a truly well make custom will have a soldered joint. It is becoming a lost art. It very difficult to have a soldered joint and a hand satined finish no the blade together. Many of the flat grinders in particular love the had satin finish . It hides a world of flaws in the grind. It's currently the IN finish. It is an incredibly fragile finish. Allowing scratching, and an easy start for corrosion. Same with the non soldered joint. We solder it to keep the body acids, and fluids such as blood out of he joint which over time will weaken the joint. The acids will continue to seep under the handles, separating the scales from the tang. You can easily see this by examining knives at the butcher shops The older hickory handled types. You've probably seen this in your grand mama's old knives.
Sadly, Custom Knives are becoming more and more about just looks. High dollar bling, with no function at all. Other than to make the Maker money, first and foremost. but there has been buzz words brought into play to cover this up.
in the case of the un-soldered joint, it is herald as the Solder-less Joint. The neatest, greatest thing out there. Real craftsman ship. Bull! It is just that. A joint with shout steps taken. Very few makers can properly solder a joint any more.
If you want to see a hing of beauty, take a Look at a SJ Johnson blade guard at just about any major show. It takes a lot of skill. Both to solder that well, and do it with out totally screwing up the finish on the ricasso. Hell. It takes me much more time to properly prep, solder, and polish a blade joint than any other part of the knife making process. No wonder so many make elaborate excuses as to why it is no longer needed. When what they really mean is that it is way too much trouble, If they can do it at all!
The nicely soldered joint is just as important as any other part of the process in building a superior Knife.
Mike
