Machine Grind/ Hand Grind. Why?

[akee]

Why such a significant price different? Is the grind quality difference that obvious?
Or is it because hand grind is slower, so they have to charge more to recover the cost?

kee

 

[Byrom Hermo]

akee, I'm sure that there are other/better reasons for the price difference but here are mine:

Hand Ground = Stunning

Machine Ground = Regular

 

[Hawaiian]

Photograph v an original hand painting. Which would you prefer to have? There is more artistic value in the hand ground and it takes an artist to do it, not a machine operator.

 

[Gossman Knives]

The makers time and skill. A persons time is so under rated these days. Each handmade knife is unique, no two are the same.
Scott

 

[george tichbourne]

Hand ground and handmade are terms usually heard in referance to knives made by individuals who are skilled enough to make exceptional quality knives. There are certainly some exceptions to this generality, some are downright bad, but they do not last long in the industry.

I sometimes tell people that I am a sculptor working in metal and mixed media producing functional art because that sums up the type of work that custom knifemakers do. Unfortunately attention to detail takes time and high volume is not part of the equation. I must then charge enough for my knives to make a living, and what I charge for a knife is more than a factory turning out thousands of knives must charge to cover costs. No apologies, that is just the way it is.

 

[skintback]

you're paying for a more accurately ground blade!...a journeyman cutler should be able to hold a .003" tolerance on his grinds, and a .0005" on the finish....the only machines that can come close to that require production runs of hundreds of thousands of pieces to be worth the set up time and costs. and i seriously doubt you'll see many holding that tolerance...you're buying the time and experience of someone who is maintaining thousands of yrs of knowledge regarding steel, heat treat, design, materials, construction methods, and processing. not to mention the yrs of education it takes to develop the skills...i've seen plenty of what these "college educated engineers" design, and you're better off finding a real cutler, and tellin him what you want the tool to do, and turn him loose!