Originally Posted by
Winton Applegate
Shaun,
Thanks for speaking up and we need more lurkers to participate vigorously.
Now
allow me to do what I do best, for good or bad, and comment from kind of an outside perspective on these woodworking chatrooms in general and on other chatrooms besides this one in particular.
What has alway amused me is that so many people hate to read, or can't read because they fall asleep as soon as they start to read (which I hear a lot)
yet
they go to a forum like this and read to discover how to solve problems in their wood working. Or to learn woodworking which would be even more questionable.
Knowing full well, I would assume anyway, that some of the junk they are going to have to read through is going to be just that.
What I am getting at is a forum, chatroom, club what have you is MORE than just a place to go learn something . . . it is a place to tell stories, hear stories, bang the table and argue, even when you might know you are wrong or just for the sake of BSing.
Talk to other woodworkers, because you like the type of person they are, about things other than just woodworking. I like "rat holes"; gives a person a chance to learn about the other members.
For instance . . . this thread.
So getting back to your comment and I am talking more to the other members maybe than I am to you but using your comment as a spring board . . .
if people want accurate information there are quicker and more reliable resources to glean it. Woodworking stores that rent DVDs and or books, the local public library for same . . . which is where I learned a great deal for not much $ long before there were forums and there is the more serious investment in lasting and accessible knowledge : buy books and magazines and start a personal library and if you are lucky take classes.
So . . . I for one enjoy the accurate info but more than that I come here for the other stuff.
Too.
Good points Win. I personally enjoy the whole gamut that you mention. I get alot of info here that I actually use too, in addition to the banter. I often ask for a check on an idea and the Community's answers often changes my course or save me time. As you mention, I read a lot of WW books for insight - just got Whelan's Making Traditional Wooden Planes today in the mail. But Im still learning to sort truths from fictions and appreciate it when more experienced guys can point out what might be innacurate info. For example, I learned a lot reading the saw hardness thread you mentioned in your first response to this thread.
Take care man. Keep us laughin'.
Fre
Last edited by Frederick Skelly; 03-10-2015 at 9:20 PM.
Reason: typo
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”