What do you do with your blemish or b-grade knives?

Steelhog

Steelhog

Joined
Jul 2, 2009
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Hey all - what do you do with your blemish or b-grade knives? In making knives everyone of course makes errors or mistakes on a 100% functionl knife. Things like crooked makers marks, scratches, dings, slightly messed up finishes, ect.

If you sell them as a blemish or B grade at a reduced price are you ever concered about reputation damage as any future owner would also have to note it as a blemish.......
 
As Bart said, use them in the shop and around the house if you can't repair them. I don't think many makers sell rejects or seconds.
 
This quote is hanging in my shop.
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K.B. Knifeworks said:
Hey all - what do you do with your blemish or b-grade knives?
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Reminds me of a recent conversation while helping a friend clean out her dad's blacksmith shop of 30 years when he died. Another apprentice remembered asking him the same question about 10 years ago and Terry's answer was (Terry was a blacksmith, not a knifemaker): "Oh, I guess they'll just end up on the floor and stay there until I die and someone else has to clean them up".
Which is exactly what happened.
 
Yeah this is a tough one. I largely agree with what everyone has said so far but I also have a huge problem with waste. To be clear when I say a blemish or a b-grade knife from a maker it's in almost in every case still higher quality than almost any store knife and is typically a maker's nitpick that makes it not 100% perfect to there standards. Heck I've bought $400 knives from very prominent mid tech that had far bigger problems than what I'm referring to in most cases.

Also when I say "sell" I'm saying selling with 100% transparency if this particular knife is a blemish or not to your 100% standard.
 
K.B. Knifeworks said:
Yeah this is a tough one. I largely agree with what everyone has said so far but I also have a huge problem with waste. To be clear when I say a blemish or a b-grade knife from a maker it's in almost in every case still higher quality than almost any store knife and is typically a maker's nitpick that makes it not 100% perfect to there standards. Heck I've bought $400 knives from very prominent mid tech that had far bigger problems than what I'm referring to in most cases.

Also when I say "sell" I'm saying selling with 100% transparency if this particular knife is a blemish or not to your 100% standard.
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Is the problem something you can fix, or is it something that is beyond your skill level? If it can’t be fixed, and it is below your usual standard of quality, I’d recommend hanging onto it. I’ve had to waste a lot of time chasing flaws, or redesigning/scrapping an entire project because of minor issues.
 
So easy example and what started the thread in my head. This knife the hamon did not come out perfect and I have a cloudy spot on the middle. (I tried to make a few dots and just did not work). Functionally this knife is perfect but it does have a noticable cloudy spot. There's no good way to fix this but it's functionally fine.....

Actually quite happy with this knife outside of that dang spot on both sides.
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K.B. Knifeworks said:
So easy example and what started the thread in my head. This knife the hamon did not come out perfect and I have a cloudy spot on the middle. (I tried to make a few dots and just did not work). Functionally this knife is perfect but it does have a noticable cloudy spot. There's no good way to fix this but it's functionally fine.....

Actually quite happy with this knife outside of that dang spot on both sides.
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That knife is NOT flawed.
 
Nothing wrong with that knife. It is a cloud of nioi. Some folks work very hard to make those clouds. Basically, it is called ashi.
 
K.B. Knifeworks said:
So easy example and what started the thread in my head. This knife the hamon did not come out perfect and I have a cloudy spot on the middle. (I tried to make a few dots and just did not work). Functionally this knife is perfect but it does have a noticable cloudy spot. There's no good way to fix this but it's functionally fine.....

Actually quite happy with this knife outside of that dang spot on both sides.
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I wouldn't call that B-grade.
I can imagin selling a knife like that at a discounted price. Just be open and honest, point people to what you think is an issue and explain that that is why it is discounted.
You are a maker, you see in your head what it should have been. 9 out of 10 people will see a good knife.
I did something simular and people reacted very simpathetic. Nobody would have seen what I wasn't happy with.
I've sayd that I won't let B-grade knives go, but I'd call that an A-minus and point out why I'd call it a minus when people are interested in it. Big chance that they won 't see it as a problem, more likely they'll see it as character.
Perfect knives do not exist.
Aim for it but realise that you'll never achieve it.
 
All of my "blemish" or "B grade" knives become "unblemished" or "A+ grade" knives. Of course there is the occasional catastrophic failure, say a crack during a water quench, but those sort of knives don't even get a grade!
 
I either keep them or give them away. I know a lot of people who can't afford a good kitchen knife.
Not that I end up with many b-grade knifes, usually it's something that I can fix up or it's scrap. Although the more organic style I'm going for means that something like a wonky makers mark might not be a flaw, and that hamon is fine
 
I personally have a bin I put them in, for returning to when I am no longer angry at them. On occasion I'll rummage through it and find one where I'm like, "What was wrong with this knife? I can easily fix that!" For example, the last one I tossed in there, it's because it got a puncture in my foil pouch I didn't notice, and I had to thin it down further than I wanted to get below the decarb. It's a perfectly good knife - it's just much thinner than I wanted and I am currently mad at it. Give it a year and I'll be like "Nice! A perfectly good almost finished knife - I'd rather just finish you instead of starting from scratch!"

But most of the time I look at them as an expensive lesson.

I tend to use my rejects for various testing purposes.
 
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