Chris,
I beg to differ, most strongly.
To me it is very important that newcomers to the hobby learn the correct way to do things. Without this they will have problems, and possibly become disillusioned and give it up as a bad job and waste of time and money.
If what Industry does does not apply to us, are you saying that there is no need to mount cutting tools at centre height, or to keep them sharp?
We may not have the equipment to work to the levels of precision that Industry can. Comparatively few Model Engineers have access to Slip Gauges, and some of the more exotic measuring equipment, but the same basic principles underlie our home workshop activities.
My shop is most certainly not to Standards Room or Calibration Room levels of temperature or humidity control. It does not need to be, but holding a micrometer in a hot hand for a long time is not the path to any sort of accuracy., any more than measuring a component, fresh off the lathe and too hot to hold.
What we, each, do in our workshop may not equate to industrial practice, we are unlikely to be under the same time and cost pressures, but the basic principles still apply. A machine that is out of adjustment will not produce accurately whether in your shop or in the Toolroom at Derby..
There will be differences in detail from shop to shop (In one company the foundry on one side of the road cast the same cylinder block upside down compared to the one on the other side of the road! ) But the same physical laws have to be obeyed.
As a died in the wool GWR enthusiast, I hold Doncaster in less awe than Swindon. Cook improved the middle big end on V2s by changing to the Swindon design, eliminating what had always been a weak point, dating from LNER days.
Running gears with excess backlash will not provide accuracy, and running without backlash, aka interference, will result in noise, and wear of both the gears and the bearings and shafts. That cannot be good practice.
I hope that I have made my point adequately
Howard