I've seen amazing work come from very simple/inexpensive tools, or even inappropriate tools, and crappy work come from very good tools.
The poor craftsman says "my works sucks because the tools suck", while the good craftsman learns to use what they have.
No, he goes out and gets new ones or fixes/builds them himself. That's how I always understood the saying; the emphasis is on the word "blame" not the word "tool". It's about people who sit around and complain rather than taking action to fix the problem. It doesn't mean you should put up with shitty tools.
- https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_bad_workman_always_blames_h... - https://poemanalysis.com/proverb/a-bad-workman-blames-his-to... - https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/a+poor+craftsman+blames... - https://usdictionary.com/idioms/a-bad-workman-blames-his-too... - https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/a-bad-workman-...
His interpretation is similar to mine, higher up this thread. It is therefore far from unique.
I think it is also not at all unique for scholars to hear a saying and assume a meaning from it, and because they wrote it down on wiktionary it becomes the 'official version'. Whereas my version came from working with other tradesmen for a decade...non of whom were scholars, but were the owners of the culture.
The other adage that goes in concert with craftspeople shouldn't be blaming their tools is that, "true artists work within the limits of the medium".
I always interpreted it as "a good craftman understands fundamentals". Photoshop can't save a bad artist. but a good artist can work without PS, even if it costs efficiency.
can doesn't mean they will, though.