Workin' my fingers to the bone

Almost literally. I work some days and nights until my hands ache so much I have to stop. Sawing, carving, sanding, filing. 
These are labor-intensive, demanding tasks. I realized that the permanent dark spots that appeared on a couple of my fingers a few years ago are because I actually tattooed myself by accidental stabbing with a needle file — penetrating so deeply into the skin that a permanent deposit of file gunk was left behind. An occupational hazard. I am very careful now. I protect my fingers with special wrap tape (called "alligator skin") or latex/nylon gloves, and I pay more attention to how I'm holding tools and such.

There are a couple more pieces of equipment on the horizon, like one of these (belt and disc sanding machine):

that will speed certain tasks and make them safer in the process, but the truth is, the majority of my pieces require a special touch that can only happen by hand finishing. It is very time consuming and arduous, but I can literally feel every step of the way and that makes a difference.

Machines are good for certain things, but sometimes the slow route is the best.