I love lockwork.
But, all of it is based on reproduceable relationships between parallel shafts. Geometry. Measured, reproduceable geometric relationships.
You can study locks with a jewelers loop, or an electron microscope, and the necessary relationships do not change.
You can only get them in 2 ways. By hand, or machine. But to make more than one gun of a type, these relationships must be reproduced. Machines reproduce parts better than human hands.
It's about what the lock mechanism means to you. Up to a point, I enjoy and admire looking at the file strokes of the lockmaker. I marvel at the consistency of the hand work. I love being able to fantasize about life at the bench, creating art from cold steel.
But the geometric relationships don't change, and every part is a list of actions taken. So, until the human-human relationship is established, tying one person's desires to another's hands, the machine made lock looks and works the same.
It really is about, "This lock was made for you."
A patron pays for that connection, not the numerical differences.
