i have about 4-5 great knifemakers within an hours drive. i talked with most of them and without exception all said come on down. I havent taken them up on the offer yet-but when the time comes and they are still willing i will. Its wonderful to have a community of people with different backgrounds extending their hand out to help others in so many ways. Ive been here long enough to hear various disagreements but at the end of the day its all good. We all dont have to think exactly alike but we can learn from oneanother and feel the comodery and fellowship with are members friends or not. Mark take any chance you get to learn something new and forget about anything that keeps yopu from doing so---i know you know this. Maybe your just playing with the idea and not really that commited, thats cool. But seriously making assumptions without studying muckh about the topic and then making statements that maybe considered contrare - does put some folks on the defensive, especially when they have been doing this for a long time, been through all the different debates and viewpoints. Yet they are still here to share their knowledge and enthuisasm. ok whatever-i know my spelling sucks. --as a wize man once said " dont let your ego get ahead of yourself because it may blind you and fill you with discontent. lets all practice some humility and extend some help to each other. noone is right if everybodies wrong-thanks for reading my attempt at diplomacy--cheers---marekz