new post / question about steel "looks"

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MidwestDad

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Jan 23, 2017
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So I have (what I'm told is) a box of "blade blanks" (probably 30 to 40 year-old stock). This steel is very poor quality and paperwork indicates "Pakistan." My cousin polished and sharpened one and fabricated a handle for it on a 3D printer. It actually came out looking really great. The problem is, the edge fades instantly. Almost to the point where it vanishes if the wind catches it.

Basically I need to know if it's possible for someone to determine a bunk steel just by looking at a picture. I am an honest man, but we are making knives with the rest of this stuff, and I have no choice but to advertise it as a much better quality steel than what it is. We want to list the knives as "premium steel" / "made in the USA" etc...so people will buy (>$100 ea). Our sales must cover the cost of the handles and eBay fees (and also meet our profit demands). This will not be possible if they can tell the knives are "Pak Steel" from pics.

My wife says the knife looks impressive but "feels like it's stamped from Pakistani tin foil." I found my wife's comment irritating. The situation is not ideal, but I don't have any ethical qualms calling it 154cm or whatever, since the knives will be made in the USA by my cousin and me. Only issue is potential customers smelling a rat just based on the photos, if that's even possible.

We would only be targeting weekend warriors who like to roam around the woods and feel noble and sad-sacks who can't join the military due to asthma, etc... In other words, we'll sell to people who want to feel good about having a knife hopefully without ever actually using one of these things. (We won't be selling these to cops or military.)

I know little about knives and care even less. I feel dumb for taking these blanks in lieu of money for a debt I was owed and am just trying to turn it into a positive. thanks.
 
I'm sorry but it sounds like you're asking us for advice on committing fraud.

Somebody WILL buy one of your knives and figure out what it is, post about it here, and the next thing you know you'll be dealing with Paypal chargebacks and a whole lot of angry customers, and potentially even face legal issues.

My suggestion is that you get creative and artsy with the knives, make them as pretty as you can, maybe grind the blanks into "fantasy" shapes, and sell them as "display knives" instead of trying to trick people.
 
MidwestDad said:
I know little about knives and care even less. I feel dumb for taking these blanks in lieu of money for a debt I was owed and am just trying to turn it into a positive. thanks.
Click to expand...

Now after reading the entire post, I will focus on this.

You feel dumb for taking on a venture that You can't capitalize on.
Due to this, you are going to try to get it "good enough" to look authentic to scam people out of their money so you can get yours.
That just about sums up your post.

TLDR the OP:
I got beat on a deal, and now I am trying to scam folks out of their money since they may or may not be able to tell if my knives are junk.
 
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If this isn't a troll post, then you are a true piece of shit!!!

Edited to preserve the douchebag drivel, infraction-be-damned:

MidwestDad said:
So I have (what I'm told is) a box of "blade blanks" (probably 30 to 40 year-old stock). This steel is very poor quality and paperwork indicates "Pakistan." My cousin polished and sharpened one and fabricated a handle for it on a 3D printer. It actually came out looking really great. The problem is, the edge fades instantly. Almost to the point where it vanishes if the wind catches it.

Basically I need to know if it's possible for someone to determine a bunk steel just by looking at a picture. I am an honest man, but we are making knives with the rest of this stuff, and I have no choice but to advertise it as a much better quality steel than what it is. We want to list the knives as "premium steel" / "made in the USA" etc...so people will buy (>$100 ea). Our sales must cover the cost of the handles and eBay fees (and also meet our profit demands). This will not be possible if they can tell the knives are "Pak Steel" from pics.

My wife says the knife looks impressive but "feels like it's stamped from Pakistani tin foil." I found my wife's comment irritating. The situation is not ideal, but I don't have any ethical qualms calling it 154cm or whatever, since the knives will be made in the USA by my cousin and me. Only issue is potential customers smelling a rat just based on the photos, if that's even possible.

We would only be targeting weekend warriors who like to roam around the woods and feel noble and sad-sacks who can't join the military due to asthma, etc... In other words, we'll sell to people who want to feel good about having a knife hopefully without ever actually using one of these things. (We won't be selling these to cops or military.)

I know little about knives and care even less. I feel dumb for taking these blanks in lieu of money for a debt I was owed and am just trying to turn it into a positive. thanks.
Click to expand...
 
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MidwestDad said:
We would only be targeting weekend warriors who like to roam around the woods and feel noble and sad-sacks who can't join the military due to asthma, etc... In other words, we'll sell to people who want to feel good about having a knife hopefully without ever actually using one of these things. (We won't be selling these to cops or military.)
Click to expand...

So only ripping off these people makes it ok exactly......how?
 
Yeah man... This is unethical and complete and total douchebaggery.

Your eagerness to be deceptive and basically scam cash right out of someone's wallet totally precludes you from even deserving any advice that that would help you make a sale. And this is your first post here... Log off and dont ever come back until you want to contribute in a positive way
 
How many blade blanks do you have and how much money do you have in them ?
You do have a choice and You're probably just gonna have to take a hit because these blades are made in Pakistan and nothing you can do will ever make American made knives out of them. advertising them as such is unethical and wrong. You're best bet would just be to sell them as is or packaged with parts as kits.

Now ethics aside, different steels take a polish differently and someone who knows about different steels will know something is funny.
You will also have people buy one of these knives and discover after sharpening that the Steel is crap. It won't be long before people realize the steel sucks, so you'd be better off just scraping the whole idea.
 
Why do you have no choice but to advertise it as much better than it is? Is someone forcing you to do this? You are headed down a very bad road, coming to a forum where people live and breathe knives, and we spend a lot of money on our hobby and getting ripped off just sucks big time.
 
I'm not a saint by any means. But the OP makes me feel like I may actually be a good person after all.
 
in short, I believe, this TROLL is stating that most all of us here are seen in his eyes as "We would only be targeting weekend warriors who like to roam around the woods and feel noble and sad-sacks who can't join the military due to asthma, etc... In other words, we'll sell to people who want to feel good about having a knife hopefully without ever actually using one of these things. (We won't be selling these to cops or military.) Obviously trying to upset!
 
BTW where I live a weekend warrior refers to someone who is in the US Army reserves, Army national Guard ...ect so you would absolutely be ripping off active members of the military, and the fact that you think they would be stupid enough to buy this garbage is a huge insult buy itself.
 
One of our most basic rules is honesty. We will not allow or support scamming. With your attitude, we will have nothing further to do with you.

"When describing your items, be honest and provide an accurate & detailed description of the item. Don't forget to mention defects, blemishes, new, used, or other problems. When in doubt, be pessimistic with your descriptions. If you have a problem being honest, upfront, and are unable to honor your word then you do not belong here."
 
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