This is particularly true in the liner and frame lock making which has been discussed at great length.
Yeah, that is an obvious example of how an industry standard, does not indicate quality. Once you accept this is true then it precludes the use of that arguement in general, you can not use the commonality of any method or materials to assign quality. Would you argue that steel fads do not exist for example?
What I see happening is when somebody does criticize a knife or a manufacturer, those who own or have owned the same knife, or those who really, really like a particular manufacturer, counter.
Yes exactly, now consider it is common when negative comments are made that the methods and logic are significantly questioned (which is good) but the same standards are not held to when praise is given (which is bad). Have you really not noticed this? If you accept this is true then it is obvious that it creates an enviroment which is biased in terms of promotion over critical evaluation.
Now look at the responces in the above specifically, I have provided published materials data to support the position outlined and the responce from Thomas is simply one of a character attack and vague assertions with no details. You see this has having a positive effect on information flow and it encourages people to demand proof of claims from manufacturers/makers?
It as reasonable to refer to the published work of a knifemaker and metallurgist who has worked in the steel industry and specialized in cutlery as "obscure" especially when he has been an active member of the several online forums for quite some time, including this one and posted many times about heat treatment of steels in detail.
Several months ago when I first raised this issue in responce to Kershaw's hardening of 13C26 it was ran softer than it is now. Now I am not suggesting this was simply in responce to what I said, but it seems utterly absurd to keep arguing that the point I made then was somehow invalid and without merit when the solution to the criticism I proposed was actually partially implemented.
Take the viewpoint I have outlined here in regards to 13C26 and heat treatment, do you not see me consistently raise the same points in regards to steels in general regardless of who makes them? Of course I have (for years now) and thus the accusation by Thomas is 100% without merit. This is productive?
Note the issues raised even by Thomas directly that they are having problems with corrosion resistance and others such as reported by kel_aa are directly the result of a heat treatment which is less than optimal for exactly the reasons I described. Instead of discussing this in detail it is ignored and then dismissed in kel_aa's case because he isn't in the majority which doesn't even consider the level of objectification of the data which is just absurd.
You again see this as an ubiased commentary directive? Now of course you would not really expect to see this from any manufacturer, who for example links to negative reviews of their product, but look in general at the surrounding atmosphere and does it encourage or attempt to confine such direction?
When somebody buys a thing, be it a knife or whatever, they tend to want to like it. They tend to become invested in it. Depending on how good they are at seeing what's really there, as opposed to seeing what they want to see, they may continue liking the thing, to the point of continuing to praise/recommend it, even when the thing really hasn't met their expectations and, deep down, they're really not all that happy with it.
Yes, that was one of the points I raised, though not as clearly stated. This is why as I have noted many times before you have to take steps to eliminate user bais if you are interested in actual representative information. This can be achieved by both the user and the manufacturer in many ways. Primarily you don't create it in the first place as ideally the test group doesn't know anything about the blades but even if they do you can prevent any possible preference bias from being an influence if it is desired. Of course the latter is critical, you have to be able to accept the fact that the product you spent your money on wasn't actually the best choice. This is an issue for many which is why there is a lot of defensive reactions.
-Cliff
