Mike, Mel largely killed The Burl as well. The forum began well, with many from Knots attending. Mel continued at The Burl where he left off at Knots. His rambling posts would go on and on. One could ignore these. However, every thread had a constant stream of his reminders what "real woodworkers" or "professional woodworkers" would do instead. He did not build anything himself (he carved bowls) but he was a font of information gleaned from reading, and his constant reminders became wearying. He sucked the fun from a thread and from the forum. Members began staying away. When you banned him, after yet another of his tirades (one in particular which was extremely bigoted), the damage was done, and there were only a handful of contributors. I posted builds and reviews, replied as much as I could, but the forum simply ran out of steam.

Regards from Perth

Derek