A carpenter friend is always dropping his trade's rules of thumb into conversation: "Measure twice, cut once"; "take care of your tools and they'll take care of you"; "buy another man's tools, you buy another man's troubles." Do folkies have this kind of occupational lore? I'd like to collect some for one of the sub-pages at the Missouri Folklore Society's website. Anybody who wants to play, it'd be good to have the proverb, any necessary explanation, and the year and place you first heard it. Any interest?

Adam