Do you purposely "Rough up" any of your knives?

[Call_to_Arms]

Do you ever purposely use your knives for tasks you know are going to leave a mark on it? Or subject it to being carried in a tool box or in a pocket with your keys to ding it up a little? Why? and how do you do it?

Ill throw my 2 cents in. My 110 was a gift from my Dad when I was 12, I carried on my belt for years right through the army until I started collecting knives when I retired it to a drawer. It wasn't until I started thinking about eventually buying my son his first 110 when he turns 12 and seeing ours side by side that I decided I didn't want mine to just like his, I want it to look 25 years older. So since then it has been traveling out of its case in my front pocket and in the console of my car. Second is my No. 10 Carbone Opinel, bought new a few months ago, wood stripped and oiled, very deep patina on the blade, it could pass for a ww1 model, except the woods shape itself is pristine, no scratches, dings or rounded corners, so it is getting pocket time as well as time spent in the bottom of my work bag.

So, what knife are you trying to give some character? How? and Why? And if you have pics throw them up.

 

[Mossyhorn]

Yes I do. My Cold Steel KUDU. It takes more abuse and holds up better than knives costing 5 times as much.

 

[DerekH]

I treat my knives well, and don't subject them to anything that would be considered abuse, with one exception; my BK2. Every other knife I will baton gently, mostly because there is rarely any reason to beat the snot out of it, but for whatever reason, my BK2 gets beat like it stole from me. I suppose it is because I know it can take it. Heck of a deal for a $60 knife.

 

[Komitadjie]

Not really, I try not to abuse my knives as much as I can. I have no problem doing a job with it, my knives are working knives so they show some scratches and some wear, but I'll not deliberately put it into a damaging situation.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Not deliberately. I think the best way to 'break it in' is simply use it (but not abuse it). The scratches & dings will come soon enough.

 

[BryFry]

This thread needs more pics!

I've taken a couple of knives and tomahawks that I wanted to give a more "vintage" look to, and purposely roughed them up quite a bit.

Even gone so far as to soak them in harsh chemicals like bleach, and salted lemon juice for a few days just to give them some character. (character being pitting and patinas)

Also roughed up some nice new wooden hafts by banging them on or with stuff, and scuffing them up with sandpaper for effect.

Also like to strip off factory blade coatings, and grind on handle scales for better grip and looks.

something like this:

 

[Taonari]

I try not to abuse my knives either. But, like DerekH, I do not hold back with my BK2. It seems to laugh at me when I put it through hard use.

 

[Komitadjie]

Well, you're pushing the line there between 'beating up' and 'controlled aging', BryFry. And those are some darn nice-looking pictures.

 

[Call_to_Arms]

You are very right Fry, this needs pics. This is the best I got, its still the before pic, you can see very deep patina and natural looking wood, but other than that pristine condition... for now.

Now I think this looks nice, but it is lacking this kind of character, circa ~1910

 

[BryFry]

Very nice Call_to_arms! ...I used to have an old Case knife that looked a lot like that bottom knife of yours. When I was a teen I accidentally left it in the bed of my Dads truck for one rainy week!

When I found it, the sheath was stuck to it and had to be pried off. The blade was quite rusty and had an interesting pattern to it from the sheath. I cleaned off the red rust and left the cool pattern on it. Looked pretty cool, and I wish I still had it!