The difference between handmade and machine made swords

Do you know what makes hand made swords different from factory made ones? Handmade swords are made differently, with different intent, aim and skills. Factories need to make weapons that are good enough to sell to a mass market.
What, really, is handmade? Obviously, things were literally handmade a long time ago, when tools were simple. Dedicated and specialized tooling capable of only one operation, as is the rule in factories did not qualify; neither did the rote assembly, even if by hand of components made to identical specifications. These became the standards by which to distinguish handmade from production made.
It might be most true to say, that handmade weapons differ from factory made primarily in that factory swords are mass-produced, and handmade are not. While this may sound obvious and self-evident, a number of implications arise out of this basic fact:
Factory swords are made to strictly unvarying specifications and in large numbers. Each one will be exactly the same in all particulars, and if you want anything a bit bigger, or a bit smaller, or any different way, you will not be able to have it unless you pay extra to have it customized. An individual maker can provide you with a weapon that is tailor-made only for you in many ways.
A handmade sword will carry a price that reflect its real value in terms of labor and overhead, more truly than a factory made one, that carries the same price. A factory will target a price at which it wishes to sell a certain product, and will do everything to enable its introduction to the market at that level, including using parts made by others and ad campaigns. A sword master will make something that is as good as he can make it, without an overriding imperative from the profit motive. Because factory swords are made for wholesaling and price mark up, and handmade are in general not, there are much more room for discounting within the system of retail store mark ups, than an individual maker can offer. Discounting is a market tool, and factory made products are made and priced so that everybody in the complex chain can share in the profit. Handmade swords are priced, so the maker can survive.
An intelligently run factory is geared to operating smoothly in a standardized, not customized way. Its priorities are automation of procedures and dimensional standardization of parts. A hand maker, on the other hand, is generally flexible and inefficient to do customized work in every place where it counts. This is, in fact, the essential distinction between handmade and factory craftsmanship. The factory’s craftsmanship is based in division and automation of labor: there is someone who is paid to do each step or make each part. He has to do it repeatedly, many times a day, at a level that meets the factory’s criteria for acceptability. As often as possible, a machine replaces this specialist. The hand maker, in comparison, has to be adept at everything. He must spend years to master all the techniques and skills necessary to produce a high quality product.
From the factory point of view, a quality is the same as reproduction of the components and efficiency of assembly. That is why, the factory man considers quality to be the measure of how efficiently his parts can be identically made, and how fast his products can be assembled in a consistent, trouble free manner. From the individual maker point of view quality has nothing to do with any of this. He will use all his skills and artistry to produce a piece of great character and quality, no matter how long does it takes.CLICK TO BUY THIS ITEM >>>>