those ingredients and my time.

I liken this to knife sharpening. Sure, EVENTUALLY you will get the feel for sharpening on whetstones and then sharpening your kitchen knives is quick and straightforward. But how many times will it take--especially if you have no mentor to teach you? Alternatively, you can get a fixed-angle sharpener and have sharp kitchen knives tonight.

[throwaway173738]

What’s cool about sharpening knives is it teaches you how to sharpen all kinds of stuff. For example I’m building a fence and I have to cut some roots in the posthole using my San Angelo bar. The chisel is dull because I’ve been using it to break up concreted rock. So I grab a file and put a little edge back on it.