They do, and I'll jump right on it.

leomitch wrote:

I'm having trouble getting it to approve, need to get the webmaster on it.

Whoops Clay! I may have, and I am sure I did, post the Bark River Bravo 1 twice, when I added a comment by going back rather than using the Edit control! Bad Leo! Sorry!

Leo the contrite

No problem Leo, I approved the second and deleted the first so I think we're good to go. Thank you for adding them!

leomitch wrote:

Thanks to everyone who's been adding knives, it's growing quickly!

Bumping up the thread again to remind everyone to add your knives if you have a moment to spare.

This database is great idea, but I think that details like recommended angle and finish are mostly the product of user preference, and its usefulness are questionable. I think comments from different people about processes an results of sharpening with different settings would be better.

Thank you Lukas. I agree that the settings are subjective - it's nearly impossible to come up with a single setting that all will agree is perfect for a given knife, especially since we all use them a little differently. It's still instructive as a starting place for people to begin their own experience with a knife. The comments section is intended to provide a space where the user can discuss the reasons for choosing a given angle/finish for a knife. With my entries, for example, I try to detail my history with the knife and why I've come to adopt the settings I'm using. The more insightful the comments are from the submitter, the more useful the entry will be. As the database grows, patterns will emerge that will be meaningful. For example sorting the data by the 'Steel' column will allow a quick view into what settings the majority of people are using for a given steel, presumably based on experience using the knife. So if someone has just picked up a new knife and finds it in the database, they'll have some pretty clear ideas as to what has been working well for others. Your comment does make me want to include a reply section so a dialog can begin for each knife as others jump on and discuss their experiences. I'll mention it to our webmaster to see if it can be done. It would be very helpful.

LukasPop wrote:

I agree with Lukas that the anecdotal comments add great value to the database. User experience with the steel and edge angle is important to the usefulness of the data. Maybe it would be enough to increase the number of characters allowed in the slots where there is now a cap on the number allowed.
Of course there has to be a balance in the size of the anecdotal comments and the objective comments, otherwise long-winded guys like me might bury the value of the data in too many words. Hopefully, submitters will use discretion when making comments and restrict their comments to germane information.
See what I mean Clay! Long-winded guys! LOL!

Cheers
Leo

wickededge wrote:


Yes there is an issue about the database, an issue not so much with the database, actually, as with the knives themselves.

Here is an example of what I mean: I have thought about including my data on my CRK Sebenza, but when I look at my own notes and history with that knife I see that it is all too weird and complicated to put into the database. The knife went from convex, to 18 per side to microbevel, and none of that really worked because of hardness issues with CRK knives, so I am just scratching my head on what to do with the data, I would not want to mislead anyone that is scanning over that data.

Maybe we could start another column in the database (oh no! your poor webmaster !!) like a numeric 1..10 rating of the authors opinion of how successful a particular grind option is. Then I could make four entries for my Sebbie, all rated as to how great I think the result turned out, and the the top rating would be (for that knife) only a 6 or 7 as I don't think you can ever really sharpen a CRK knife until they do something about their shops hardening policy. They take really *great* steels and then leave the loaf half-baked in the oven, so the result is soft squishy white bread Now my numeric rating, in contrast, to that knife, might be with my ZT / Elmax that is a solid 9.5, a razor blade in a folder, that's for sure!