BossDog,
I would like to know where you consider the "line" to be on this forum, if you wouldn't mind. I think Kelly may be referring to a recent post I made where this was brought up to me by a moderator (and it's been eating away at me since...)
I know what you mean. I started a thread about someone accused of copying maker's stuff(From another Country) I found elsewhere on the internet. The thread was deleted. It really bothered me that I had done something wrong,even though no one really said anything about it. It bothered me enough I didn't really come around for a while. So I think I know how you feel.
I look at it like this.... There are enough sites on the internet, that if I feel the need to rant/bash/whatever, I can go there, get it out of my system and come here, relax, enjoy myself, and have fun with LOT's of friendly folks. Since that thread, I don't say anything that would be considered negative (Unless I'm talking about my own work) My work, needs work and I know it. With some things, it's not what you say, but HOW you say it.
To me "Bashing" is when someone says something like "Poco your work is so bad, I don't know why you even bother" when they could say something like "Poco your plunge lines need to look sharper and more crisp. Here's How I would do it...." I know my work is crude, the ONLY reason I post pics of them is so all of you can tell me what I need to do to improve. I really do want to make knives as beautiful as the pictures of knives I see here. But I have stopped "Production" because there are things I think I need to learn.
Just tonight Ernie posted a Tutorial, on my weakest area, the Plunge line. Now it's time for me to head back to the shop and put to practice what I have learned(I learned two things from that Tutorial By the way). Unlike some of you here, I have never had a shop, or worked in one, so some of this stuff is truthfully beyond me.THAT is why I like KD so well. KD is friendly, helpful, courteous .... kind of like the Boy Scouts.
Speaking for myself, If I can't say something nice, or ask for an honest answer, I just don't say anything. Don't get me wrong, I can disagree about something, but I can do it nicely. Right now I get frustrated with myself, Not with others here, so I try to be careful not to let MY frustration with myself show through. Especially when I'm not understanding what someone is trying to tell me.