Stuff to ponder

[rockstar.esq]

Just to be sure, I want to clarify that I'm a huge fan of the stickies and have great admiration for the skill presented and the time commitment those members made for our collective benefit. I entirely agree with Steve regarding the nonsense of taking offense to replies on a forum.  It's free help from people willing to sound off.  You often get more than you pay for but the buyer must beware.  I do appreciate the efforts made by posters here to set things straight should a bad/unsafe idea find an audience.  It's a good mark of a community that it protects it's own.

[VaughnT]

Years ago, I had a guy ask me to teach him how to forge a knife.  I was instantly frustrated because that's the first thing anyone wants to do and it gets rather tiresome to hear it.

 

But, being the good-natured lad that I am, I showed him how to light the forge and manage the fire while we spent the day making dinner triangles and hooks of one sort or another.  After a few hours, he was upset and asked when we were going to start forging a knife.

 

My reply:  "We've been forging a knife all day long.  Look at the hooks you've made, all those mule tracks and knobbly lines, horrible curves and as uneven as you could get.  Then try to imagine what a knife made with your skills would look like.  Knives are an upper-level skill and you haven't gotten there yet.  When you can make an s-hook that's got decent tapers and smooth curves, then you can hammer out a knife."

 

He didn't like that idea and never bothered me again.  Was I rude?  No.  In fact, I would counter that he was the rude party for insisting that I teach him how he wanted, when he wanted.

 

I see the same thing on the forums when a new member asks the very same question that was asked just last week and would be easily seen if they had only scrolled to page 2 and read the thread titles.  Or, they simply spent a month reading through the various websites dedicated to smithing and sundry.  I can't tell you how many times I've come across the information I wanted and not had to start a new thread to get it.

 

Amazingly, I hear a lot of experienced smiths talking about how we need to welcome these people into the fold and nurture them along.  I'm not sure if that's because said smiths were around to see the near death of smithing before the resurgence in the 60's, or they're holding to that Statue of Liberty style of simply accepting anybody and hoping for the best.  In either case, I don't believe that it's a good thing for the internet forums.

 

I'm glad to pitch in where I can, but there are times when I really want to reach through the screen and strangle the poster.  How many threads on "Is this a good anvil?" does it take before a potential buyer can sift through the threads, compile a list of features, conditions and prices, and then come up with a reasonable position all by themselves? 

[DanielC]

Either way, i think you guys are awesome. i am extremely grateful for the amount of time and attention you guys have given to the community. I have been smithying for near a year now. I have low post counts because i try to read and absorb as much information as i can. When i see your posts i pay attention. It will always be that way because i know better.

Thanks for your time and hopefully it will one day be less of a headache teaching the new guys.

[iron woodrow]

I think its good that you Rich, and Steve have spent so much time compiling information in the knife section of this site.

 

It is also worth considering the following though, There are hundreds of other members, with collectively tens of thousands of hours of experience in blade work. If the first reply to a thread is 'read the knife making classes' (often within a few mins of the thread being posted) it does not encourage contribution from other experienced members, who may have valuable information to add that is not in the information you have prepared.

 

just a recent example - I posted a blade with pattern welded stainless cladding. Someone commented they did not know you could do this, and the reply was along the lines of 'we covered that in the classes' - end of. no more discussions about p/w stainless. Out of interest I went and read the classes, and very little of what I did, and my techniques was covered there - but... the conversation was pretty well killed by the comment along the lines of 'do your homework'

 

So, s'pose what I am trying to say is perhaps don't take it so personally when questions are asked that you feel you have covered in the past, perhaps sometimes let the conversation run, ideas get thrown around and possibly new ideas tried.

I would like to point out, that although not offended nor put off the course of smithing, (as I am indeed the one who posted this statement), I did feel that there was no more to be said in that thread, as anything remotely knife related is beyond my technical scope (at this present moment) and I might be "redirected" again.

 

Having done an apprenticeship in industrial blacksmithing (during which I trained 3 apprentices under me), having worked with metals professionally for 15years, and being the father of twin 5 year old girls, I know there are limits to the amount of times you can answer the same question......

 

But- I do feel the thread was stopped abruptly, and I feel like I need to apologise to john n for that, since it was I that effectively brought it to a halt.

 

I merely stated, instead of the one word praise, that I felt that I should say that john was doing something beyond my comprehension (at this time), and to keep it up!  I don't feel it was a "what does a hammer look like" question. it was not even a question! :P

 

I also agree that you lads have done so much for the community of smiths on here, and you have earned the right to be curmudgeons, and have fielded your fair share of stooooopid questions.

keep up the good work fellers