A reluctant farewell

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Hope you are not giving up on your woodworking but sad to say that time does come one day. All the best and maybe you will pop in occasionaly and give us some Aussie takes!
 
Hope you are not giving up on your woodworking but sad to say that time does come one day. All the best and maybe you will pop in occasionaly and give us some Aussie takes!
No, I am not giving up on either woodwork or metal work.
I did hope, that by joining , I could help some others - but it appears not many.
You don't join to get applause, but rather to give assistance to those who may have less experience. And , perhaps, to encourage others to take on projects they may not have thought they could do.
 
Sorry to hear that. If it's a reluctant farewell, then why not stay? I have really enjoyed the restorations you have done and your obvious love of old machines and the ingenuity of some of the things you have made. I was certainly inspired by your disk sander and would love to make something similar. If only I had the machinery to do it.
 
No, I am not giving up on either woodwork or metal work.
I did hope, that by joining , I could help some others - but it appears not many.
You don't join to get applause, but rather to give assistance to those who may have less experience. And , perhaps, to encourage others to take on projects they may not have thought they could do.

The above is very much the philosophy I have on forums. Maybe take a look at thewoodhaven2.co.uk and see if that suits you?
 
I did hope, that by joining , I could help some others - but it appears not many.
You cannot know how many you have helped or provided some glimer of an idea to because there is no way to measure that, all you can do is throw your knowledge and experience out there and accept it must have registered with someone and for me that is good enough. Yes on occasions someone will "like" it as a direct recipient but there will be many others who will have picked up ideas and have had their grey mater stimulated as a result. I have followed threads and as a result gone of on a tangent just because of an idea that it triggered. The one thing this site has others don't is such a huge wealth of information and experience, and we do try and keep it pleasant with sensible moderation and for free. I have looked at the other site and for me it would be like the dark side, somethings feel right whilst others do not and that feels wrong to me but take a look and you will see what I mean.
 
You cannot know how many you have helped or provided some glimer of an idea to because there is no way to measure that, all you can do is throw your knowledge and experience out there and accept it must have registered with someone and for me that is good enough. Yes on occasions someone will "like" it as a direct recipient but there will be many others who will have picked up ideas and have had their grey mater stimulated as a result. I have followed threads and as a result gone of on a tangent just because of an idea that it triggered. The one thing this site has others don't is such a huge wealth of information and experience, and we do try and keep it pleasant with sensible moderation and for free. I have looked at the other site and for me it would be like the dark side, somethings feel right whilst others do not and that feels wrong to me but take a look and you will see what I mean.

And to add to Spectric's comment above sawtooth9, several posts I did a while back (at least 3 or 4 years I guess) still collect the odd "like" even now - a LONG time ago in Forum terms. And not only that, using myself as the "average Joe" example, I have read and enjoyed several of your posts (I too like old "junk"!) but as I recall, I haven't "Liked" them, mainly because I won't be doing any of that stuff so have "only" read them for interest/enjoyment. By it's very nature, I think a Forum like this is often pretty quiet, especially in terms of "Likes" (etc), but that doesn't mean a member's presence and posts are not appreciated. After all if you were published in a (old-fashioned these days) mag, it would be quite unusual to get much - if any - feed back from readers.

So I hope you'll reconsider.
 
I completely agree with @Spectric & @AES, since the forum changed software to this that allows likes I’ve been really surprised by the likes I’ve got on threads that date back many years. Indeed a dear old friend who hasn’t posted for many a year has received likes on his old posts, so it’s impossible to truly know how many people you are helping.
UKWorkshop comes up often when I’m searching things so even folks who aren’t even members here can still learn from your posts.
 
The above is very much the philosophy I have on forums. Maybe take a look at thewoodhaven2.co.uk and see if that suits you?


Out of curiosity, I went over there and registered just because it was mentioned on here a couple of times. There was some post at the top with nonsense information in it, some reference to sharpening. I responded to it with a picture and comment - I don't recall exactly, but some basic comment about tips of razors not being rounded (which is exactly opposite of what linen and leather routines do on straight razors), and got chided "sharpening topics aren't allowed here".

Right below that was the adherents on the forum discussion a post titled something like "Rob Cosman Sharpening Video - comments requested" or some such thing with a gaggle of posts talking about sharpening.

Forums set up as an oppositional reaction never go anywhere - though I guess if a topic every two weeks is the goal, it might fulfill that.
 
I did hope, that by joining , I could help some others - but it appears not many.
How do you know that?

I've been here very close to twenty years. I'm a relatively intermittent and light poster and I seldom (maybe that's never?) ask for help with design or making issues. Most of what I post tends towards providing or discussing/debating technical information and what I hope is informed opinion and or guidance.

It's quite rare that I know something I've said at this forum has really helped somebody, or perhaps helped a few or many people. Still, that doesn't stop me posting but I think that might be, in part, because I limit my involvement or participation in threads, not really through an active choice, but primarily because I can't work up the enthusiasm to involve myself in every thread in which I could say something I believe is informed, helpful, or useful. Posting as I do seems to mean I don't quickly get burnt out as I've seen so often in other participants here who arrive, post furiously for a while, and then disappear.

You've not been a particularly prolific poster, so I suspect burn out isn't the cause of your withdrawal. Maybe you're withdrawing because you've not had much direct confirmation from other posters noting and thanking you for your help, as may be implied by your comment quoted above? Or perhaps I've got that altogether wrong, and you just want to get away from woodworking forums? Slainte.
 
Richard's post is accurate - i'd got a step further. When we see people who just want to leave, they just leave (like custard), possibly due to burnout. Possibly because it doesn't seem like offering accurate information really makes a dent more than a day or two out from what you post.

Second, I offer accurate information that's based on experimenting, research or actual use. I suspect most of it goes unused. I do it because I like to talk about the stuff, not because I expected that I'm entitled to have everyone do what I do. There's little for the audience on a forum to judge anyone by other than whether or not they remember if they like you from interactions, or are at least indifferent, and whether or not they can understand what you're posting and have a use for it.

I can guarantee that if I walk up the steps and start talking to my wife about these things, she'll be colder about it than anyone on here and start badgering me about getting rid of the stuff in the basement and garage so that the space can be used for things "normal husbands do".

I'm offering the suggestion that you make a decision about what you're posting. Will you post it because you like talking about it and feel it's useful, one or the other, even if there is no response at all or limited response "looks great!" or something of the like. If posting is reliant on having some acolytes do the same thing and follow your wishes and poll you for information to go about it further, it's doomed.

Too, on the positive side, there will be 30 people who read what you post and like it either as making a mental note or just as entertainment, and one of those will post something in response. If there are 5 people who disagree with you or think they know something you don't, 4 will post in response.

But the key is deciding for yourself what you'll post if you don't get an ideal response to it. Is it interesting enough to you to post it anyway. If it isn't, you're wasting your time and if even 2 dozen people showed up here glowing that you changed their lives and saved hem 5000 pounds, as soon as you post again, you'll continue to get the same thing you were getting before.

Post what you'd like to post- but let go of the expectations on others' obligation to reply the way or in the volume you wish they would. It'll do you no good.
 
The other forum mentioned above is ok but you will find that it revolves around about six people. There's a lot of what can only be described as sycophantism as well.
You are better off here.
 
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Gentlemen, the Internet world is more than large enough for many workshop forums. There's no need to make any comparisons between any of them. If one forum does not suit your fancy, move on to another forum, but leave any negative bias out of the discussion.
 
If you want to leave, leave.
If you want to stay, stay.

Just don't expect any gratitude or appreciation.

Blessed is he who has low expectations, for he will be seldom disappointed.
 
Gentlemen, the Internet world is more than large enough for many workshop forums. There's no need to make any comparisons between any of them. If one forum does not suit your fancy, move on to another forum, but leave any negative bias out of the discussion.
(y) Well said.

What you will find on the other forum is that they strongly discourage any negative comments about UKW. Interesting that certain people, who in their own words joined just to have a quick look are quick to condemn when they hadn't been there long enough to be able to do so.
 
I found the forum searching for something on google..... people dont generally revive the old threads,but they still get viewed 👍
Interesting though, maybe there could be an 'apprentices corner' where new to woodworking members can ask questions. The basics must be a hard subject to ask about, especially when you look at what some members can make......
 
It must just be me, but I didn't take it that @sawtooth-9 was leaving us as such but rather based on his posts over the last couple of days, is saying goodbye to his machinery and "reverting" to hands tools due to the need to work with smaller bits of wood and tools
 
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