Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Knife Maker

thisismadebyhand.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 199 posts

Re: The Knife Maker

#71

Post by khafra »

noahc wrote: post #41
patio11 wrote: post #33

I'm torn between "This guy clearly enjoys his work, bully for him." and "The handmade movement is an extravagantly wasteful alternative to a factory in China to give rich white people an opportunity to demonstrate their social superiority over people who use functionally equivalent objects produced in an efficient fashion." (c.f. organic food, fair trade coffee, etc etc. This topic makes me positively Marxist. There…

This is an honest question, and I promise, I'm not trolling but have you actually experienced where someone is really uncomfortable because I can go buy something that is of equal quality and it is related to social status? Is there data on this? Sure there are trends clothing, knife brands, and almost every other good comes in and out fashion, but isn't that the nature of competition and capitalism? Is this because…

It's not at all controversial--standard social signaling theory. GMU Econ professor Robin Hanson's blog, http://overcomingbias.com, has stuff about it all the time. Here's some more classic citations: http://octavia.zoology.washington.edu/handicap/honest_econom...

Re: The Knife Maker

#72

Post by rmc »

sliverstorm wrote: post #65
patio11 wrote: post #33

I'm torn between "This guy clearly enjoys his work, bully for him." and "The handmade movement is an extravagantly wasteful alternative to a factory in China to give rich white people an opportunity to demonstrate their social superiority over people who use functionally equivalent objects produced in an efficient fashion." (c.f. organic food, fair trade coffee, etc etc. This topic makes me positively Marxist. There…

Why is the handmade movement extravagantly wasteful? The main resource added in handmade prodcuts is time, and unlike helium, crude oil and heavy metals, time is not a scarce resource we risk using up.

Time can be used up. We all have a finite number of hours. Everyone dies.

Re: The Knife Maker

#73

Post by rmc »

mapleoin wrote: post #12

This is the most inspirational/life-changing video I've seen all year. I really think that there is a huge amount of stuff that we could start building or making locally, individually with skill, craft and dedication. I would love to be able to work with my hands in a workshop, learning to make unique and masterful things from a master craftsmanship instead of sitting for 8 hours a day in the office dealing with thin…

I really think that there is a huge amount of stuff that we could start building or making locally, individually with skill, craft and dedication.

Yes that used to be the dominant form of production & employment up until ~ 200 years ago. You could bring it back. You might not get enough stuff though.

Re: The Knife Maker

#74

Post by cschmidt »

bh42222 wrote: post #64
cschmidt wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's saying that the main benefit of fair trade to the consumer is a sense of superiority or reduced guilt over those who drink "regular" coffee. That sort of benefit always strikes me as a bit of a "luxury good" as well, in the sense that the benefit isn't about the functionality or quality of the coffee itself. There is of course a benefit to the producer as well, in the form of a fair price. I imagine most of the…

What kind of pedantic asshole cares if the main benefit of fair trade is a sense of superiority? And it's quite something to claim the sense of smugness some people feel is a bigger deal than higher prices for farmers! Humans are instinctive, not as much as other animals, but still quite a bit. This is no way news. That we are driven by all kind of social trends, rather than pure reason is also damn old hat. I think…

>What kind of pedantic asshole cares if the main benefit of fair trade is a sense of superiority?

> And it's quite something to claim the sense of smugness some people feel is a bigger deal than higher prices for farmers!

Whoa, please be calm. I didn't say either of those things. I merely said the the main benefit to the consumer is X, and the main benefit to the producer is Y. I never said anything about the relative importance of X or Y. Of course, the key thing is that the farmers get a fair price.

The mapleoin post seemed to miss patio11's implicit point that there is a benefit to the consumer. That's all I was responding to. patio11 didn't get it backwards, he was just making a point from the consumer's point of view.

Re: The Knife Maker

#75

Post by sk5t »

gaustin wrote: post #63
JabavuAdams wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This really discomfits some people, so they get very creative at inventing reasons Nah, I think you're extrapolating to far. It's just a connoisseur mentality -- the same as for wine, scotch, guns, etc. It can be annoying, it's often untrue, but it taps into the same desire to be self-righteous that's buried in your post, and many of our day-to-day actions. Please don't interpret the previous sentence / paragraph t…

Actually, there are custom gun makers. There is somewhat less room for "handmade" when it comes to firearms, but they still get pretty creative where possible. I don't know any makers personally, but I do belong to the same blacksmithing club as a guy who deals in authentically custom guns and knives: http://www.hallowellco.com/ I'm not a collector, but I love to go look at the pictures.

You might take Ed Brown, Les Baer, and Wilson Combat as examples of semi-custom handguns; there's a lot of hand-fitting involved to make sure everything snicks together just so, and the smiths who worked on a piece are often named on your order sheet and/or sign it...

Long guns are all over the map, with all manner of fancy inlaid double shotguns appealing to the Anglophiles, and a thriving cottage industry of long-range precision rifle smiths.

Re: The Knife Maker

#76

Post by rdl »

PonyGumbo wrote: post #56
willyt wrote: post #39

These are nice knives, but is this not also a really slick piece of lifestyle marketing? Also, these knives are quite expensive. I'm not so sure if they are really up there with the handmade japanese knives[1], seems like theres a bit more to it than just sharpening a piece of hardened stainless?[2] Please correct me if I'm wrong. [1] http://www.japaneseknifecompany.com/KNIVES/LAMINATEDSTEEL/JK... [2] http://www.japa…

He's doing stock removal rather than forging (buys steel stock, cuts, shapes, and sharpens it).

The only interesting part of these knives, IMO, are the pins (which he sources from someone else). In addition to merely being stock removal, it's pretty lame steel.

I far prefer Global (http://www.global-knife.com/) for mass-produced knives, and Kramer (http://kramerknives.com/) for custom kitchen knives.

Re: The Knife Maker

#77

Post by kylemathews »

patio11 wrote: post #33

I'm torn between "This guy clearly enjoys his work, bully for him." and "The handmade movement is an extravagantly wasteful alternative to a factory in China to give rich white people an opportunity to demonstrate their social superiority over people who use functionally equivalent objects produced in an efficient fashion." (c.f. organic food, fair trade coffee, etc etc. This topic makes me positively Marxist. There…

Yeah, I read "The Theory of the Leisure Class" recently and have been rethinking the meaning of a lot of cultural values/activities so understand very well your dilemma.

In this case however, I think buying expensive hand-made knives is a pretty clear case of conspicuous consumption. They're not markedly better in any way over mass-manufactured knives that anyone can afford.

Re: The Knife Maker

#78

Post by mc32 »

patio11 wrote: post #33

I'm torn between "This guy clearly enjoys his work, bully for him." and "The handmade movement is an extravagantly wasteful alternative to a factory in China to give rich white people an opportunity to demonstrate their social superiority over people who use functionally equivalent objects produced in an efficient fashion." (c.f. organic food, fair trade coffee, etc etc. This topic makes me positively Marxist. There…

I like positively middle class factory produced Global knives. That said, to me, this movement is just an extension of the "Home Depot"/DIY effect --nothing more. It's not egotistical whites or egotistical Japanese who make hand-crafted goods only because they can afford to. It's people who enjoy craft for the sake of craft, rather than a show of superiority.

Re: The Knife Maker

#79

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

apechai wrote: post #58
z0r wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is not mass production that is the issue, but the short lifespan of the things we use. If every tool, every building, every mechanism - electronic or otherwise - lasted forever, or even just ten times as long, our economy and society would undergo radical changes as have never been seen before. (Sorry for what is both an obvious observation and a complete departure from the OP, but I have had this thought…

You're right - I wasn't referring to all mass produced things. But I do like it when someone buys (or makes) a gift that's unique, but cheap, rather than something generic but expensive. For example, take toys. There's this store that sells hand made toys around the block from me: http://playing-mantis.com/wooden.htm . Does it make sense for a kid to have 3 plastic toys they'll use for a couple of months and throw aw…

I take it you don't have kids. It doesn't matter how long the toy could last, they'll still only play with it until they get bored then it gets lost or ignored.

It's the same with most things that are continuously being improved: another poster made the point about cars. Most people don't want a daily driver that's a 30 year-old gas guzzler even if it still runs fine. New cars are more comfortable, cheaper and have lower operating costs.

It's not going to change: people want stuff. The cheaper it is, the more stuff they can have or the less they have to pay for the same amount of stuff.

Re: The Knife Maker

#80

Post by [deleted] »

rmc wrote: post #72
sliverstorm wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is the handmade movement extravagantly wasteful? The main resource added in handmade prodcuts is time, and unlike helium, crude oil and heavy metals, time is not a scarce resource we risk using up.

Time can be used up. We all have a finite number of hours. Everyone dies.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN