Why are Chinese Dao grooves almost always the bad kind?

Probably because some dao have that utilitarian look. Basically for use and isn't made for looks.
But I agree with you on this, having the bad looking groove on any sword just turns many people off and looks for other ones.
I also think what's better than a bad looking groove is a bad looking groove that's carved right.

maybe they were done like this in the past?

here's some pictures of antique dao (they look antique to me but what do i know...)



take a look at this www.alaintruong.com/tag/sabre (the second, third and fourth swords are dao showing just for the sake of the fullers)

some are made like todays offering but other range more in a technique we find on japanese swords so i guess both would be valid but it is my opinion take it with a grain of salt because i'm far from being an expert.

Kuya - I have seen many antique Chinese swords with nicely executed grooves and just as many or more with 'ugly grooves', The ugly grooves you mentioned was and is the norm for most cultures FYI. So when you say ' the ancient Chinese didn't have nice flowing grooves on their swords' is a bit of a wrong assumption, with a little bit of research you can clearly see this was not the case at all. Cost cutting by manufacturer's is properly more true and to be honest the demand for well executed grooves is not there to push manufacturer's in that direction IMO.

Now when you're comparing Japanese style grooves to Chinese style grooves, one thing to consider is the philosophy behind each of these cultures. If you can understand the philosophy behind each culture then you can clearly see the 'why' its done in a certain way, the Japanese have a 'perfectionist' way of thinking called 'Kaizen'. In other cultures it's not so important being a perfectionist due to a variety of reasons, a perfectly executed groove does not make the sword any better and for most culture's it perfectly acceptable.

Now, if you have a perfectionist mindset it'll would drive you insane doesn't matter what culture you are from, so once again it's all a matter of thought/perspective.

Then I do agree with you there Kuya but please also understand that it takes quite a lot of work + time and skills to produce well executed grooves. You could pretty much ask any bladesmith and they would tell you the same thing, one thing we tend to also forget is that each part of a sword is made by a specialist back in the days and that applies to most if not all sword cultures.

Huawei is the exception in that they have someone with the right skill set to pull off these types of groove's, it's either that or maybe they developed a new technique which is feasible for production. In terms of bang for your buck for full custom or semi-custom, it's hard to go past Huawei if you know what you want.

Speaking of Chinese swords with nicely executed grooves, I'm currently working with Huawei to create my own version of the 'Tiger Tooth Dao'. It has a total length of 180cm and have a blade to handle ratio of 1:1 as per the traditional version, it's more of a Polearm rather than a sword since it was developed during the ming dynasty for their heavy Calvary. Huawei told me they could do it and from my past experiences with them I'm in no doubt that they could pull it off, I just thought you like to know that Huawei can do Chinese style swords as well Kuya; providing you have your own specifications of course.

Here's my illustration of what it should look like, Yes the strange groove you see here is traditional by design and yes I know it'll be a huge pain the @ss to do


and here's some sword porn www.lqzwdj.com/ - these a great examples of what high quality Chinese swords should be but the asking price is a reflection of that as well. One can hope other manufacturers follow these aesthetics but bring it down a to a more affordable price in the near future but in the mean time all we could do is to nudge manufactures in that direction and hope for the best....who know's a few more years maybe we'll get there.

I doubt they would make more than necessary, it'll be too much work for them as they don't know it will sell or not. The grooves are in highlighted in red for them to identify, the actual finished groove would look something like these.