Originally posted by Graymaker
It's like taking the word of a doctor on something he
has not seen for himself but going by what he heard from
another doctor or in text or school.
he could be right, only if the other doctor was right
the point is, if you do the testing yourself
you will know for sure.
Amen to that Dan!
Sorry if this strays a bit from the main subject but I feel that it applies a bit here. I have been a CAT Scan and Radiologic Technologist for the last 15 years, more than 12 of those years on 3rd shift. I can spot a kidney stone patient a mile away just by looking at them. There is a certain look to their grimace of pain.
Some of our doctors know that look, but newer ones will run a long drawn out series of tests, all the while costing the patients thousands of dollars. Understandably, there are liability issues, but too many inexperienced doctors rely on the result of the tests rather than intuition or experience. And the results of those series of tests often times have that same dr. pursue a treatment plan that is WAY off the path of a kidney stone. This happens because they dont have the experience or knowledge to see what is actually wrong. In other words, if science doesnt tell them what is wrong, then it must not be wrong.
Funny thing about kidney stone patients is that they come in batches too. I tell new techs that they are a like a bag of potato chips, you dont ever stop at one. For years I have tried to establish a pattern of why this happens, be it the moon phase, etc.....but nothing really pans out. But still, it is a very real effect. So Bruce's analogy of hanging a chicken foot and dancing around the anvil might have some effect too!
So back to edge packing....while I have done no real tests, per se, I do believe it creates a better blade the way I make them. I have tried both ways, stock removal, non edge packed, edge packed, etc...but my experience shows me that I get a tangible difference in the quality of the edge, a certain "toothiness" that is hard to explain unless you have experienced it. I learned my forging process from writings I have from Bagwell, as well as phone conversations with him too. I also have learned alot from Ed Fowler and Wayne Goddard, although I have never met any of these great Bladesmiths in person. It is a great thing that all these guys share their wealth of experience with us.
Thing is though....even though science might tell us one thing, we also have to rely on instinct and experience from ourselves and others who are "in the arena", to tell us what works and what doesnt.
Sorry if all this is "wordy" but here is a quote from a book that I have thought about alot over the years.
"I learned that pain is the handmaiden of compassion. but the knifing taught me that knowledge is just a sterile list of choices. Wisdom comes by deciding which choices to keep, which to discard, and which to ignore in peril of shredding the soul. The choices havent stopped. I doubt they ever will. Maybe knowing that is wisdom in itself." ~Raymond Harris~
And what Bagwell told me: "Well...if it works, it works!"
