Metallurgy sub-forum needed

Status
Not open for further replies.
Tai Goo

Tai Goo

BANNED
Joined
Apr 7, 2006
Messages
3,806
Does Bladeforums need a sub-forum for purely metallurgical information?

My personal opinion is that it does for a couple basic reasons…

First the predominance of metallurgy on this forum under the heading of “The Art of Knife Making” gives a false impression of what "art" is really all about, and a sub-forum would also give people looking for purely metallurgical information, and those who want to share the same, a place to go without all of the open philosophical clutter we’ve experienced here.

I think Mete would be a great choice for moderator, as he has set an excellent example of what a true trained, disciplined and unbiased metallurgist should be. Metallurgy does have it’s place and is of true value.

I’m really not trying to start a flame war here, but I am curious what other forum members think.
 
I think that would be a fine idea! If for no other reason than to make it easy to find. Definite :thumbup: from me.
 
So long as the stickies/some posts with more boiled down information stayed here. It would bewilder a lot of the beginners to respond to "How do I heat treat 1095?" with "Go look in the metallurgical forum" ...While it may be in their best interest to look in there, I know that before I had dipped my feet in the water at all, I couldn't digest those big metallurgical posts.

...I know now, though, and knowing is half the battle :rolleyes::D
 
You bet.

SOunds like a good idea...

Flat out like a lizard drinking!

That's what kind of ideas come out of a guy plugged into the Universe!

Way to go TAI!

I applaud you...and all your "selves"!

Shane
 
ABSOLUTELY NOT.

One of the things I like about Bladeforums best is that I can see everything I want by looking at shoptalk, customs, and maker supplies.

This format has been working for several years now.

There are plenty of other forums a person can go visit if they want a different format. Unless of course, they made such an ass of themselves that they were banned from other forums.
 
I think it's a terrible idea. Bladeforums is already getting crowded with dozens of sub-forums for every little thing. If we had enough traffic in here that topics wouldn't stay on the front page for more than a few hours then maybe it would be ok. I just don't think shoptalk is big enough to split up. I also don't think a metallurgical forum would get enough traffic on it's own to be worth checking on very often. Just look at the around the grinder subforum. It was cool for about a week when it was new now it is somewhat neglected. A lot of topics that should be in there end up in shoptalk anyway because that's the one that everyone reads.
Shot talk is like one big extended family. Lots of different people with topics going on all the time. We don't always get along or agree with each other but that is what makes it lively and interesting. Splitting a forum is like telling one of the kids to move out. Sure you will go visit once in a while but it's not the same as having them at home.

IMHO the bigger and broader a forum in the more opportunity you have to learn things that you wouldn't think to seek out on your own.
 
Robert_Phelps said:
So long as the stickies/some posts with more boiled down information stayed here. It would bewilder a lot of the beginners to respond to "How do I heat treat 1095?" with "Go look in the metallurgical forum" ...While it may be in their best interest to look in there, I know that before I had dipped my feet in the water at all, I couldn't digest those big metallurgical posts.

...I know now, though, and knowing is half the battle :rolleyes::D
Click to expand...

I think it would be the "job" of the moderators and/or administrator to move some topics and get the ball rolling.
 
I wanted to come back and second Jason's post. There are LOTS of forums that are divided into EVERY aspect of making knives.... metallurgy, forging, stock removal, leather work, camera work, hand finishing, design discussion... etc. etc. etc.!!! There's usually a post a week or so in many of those forums.

I LOVE shop-talk being a mixing pot of all the various things one can encounter in making a knife.

Dividing it up will only make it harder/more time consuming to view what's going on in sub-forums each day....rather than a quick glance in this one.

As far as I'm concerned, it's not only not broken, it's running like a top, and sure doesn't need any fixing. :)
 
Jason, I'd have to agree. When we mix the metallurgy with the rest we can draw in the beginners.
 
mete said:
Jason, I'd have to agree. When we mix the metallurgy with the rest we can draw in the beginners.
Click to expand...

Mete, how would a sub-forum stop that?

All it would do is give that area a "special" position.
 
i think that the metallurgy forum is needed, as a starting blacksmith/blade smith it would be alot easier to read.

When i want to know about a idea or theory, i useually get off on s tangent when i start looking for it on bladeforums.

Some people don't have the time or the brain capacity to take in every little thread in the forums.

If there were a metallury sub it would make it alot easier for us "starters" to get rolling in basic blade smithing.
 
Maybe just a couple more stickies then? I understand your points about fragmenting the forum... I guess we don't need a zillion stickies either...

Can I go back and change my answer now? :D
 
I hate to say this but,… is there the possibility of an un-metallurgical power struggle going on here?
 
You know, now that I think about it, I kind of agree with Nick. I always come here and go straight to shop talk and he's right, it is good to have all aspects of knife making covered under this one sub-forum.
 
I suggest, if any alteration were actually necessary, it would be far more appropriate to change the word "art" to "craft" in the forum description. It would more accurately reflect the actual nature of Shoptalk.
 
I started with this forum before I had ever laid hand to steel. I've since struggled my way through the methods and art of knife making to my current level (and still a long way to go), helped a great deal along the way by this very forum. Shop talk is the first thing I check when I get on the internet. It's nice to have it all here.

As a hobby maker who started out knowing next to nothing, I was able to find everything I needed in this current form. And along the way, I was exposed to things that were too advanced for me to understand at the time, but things that I came back to when I was ready.

Using the argument that beginners don't need to know any of the metallurgical aspect of knife making until later on (if ever) has a number of down falls. For one, though this may be a bad analogy, but you don't continuously talk to an infant in "goo goo's" and "ga ga's" (no pun intended towards Tai). If you did, they'd only speak "goo goo, ga ga". Instead, you talk to them in a language that is more advanced than they can process at the time, and they learn. The same goes for rehabbing patients. With my patients, I push them beyond what they think they are ready for physically (within their tolerances). And in the process, they improve more rapidly. In addition, by focusing only on the artistic process, you miss an important aspect of getting the most out of steel. How many times have we seen someone come on here and ask about the heat treating of a stainless steel by heating it to non-magnetic and quenching in transmission fluid? It helps to have an understanding of why you're doing what you're doing to get the most out of metal. The metallurgical aspect is important, AS IS the artistic aspect.

My $.02, which isn't worth much in today's economy.

--nathan
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top