Aesthetics QC for users important?

Aesthetics QC important as a user?

  • No

    Votes: 1 2.3%

  • Yes

    Votes: 8 18.6%

  • Depends how much it cost

    Votes: 31 72.1%

  • All my purchases need to be perfect specimens

    Votes: 3 7.0%
  • Total voters
    43
S

ShaiHulud

Joined
Jul 21, 2022
Messages
1,999
User being either the knife (or the person.)

What inspired this poll was I just bought a Buck 110 today with some black schmutz on the knife, it looks like super old black tape gunk but is smooth to the touch, and I purchased it anyway. I tried to use flitz and didn't do anything, I find myself not caring at all. I wonder where everyone else is at.
 
Price and country of origin (often related) are a huge influence. Realistic expectations for a manufactured good have to be maintained. How much profit does one think there is in a sub $100 item/knife made in the U.S.A.? Not referring to the 110 mentioned above.

Sam⚔⚔
 
DocJD said:
Depends a whole bunch on price point , and exactly what flaws . 🤷‍♂️

For a real beater , or something used , a really good deal ...I can ignore most anything not functionally related .
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Yes, not referring to performance or function
This is definitely not a thread geared towards collectors but I didn't want to he rude😉
 
ShaiHulud said:
Yes, not referring to performance or function
This is definitely not a thread geared towards collectors but I didn't want to he rude😉
Click to expand...
Some of my nicer carry knives are technically users , but still get babied a lot .

Most of my town carry folders are still near mint . Never needed them for anything . They just rode along .

I might be more concerned about aesthetics on that type of "user " .

Unless some pressing need arises .
 
DocJD said:
Some of my nicer carry knives are technically users , but still get babied a lot .

Most of my town carry folders are still near mint . Never needed them for anything . They just rode along .

I might be more concerned about aesthetics on that type of "user " .

Unless some pressing need arises .
Click to expand...
I don't know what this black stuff is, nothing takes it off so probably something during the manufacturing process. It's just apart of the knife now I guess, but it doesn't affect performance
 
Like many of you, I care more or less depending on what the knife costs and my expectations for a company. For a high-end, premium manufacturer, I would expect near perfection, because that is what they are capable of and any less is laziness or oversight on their part.

On a new Chinese knife, in general, I would expect near perfection at the $50 level. They can do that in their budget, either through quality manufacturing processes or manual QC.

On an American knife, with higher costs, I would expect this at the $150 level. They can do that. Maybe the smaller manufacturers can’t, but they typically have much higher prices. Kershaw can, either through quality manufacturing or manual QC.

And to clarify, I don’t necessarily mean things like the exact consistency of a stonewash, but things like clear defects or the OP’s black markings would bother me, as they are a clear oversight.

And it’s false advertising to show a knife with no black marks and sell a knife with black marks.
 
I consider a centered blade part of aesthetics. It should look perfect, especially if I am paying part of a paycheck for it.

Any flaws, it becomes a beater. I don't send it back or gift it. I make sure it has a good home. Even if it means hard use.

[My ZT 990 with CPM20CV has held up.]

[My Spartan Pallas with S45VN is starting to show some wear and tear.]

[Both are in my junk drawer in my kitchen]
 
Interesting topic. I largely agree with others that it depends on price point. Most of my knives (Spyderco, Cold Steel, Mora, some khukris here and there) are at the $150 mark or less. At around that price point, I expect reliability and durability more than anything else. If the knife does its job, I’m happy. QC imperfections that are ‘hardly noticeable’ (and I know that’s somewhat subjective) can be tolerated.

My Cold Steels have all performed flawlessly while having some minor aesthetic dings here and there. But eh, they’re user knives.

If I bought a knife starting at the $300 mark maybe, I would expect near perfection.
 
Cosmetic imperfections don’t bother me to much as long as they are users, the more the cost and I expect better QC. I have found good user fixed blades that have a few but they don’t interfere with function. If function is hindered then I would be more hesitant.
 
It's easy to associate a higher price with better qc, because they are an expected pairing, I don't count blade centering as part of aesthetics because if the centering is bad enough it will eventually affect performance or function, which is not a aesthetical.
And I agree that it would be offensive to pay so much for a knife to have it arrived like it went through a washing machine cycle.
 
There is a range of acceptable QC I expect for a new product. The width of that range varies based on planned function and price. If there are cosmetic flaws outside that range, and I bought it to be a user, I may still be a little bit disappointed or change my expectations of the brand quality overall, but in general I will just use the thing.

Some of my most frequently carried and used knives were ones that I either bought used, or had some minor issues in fit/finish that I did not care about because it was never going to be a museum piece anyway.

Conversely, sometimes I have purchased a knife with the intention of it being a user, and it came in so flawlessly executed that it seemed a shame to mess up such a pretty knife. With those, I would be more like "dammit, I was gonna use this one."
 
It really depends on price. If it is marked down because of said issues then no worries at all. If I’m buying a $500 knife I’m going to use regardless it better not be sold as “new” if it doesn’t look new.
 
Of the choices given I chose "all my purchases need to be perfect specimens".

I don't buy much anymore, but would not buy a knife with known flaws.

If a knife arrived with flaws I would return it.

All my knives (all eight of them, LOL) are light users, if I cause a flaw then that flaw is just a part of my knife.
 
I mean, if it's just cosmetic, I don't see the problem, for the most part. My favorite TRM was sold to me cheaper due to "cosmetic defects" that just turned out to be some machining marks on the blade. Blade is gonna get scratched up using it, so what do I care? It functions perfectly fine and saved me some money at the same time. That being said, it was sold to me as a blemished blade so I had an idea of how it would be coming. If I paid full price for it and it showed up scratched, I may have been a little less enthused, just because in my opinion when you start to pay more money, it's less about the materials and more about the fit and finish that you get. Diminishing returns and all that.
 
The jimping on my Manix 2XL is just the tiniest bit off from left to right scale, you really need to inspect the knife closely to see it, and I don't mind at all. I don't have (the money for *lol*) collector pieces, there isn't a single knife I bought that I haven't used. My most expensive one is a TOPS Tracker 3 coming in at about 280€ and it's probably the one with the most blemishes and marks and scratches on it :)
 
Honestly? Anymore, my answer is yes. It's 2024, there's really no reason to carry a shoddily put together knife, user or no. If all I cared about was a sharp edge, my user would be one of those $3.99 Ozark Trail folders from Wal-Mart.
 
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