O.K. I am violating several of my personal rules and principles by posting here a second time, and
I will not be dragged into the sophistry being presented, but I cannot let my very good and respected friend Fitzo dangle in the wind here.
In September I moved
www.cashenblades.com to an entirely new server and am in the process of overhauling the entire site with a whole new section on blademaking information that will include a more interactive magazine style format for my articles. As I prepare that, I am removing old articles for updating while adding entirely new ones. The article Fitzo refers to
did exist but will be replaced with an entirely new one that fully explains the real physics and material properties involved, or not invovled, in bogus claims made by things as irrelevant as bend testing.
Upon reading, the nuances of meaning for any writing will be interpreted differently by each reader, the only one who can say for certain what the meaning of the writing was is the writer himself. So here I am once again to give it, as beginner930 put it, straight from the horses mouth (although I am sure there a few who would refer you to the other end
)
The article Revenge of the Bladesiths was my hokey attempt at using allegory involving the Star Wars saga to illustrate what happens when an innocent or good intentioned effort is hijacked by shameless self promotion. The article is indeed relevant to this discussion as it illustrates how I witnessed a
positive change in the ABS when it refocused on its role as an educational organization which takes responsibility in providing sound information instead of a fan club for the forged blade that allowed itself to be misused by myth pandering agendas.
The focus of the article was not the ABS at all, but the misuse and total misinterpretation by many of the ABS bend test, a test that I have made no secret of my feelings of being pointless. But I feel as long as it is only used to determine a smiths ability to control heat it is rather harmless. However when it is totally misapplied or hijacked as a sign of superiority or quality of the knife itself it then becomes a very negative influence on the entire craft by preying on ignorance of the true physics involving the nature of steel strength and elasticity. It is also at this point, as Fitzo rightly points out, that the concept (or more accurately- misconception) is misused as a tool to claim superiority over knives made in another way; a pretty bold position considering it is based upon utter nonsense. Thus the article was about the dangers and negative effects of the over reaching use of ABS concepts for shameless self promotion instead of participating in the positive educational goals of the group. In the article I confessed to once having a poster showing a blade being bent as proof of its quality when I first joined the group and had not yet taken the responsibility of my own education; so the article was in part a penance for my sins of ignorance in the past.
The thing was written perhaps four years ago and so has no direct connection to this current rehashing of the tired old topic except for the uncanny irony that Fitzo knowingly or unknowingly, due to recollection, brings into focus. Until the new article is done, as always, I urge people to do their own research into Youngs modulus vs. plasticity to understand why the test should be about the smith and not the knives if it wants to maintain any credibility.
Since I prefer expenditure of my time on factual information, I would now appreciate the courtesy being left out of this conversation which is mostly heated opinion and will result in very little positive accomplishments as it proceeds.
P.S. to Mr. Winkler:
Dan forgive me for not including you in my references to judges, I have not personally served on a panel with you so I could not with certainty speak for you as a judge so I thought it safer to mention that there could be others present. I have always had the deepest respect for your work and after reading your very sensible appeals here will have an even deeper respect for you.
