While chatting with another electrician, we shared personal notes about some of the skills involved in our trade. In addition to grasping electrical theory and National Electrical Code provisions, an electrician needs to learn how to use a host of power and hand tools.
“You know what’s weird about tools,” I commented.
“The most difficult skill for me to master was using a hacksaw to cut metal
conduit. There is an art to it. You can go at it either too easily or too hard,
and you can bust up your knuckles trying. It took a while to figure it out. A
big part of the trick is figuring out a good way to hold the conduit in place
while you are sawing it.”
Looking back, though it now sounds implausible, it
took me the better part of a year to become fully efficient in using a hacksaw
to cut ½-inch and ¾-inch conduit. Cutting conduit is much like golf in that it
looks much easier than it really is.
—Mitchell Hegman
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