The example was bad, but the concept is there.
There's a certain level of trial and error, that follows some pretty theoretical ideas. In the in-between, there are simulations, like Roscal did for my Radius block.
I like to think of Jd as a bit special, because he tends to deviate a little, from a plan
. It's actually a good way to get some pretty awsome results. Take the lemon block for example: it's really top notch, and actually follows a plan, but look at the jet block, with the cup walls tilted out, and that went on a bit of a tangeant. Unfortunately, it hasn't paid off yet, but JD's been on this dimple idea for quite some time: Cathar and I just picked it up, and took it further.
I never thought that the Lemon block would perform as well as it does, but the design is actually pretty clever: you just have to look at it very closely.
Otherwise, I don't take being a senior member for granted. I've done a fair bit of work, all of which can be seen here. I don't assume that newcomers go back and read it all, so I occasionally post a link to what I've done.
(note to newbs: sort the posts by "thread starter", and just go down to the name you want to lookup).