"unused" ?

[LeftyKnifeGuy]

Been looking at knives for sale and notice the term "unused".........how does one "unuse" something?

[XX Case XX]

I think the correct term would be "Not Used" or "Never Used". I've also seen "car" terms sneaking into knife descriptions like "Pre-Owned", which basically means "Used". People come up with all kinds of descriptions these days.

____________
Mike

[jerryd6818]

un·used: 1. not being, or never having been, used. Which is not the same as never having been played with, coon fingered nor chicken-eyed,

Hey! You started it.

[jmh58]

un·used: 1. not being, or never having been, used. Which is not the same as never having been played with, coon fingered nor chicken-eyed,

Hey! You started it.

John

[Modern Slip Joints]

I bought a two blade knife that was described as never having been used. However, a prior owner hogged off 10 % of the blades with an electric sharpener. In order to lower one blade's point back into the handle its kick was filed.The kick lost contact with the back spring so as the handle was turned from one side to the other the blade flopped back and forth in its blade channel. Turned upside down the point dropped out of the handle. I returned it. To his credit the seller refunded the price including his shipping and my return shipping.The ad's claim that it was never used to cut anything might have been true but in this case a bright and shinny knife was not worth as much to me as a knife with lots of honest wear would have been. Read literally unused does not mean unaltered or even that it was stored well.

[Steve Warden]

I have no problem with the term unused.
It's like saying a can or jar of whatever is unopened.
My 2 cents.

[ScoutKnives]

I thought unused means to clean it up and stop using it

[just bob]

Are unused and unsharpened synonymous? Many sellers think so. Actually an unsharpened knife can have numerous issues like dirt, stains, grit, handling scratches, etc. Is an unused knife held to a higher standard? Any unused knife should be unsharpened IMO.

[jerryd6818]

Are unused and unsharpened synonymous?

No. You don't have to use it to sharpen it and you don't have to sharpen it to use it (although it helps).

[Modern Slip Joints]

Many knives are advertised as still having the factory edge implying that is what collectors want. Does skillfully honing an other wise as new Case on a translucent stone to razor sharp lower its collector value or make it more desirable? The question applies to the majority of production knives since most are sharpened with one quick pass to each side on a belt sander. Assuming no idiot scratches on the sides of the blade and the sharpener started with a finer grit than the factory used I prefer the razor edge. Do you call the razor sharp Case used or value it lower?

[Steve Warden]

Many knives are advertised as still having the factory edge implying that is what collectors want. Does skillfully honing an other wise as new Case on a translucent stone to razor sharp lower its collector value or make it more desirable? The question applies to the majority of production knives since most are sharpened with one quick pass to each side on a belt sander. Assuming no idiot scratches on the sides of the blade and the sharpener started with a finer grit than the factory used I prefer the razor edge. Do call the razor sharp Case used or value it lower?

If I was a purist collector (I'm not), I would want the knife just as it came off the assembly line. That means it still has the same edge, NOT TOUCHED UP, as when it went into the box. If the edge had been touched, for me, it would lower the value. Again, that's me.

[jerryd6818]

If I was a purist collector (I'm not), I would want the knife just as it came off the assembly line. That means it still has the same edge, NOT TOUCHED UP, as when it went into the box. If the edge had been touched, for me, it would lower the value. Again, that's me.

That's why I use "Factory Condition" to describe a knife. I don't think some folks get it that a knife doesn't always come out of the factory in pristine, perfect condition.

[OLDE CUTLER]

I once saw a knife that was actually "unused", it had never been used to cut anything nor had it been sharpened. HOWEVER, it had been in a house fire, a flood, and had fallen from someones pocket in the outhouse and retrieved with a magnet. I will let you imagine what it looked like.