One
Banned
We see a lot of confusion and conflicting information when questions about steel selection and heat treating are worded, “What’s the best this or best that?”. What’s best depends on a number of things, personal opinion not being the least of them,… also specific circumstances, guiding philosophies, variables etc. People get frustrated by the multitude of conflicting answers, which most often leave them scratching their heads and lead them back to square one. This makes it evident that although heat treating usually involves a lot of science, in and of itself it is not an exact science, but more of an art. The misconception that heat treating is an exact science also leads to a lot of confusion and argumentation.
On the other hand if questions were worded more like, “What are some acceptable steels for such and such type of knife?“, or “what are some acceptable quenching mediums for such and such type of blade?”, or "what hardness range is acceptable for such and such type of knife?”,… and "why?", the tone would be much different and a lot of the bickering and confusion could be avoided. This would also empower the asker to make his/her own choice on what’s “best” based on the information and his/her own circumstances, perspective, preferences, philosophies and goals etc.
My personal feeling is that much beyond being acceptable, it’s all just a matter of opinion anyway.
If we ask a heat treating question with the word “best” in it, we shouldn’t be surprised when the answers that come back are all just a matter of opinion,… and that the “experts“ seldom agree. In essence, asking what’s "best" is asking for opinions and generally leads to arguments between those who pretend to know.
... Outside of basic principals of metallurgy, it's very subjective.
(Edited to say that, I'm sure we could also disagree on what is acceptable, what works, what doesn't work etc., but too a lesser degree with less offence and defense. There would still be room for opinions and healthy discussion.)
On the other hand if questions were worded more like, “What are some acceptable steels for such and such type of knife?“, or “what are some acceptable quenching mediums for such and such type of blade?”, or "what hardness range is acceptable for such and such type of knife?”,… and "why?", the tone would be much different and a lot of the bickering and confusion could be avoided. This would also empower the asker to make his/her own choice on what’s “best” based on the information and his/her own circumstances, perspective, preferences, philosophies and goals etc.
My personal feeling is that much beyond being acceptable, it’s all just a matter of opinion anyway.
If we ask a heat treating question with the word “best” in it, we shouldn’t be surprised when the answers that come back are all just a matter of opinion,… and that the “experts“ seldom agree. In essence, asking what’s "best" is asking for opinions and generally leads to arguments between those who pretend to know.
... Outside of basic principals of metallurgy, it's very subjective.
(Edited to say that, I'm sure we could also disagree on what is acceptable, what works, what doesn't work etc., but too a lesser degree with less offence and defense. There would still be room for opinions and healthy discussion.)
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