sad: Old Worn out Knife/ Replaced with New Old Knife

[pinnah]

Just wanted to share an old 6217 knife that I've carred since 1973. Used on a diary farm for about 12 years, castrating, cuting thousands of bales of hay, and every thing else associated in farming. Then in the construction industry for about another 20 years that I owned, used for sharpening pencils, cutting out window and door openings, and every thing else.
Finally broke the blade a couple of days ago, and had to pull out the new one that I bought the same time.

This is really one of the best stories I've seen in any forum in a long, long time. Thank you so much for posting it.

There is a term for this sort of thing.... beausage.

The term beausage was coined by Grant Peterson, from Rivendell Bike Works, to describe "usage" that ends up making the object more "beautiful". Beautiful usage. Beausage.

A bike with a frame that has been scraped by leaning against a 1000 lamp posts has beausage. John's knife has a LOT of beausage!!

When I think of beausage, I think of 3 things. First, as a person who makes and repairs things, I get great satisfaction when I see something come back to me that has died from beausage. To my eyes, it is an object that has lived out it's live well. Better to be worn out than to rust from neglect and under use. All things fall in the end. Better to go down being used, in my book.

More importantly something that dies the death of beausage tells me the user was a doer. People who can push a knife to this sort of death are people who do real work. That's mighty, mighty impressive.

Lastly, this sort beausage tells me that the persons using the thing is frugal, in the best sense of the word. It's the kind of frugality that is content to stick with using an object even after and long after the object is showing its beausage. It's the kind of dedication that will run a car out past 200,000 miles. I first got a glimpse of this in an essay by Swedish ski racing legend Ingemar Stenmark who advised young ski racers to stick with a single pair of skis until they've used them enough to file off the edges. Better to stick with one ski (or knife) and use how to really use it and to push it than to continually switch ski to ski (or knife to knife) always looking for the next best thing.

John, I think I'm more impressed by this part of your story than all the hard work you've done. I'm thinking of all of the, what?, thousands upon thousands of knives that you seen for sale in the past 30 or so years and yet you've stuck with this one. That's amazingly impressive and my hat's off to you.

 

[Frostyfingers]

This is really one of the best stories I've seen in any forum in a long, long time. Thank you so much for posting it.

There is a term for this sort of thing.... beausage.

The term beausage was coined by Grant Peterson, from Rivendell Bike Works, to describe "usage" that ends up making the object more "beautiful". Beautiful usage. Beausage.

A bike with a frame that has been scraped by leaning against a 1000 lamp posts has beausage. John's knife has a LOT of beausage!!

When I think of beausage, I think of 3 things. First, as a person who makes and repairs things, I get great satisfaction when I see something come back to me that has died from beausage. To my eyes, it is an object that has lived out it's live well. Better to be worn out than to rust from neglect and under use. All things fall in the end. Better to go down being used, in my book.

More importantly something that dies the death of beausage tells me the user was a doer. People who can push a knife to this sort of death are people who do real work. That's mighty, mighty impressive.

Lastly, this sort beausage tells me that the persons using the thing is frugal, in the best sense of the word. It's the kind of frugality that is content to stick with using an object even after and long after the object is showing its beausage. It's the kind of dedication that will run a car out past 200,000 miles. I first got a glimpse of this in an essay by Swedish ski racing legend Ingemar Stenmark who advised young ski racers to stick with a single pair of skis until they've used them enough to file off the edges. Better to stick with one ski (or knife) and use how to really use it and to push it than to continually switch ski to ski (or knife to knife) always looking for the next best thing.

John, I think I'm more impressed by this part of your story than all the hard work you've done. I'm thinking of all of the, what?, thousands upon thousands of knives that you seen for sale in the past 30 or so years and yet you've stuck with this one. That's amazingly impressive and my hat's off to you.

wabi sabi

-Frostyfingers

 

[williamsld8]

This brings tears to my eyes. By that I mean the same kind of tears that seeing something beautiful or amazing can bring to one's eyes. This has inspired me to buy a Case knife and carry it for the next some-odd years. :thumbup:

 

[TLARbb]

John, I know it's not really good for you to drink motor oil, but I would imagine that there is as much bad stuff in our food from processing (not apples necessarily) as we would get from the joints of our pocket knives. I may be wrong, but fruit just seems to be more appealing when I use a traditional pocket knife to peel and prepare it. Thanks for showing us that knife, being 64++ now, I don't think I'll live long enough to wear out any of my knives like that Case. Great post and thanks for the pictures and the story. Welcome to BF/Traditionals!

Ed J