Hey Boss, as you have been in the "bizz" a long time, you no doubt have learned the axiom of "you can't please all the people all the time." That surely holds true for retail, service and ultimately forum. If you try, you end up not pleasing anybody. That's why more than one knife forum, retail store, knife maker, etc exists.
One thing I have learned in my professional life is the cold, emotionless avenue of communication that forums, email and the like tend to be. Someone could write something and it be percieved totally opposite than the way intended, opposite of how you would take it if you could see and hear the person speaking. However "perception is reality" and 80% of all communication is "non-verbal" or in our case "non-digital." Tone and inflection, intent and sarcasm can't really be fully appreciated - no matter how many emoticons you use. Thus care is warrented by the writer and open-mindedness by the reader. Some folks just aren't that good at one or the other.
My final thought - just dont worry about it too much...isn't the site going in the direction you want? I think so. Your "new to making" section should be sufficient.
As for the "offended party" - don't be afraid to 'show your ignorance' and ask the 'dumb question'. Nobody's gonna ridicule you. From the most saged maker to the freshest newb here, we all have had to find the courage to ask the question or cringe over our mistake and seek sympathy. Trust me, more than one person here has made every mistake possible more than once and ultimately feel great when we are able to help someone else avoid said catastrophe.
If you want a place to learn - this is a great one!
