from the framelist:
>...Should I just keep plugging away or give up frame
>building altogether since I haven't "paid my dues".

h?l -
being a "master" (which, btw the way, i think is an eff-ed
up word) is not only about how things look. when i started,
everyone was all wet and sticky about "thinned lugs" and
really cool dropout area confluences. since i was new and
had no experience other than a few years working in another
shop, all i could concentrate on was "thinning lugs" and doing
a bad-ass job on my dropouts. five years into the gig, those
(types of) things became incredibly rote - with a capital "R".
i realized that the challenges i faced had to do with construction
sequences, how different material combinations react within
a single frame, how to solve size/fit/design/geometry issues,
and "all that stuff". i don't think i felt comfortable in my own
until the mid 90s. your mileage may vary. regardless, and this
skin is not aimed at sacha (who's a pal) or dave (who's an email
pal) despite your using them as examples, but you really don't know
what is going on in a frame or in the builder's head simply by
seeing examples of the finish work online.
e-RICHIE