I went through all the pages of this and it is interesting for sure. In 20 + years as a knifemaker most of them full time I have heard all this descussion before. Any way you want to make a knife is right for you, just enjoy it and do the best you can. My only problem with some is when they are buying their blades from a supplier and telling people they are selling them to that they ae making them by hand. If you can afford a cnc more power to you, that is just your style of making knives. I have some slip joint patterns water jet cut and it saves me a lot of time. Even at that with my bad eyes and my shaking I still can't make two knives that look like they came from the same waterjet pattern Ha. I have no jigs but if I was to get some and it helped I would use them for sure. I have a little table top mill that is 20 years old and use it to cut the lock notch on my lock back folders and then the shoulders on my stick tang knives which I do very little of. The main thing to me is for everyone to enjoy how they do it. I promise if I could make knives llike David Broadwell I would not care how I did it to me his are the greatest and his patterns are top notch. Enough rambling just make knives and enjoy it. I do it for a living and sometimes I think that takes the enjoyment out. Life is too short to complain how someone else is doing something if it does not effect your life, and life is too good to be wasting it complaining.
My rambling is over and you guys and gals have a great weekend and come by when you are in Lufkin Texas
Percy