Grip like a pencil works better for fine work, but that hammer grip has its place for bulk removal.

Ugh I feel you so hard on this. It's like a broken record but you gotta keep saying it anyway.

Did you ever notice how much cleaner cuts look when you're not dragging spikes through the bark first? I used to be one of those guys who swore spikes didn't hurt the tree that bad. Thought it was just cosmetic damage and the tree would seal over fine. But once I started watching videos of proper pruning without spikes and saw how fast those cambium layers grow back clean, I felt pretty dumb. The bucket truck lets me be way more careful with my cuts too since I'm not swinging around trying to balance. It's not cheap but neither is replacing a tree that dies from all those spike wounds getting infected over the years.

Wait, that detail about the shadows is blowing my mind right now. @evand65 I get what you're saying about the lens thing, but measuring the actual angles seems like pretty solid evidence to me. That's the kind of thing you can't just explain away with camera tricks, you know?

Wait, did you really pay $12 for that whole pallet? At my local ReStore, they usually charge by the piece for ceramic tile, not by the pallet. I scored a box of vintage subway tiles there once for $8 but it was only like 30 tiles. Your find sounds like an absolute steal, mixing colors like that is actually a smart way to hide the fact they don't match perfectly, plus it gives it that custom look.