Ugly vs Pretty

[Tai Goo]

my 'ugly' Tai Goo knives cut better than my 'pretty' collectiky knives.

Thanks bro,... I think?

 

[lonepine]

I've seen, to me, many ugly knives. Some are very expensive and some are very cheap. I'm not picky. A good looking knife, to me, is a good looking knife. Ugly or pretty

Man, that's deep! And TRUE.

Paul Meske
AKA LonePine

 

[unky_gumbi]

Yes. No! Maybe? Definitely. You can't beat a razor knife for pure cutting and they are ugly as sin. Especially the Schick and Gillette multi-blade razors. Damn ugly, but WOW!!! they shave nicely.

If you think that multi bladed razors are sharp you should try a Feather DE blade or a finely honed straight razor. Both will blow the modern stuff out of the water, and some of the custom straights are a thing of beauty:thumbup:

 

[Phil Dwyer]

Here are some homely workers....

Slaughtering, skinning and butchering knives.

Japanese hori hori gardening, transplanting and weeding knife and a head and leaf lettuce/cabbage, etc harvesting knife (bottom).

 

[Tai Goo]

Phil,... beautiful patina on those.

 

[Salem Straub]

That harvesting knife is actually pretty cool looking.

Pretty is a waste not to use hard, nothing lasts forever.

 

[G. Shahan]

An ugly knife and an ugly woman can be fun, as long as your friends don't see you.

Greg

 

[me2]

My ugliest knife hold it's edge longer and cuts easier than almost any other I have. Still the only knife I've been able to cut folded paper off the corner of the table and leave the bottom standing on the table.

 

[black mamba]

Pretty is a diminishing return. Sharpness and edge-holding are renewable resources. Ergonomics are paramount.

If a knife is too pretty, I'm afraid to use it. If it's too ugly, I refuse to use it.

As in most of life, knife bliss lies in the balance of competing interests.

 

[Truelove]

Ugly knives, that work, become pretty to me.

 

[nc_cooter]

Form, fit and function are what i look for in a knife. To me , a knife is a tool to be used and not sit in a drawer.
Years ago, a friend wanted me to make him a knife with a mirror finish on the blade. I made it and he was delighted. Every time I asked how it's working for him I hear "I don't use it. I don't want to mess up the blade". He has never used it. It sits in a drawer to this day. That was the last mirror polished blade that I made.
Mike

 

[Rick Marchand]

The only thing that I can add is that my most useful blades are always moving in the direction of becoming ugly. They are like people... beautiful, clean and tight when they are young (okay, bare with me, this won't get weird). As they age, they aquire character and scars from real life experiences. Materials expand and contract, joints wear and they require additional care and routine maintenence. Eventually, they become to far gone to use without risking total failure.

I think its a wonderful life cycle.

 

[Tai Goo]

I have to wonder about making "high performance" knives that are too pretty, high maintanance and expensive to ever really get used. I guess that's the paradox.

Most of my knives do get used... Does that mean they are mostly ugly? May be. LOL

Seems like a lot of guys really like ugly knives.

 

[Raymond Richard]

Ita, I've always been pretty ugly especially since I hit the 60's and I have yet to see anything remain pretty overtime except for a really nice bald head. Maybe there's a chance for me.

I look back to 69 & 70 when I was in Nam. It was the only time I can remember where a knife was something of great importance. I think our platoon had one or two machetes that were a long ways from being pretty but were used almost daily and had high value. I had my dad send me a bowie I had made several years earlier that I thought would come in handy. As it turned out I tossed the bowie from a chopper cause it didn't do the job and it wasn't worth packing. If there's a purpose performance trumps pretty or ugly.

Here's one of our machetes in use. See the tree that is at a strange angle in the photo. That's one of the trees we cut with a machete that we were going to use as overhead for one of our bunkers. Luckily we had a fellow in our platoon that had some monkey in his genes. Right after I took the photo we started receiving sniper fire from an AK-47. I don't think anyone remember the fellow in the tree when that happened.

Here's part of the same tree after we got it down, cut up in smaller chunks and in our new home.

 

[Tai Goo]

"If there's a purpose performance trumps pretty or ugly." R.R.

Ary,... There might be something to be said for "expensive", ugly, low maintanance high performance knives... "EULMHPK"s.

I bet up to about a thousand $, they'd probably still use it... because it's ugly and low maintenance.

Hmmmm?

 

[Tai Goo]

Is it any easier to make an ugly knife, or any harder to make a pretty knife? Seems like they'd both be difficult in their own ways... to do it right anyway.

... You can polish an ugly knife and it's still an ugly knife, but if you rust, ding and scratch a pretty knife,... it isn't pretty anymore.

 

[Rick Marchand]

Interesting observation, Tai... I feel the same way. Making ugly knives isn't like making crappy knives. I love the rustic, weathered look. My first attempts started out as crappy. Then it hit me. Most of these artifacts that I loved so much, didn't start off as "rustic"... they earned the look. So then I started making pretty knives, which I "uglied up". There is an art/science to it. Like when I patinate a blade... I imagine how it would have been wiped after use, which parts would rub in the sheath, where the oils of a hand would sit, where it would get worn and where there would be build up... then I picture what decades of this would do and apply "age" in layers. High maintenence ugly!

Rick

 

[Phil Dwyer]

Dang Ray, I never heard a story about a machete chopping a tree to build a fort against bullets before. That was one brave guy up in that tree hacking away. I also never heard of a fella throwing a knife he made away out of a helicopter. I'm not sure I want to know what you were aiming at?!

On another note....

I doubt this is on many folks radar screen, but the process of making knives could raise similar questions. Was there elegant simplicity in its creation methods achieving a zen-like or shaker-like economy of master craftsmanship? Were there extraordinarily sophisticated technological machining techniques employed that may have taken years for the maker to acquire and master? How much of the planets energy resources were consumed to create the knife? Are the materials it is made from renewable or from natural resources that are at risk, abused or over exploited? Were toxic substances, consumables and/or processes used (to create the knife or the shop) that injure the environment (either in their production or use)? Etc...???

I suspect questions of this sort may become more pressing as our kids and their kids and their kids move toward their future on this beautiful, yet tenuous planet.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

This thread has influenced me in bad ways! :thumbdn::thumbdn:

I was actually at wal-mart looking at the different colored duct tape thinking...

ductcarta

I could layer it and grind it, soak it in resin.

where's that old lawnmower blade anyways?

 

[Tai Goo]

So then I started making pretty knives, which I "uglied up". There is an art/science to it.
Rick

There was a knifemaker here in town for a while, whom upon finishing a knife used to lay it down in the granite gravel and dance around on it. How cool is that? … not only did it ugly up the knife, it was also a fun test for it! LOL

... kind of like they do with jeans, guitars all sorts of stuff. The weathered look... the funky look!