Jim, I also like his videos, very succinct and minimalistic. With the exception of hearing 'been doing this for 50 years' more than I'd like, I think most of them are good. I'm certainly not discounting him being a good woodworker, just some of the stuff turns me off. I'm sure he would have sleepless nights knowing that.......
I find myself in an unusual position regarding Paul. His videos are direct, and good natured - without pretense. In person, I found him irritable, cranky and peevish. I learned more in 9 days at his school than in the previous 5 years of weekend courses. I suspect his publishing approach is designed to draw attention, and fees. **** In the class he openly credited Charles Hayward, his shopmates in his cabinet building days and his apprenticeship.
The point to me is that even if he coined the phrase 'knifewall', I don't need him to tell me that he did so. He seems to be a really good teacher, it's just difficult for me to get past what I perceive to be his monumental pomposity. I have learned a lot from him and will probably continue to do so, although my filter is a bit narrower these days. His minimalist approach is very refreshing and I especially like that he doesn't seem to have corporate sponsors to muck it all up. The whole phrase-coining thing just really seemed over the top to me, but maybe it's just me. Thanks so much for your note. In all honesty, I did not realize there was a link, even more surprised when you said it was canned. Good thing there aren't any rules in woodworking!!
Regarding the date of the expunged link - this question surfaces ever so often. The link was to 2017 (mods snip so much here, I rarely bother to chime in anymore) when Paul stopped addressing it. It was published by him back in the 1990's when few of us were interested. Paul has always given the nod to Hayward. The same furor arose when Chris Schwartz was writing articles. **** It's as if we must cite the names if all who came before us, or risk offending partisans. "This technique was passed down by Noah, to Shem, to Shadrack..."
Paul Sellers teaches a simpler approach to edge sharpening that puts a convex shape on cutting edges. It's practical on "softer" steel, but slow going on harder modern steel. I'm down to three steps, coarse stone, medium stone and a strop. The strop is used for touch up, between honings. FYI - I also use David Charlesworth's "ruler trick" although Sellers discouraged it. https://youtu.be/GN4yr7vp4I4
