Learn all about Japanese swords from Wally Hostetter at BLADE University. Wally made the mounts for Steve Schwarzer’s Nagmaki, a repro of a pole arm with a sword-like blade used by 14th-17th-century Japanese warriors to cut the legs of the horses of enemy cavalry.
Japanese swords combine the elements that make everything about the world of blades fascinating—history, mystery, outstanding cutting performance, beautiful craftsmanship, collectibility and more—and Wally Hostetter will school you on it all at the 2nd Annual BLADE University.
Hostetter’s class will be one of many at BLADE University, which will be held the day before (June 4) through show Saturday (June 6) of the 2015 BLADE Show June 5-7 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta.
In his class entitled “Collecting & Maintaining Japanese Swords,” Hostetter will explain what to look for when you buy a Japanese sword—including different patterns/designs and genres, the proper fittings and more—and how to maintain and care for it once you’ve bought it.
Hostetter is a long-time swordsmith who also is known for making sword mounts for such world-renowned swordsmiths as Steve Schwarzer. From the tsuba (guard), habaki (collar), fuchi (pommel or metal hilt sleeve) and other mounts, Hostetter makes and knows them all quite well. No matter what question you have concerning the proper construction, sword terms, traditional Japanese handle wraps, menuki and more, Wally’s your man. He will bring examples of Japanese swords and encourages students to bring cameras and photograph them for future reference.
Wally has collected Japanese swords for 18 years and does his own restoration work on them. He also has done restoration work for others over the past eight years. They include Troy Baxley, president of the Florida Token Kia; Bob Elder, owner of East Coast Martial Arts Supplies Inc., and his students of Toyama Batto Jutsu/US Batto Federation; ABS master smith Don Fogg; and martial arts practitioners throughout the USA.
Hostetter forges katanas, wakizashis, tantos and Naginata blades, including all the fittings and poles for the latter. “I have wrapped many tsuka [sword handles] and done some intricate patterns not seen everyday,” he noted. “On sayas [scabbards] I have reproduced a lot of the old finishes and techniques. I also practice Toyama Batto Jutsu. We have cut many rolled tatami/wara [rolled straw mats] with the swords, wakizashis and tantos I make.”
For more information on Wally’s class and others, how to entroll, etc., visit BLADE University.
Also Check Out:
Sword Making Secrets (Download)
Author Don Fogg is here to help you build one of the big blades, the lengthy lopper — the sword! His step-by-step sword-making process resonates well with your fellow knife enthusiasts who can’t get enough of the romance, history, look, feel, usefulness, ethnic heritage and physical impressiveness of swords. Download here
An arresting officer claims Freddie Gray’s assisted-opening knife was illegal but state and city law say otherwise. The CRKT Mini My Tighe is an assisted opener.
A claim by one of the Baltimore police officers who arrested Freddie Gray that Gray was arrested because he was carrying an illegal knife appears to be baseless, according to interpretations of Maryland and Baltimore knife laws provided by Knife Rights.
Gray died while in police custody and his death prompted the recent Baltimore riots. The six arresting officers are on trial for his death on an array of charges, including that they unlawfully arrested Gray. However, one of the officers, Edward Nero, said the arrest was lawful because Gray was carrying an illegal knife.
Court documents state the knife was a “spring-assisted, one-hand-operated knife,” otherwise known as an assisted opener. In an assisted opener, the blade must be opened part way manually before the spring assist engages and opens the blade the rest of the way.
Marc Zayon, Nero’s attorney, argued in a motion filed Monday that Gray’s knife is illegal under state law. He said Maryland law defines a knife as unlawful if it opens automatically by pushing a button, spring or other device in the handle—in other words, an automatic, aka a switchblade. However, according to Knife Rights, while Maryland law prohibits concealed carry of switchblades, open carry and possession are not illegal. Court documents indicate the knife was visibly clipped to Gray’s pocket, so the knife was not concealed. Nonetheless, even if the knife was concealed, it is an assisted opener, not a switchblade.
According to Knife Rights, Baltimore’s city code bans the sale, carry or possession of “any knife with an automatic spring or other device for opening and/or closing the blade, commonly known as a switch-blade knife.” To include an assisted opener under this part of the city’s code would “conflict with virtually all other switchblade definitions throughout the country,” Knife Rights noted.
Recommended:
Stay abreast of the latest developments on this and many more knife rights issues with a subscription to BLADE.
The BLADE Show wants you for the 34th annual rendition of the world’s largest and most important event June 5-7 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
The 2015 BLADE Show at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta June 5-7 will have the hottest knives and makers in the largest, most important knife event ever.
Over 600 tables and more than 300 booths will display the world’s latest knives, knife accessories, knife collections, knifemaking equipment and materials and much more June 5-7 at the 34th annual BLADE Show in the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
The BLADE Show is the world’s largest and most important knife event and draws knife enthusiasts from every continent and most every knifemaker and knife company you’ve ever heard of—and many you don’t know of who will be the knife legends of tomorrow.
Knifemakers from the Knifemakers’ Guild, the American Bladesmith Society—including some of the world’s finest handforged knives up for bid in the ABS Auction and testing for ABS master and journeyman smith status—and the world’s best unaffiliated makers will all be on hand to exhibit their latest custom knives, with some entering the show’s custom knife judging competition. Assorted demos on how to throw knives, the use of Japanese swords, how and what to buy and collect and many others, knife giveaways, lotteries, knife club meetings, after show hours revelry in the world-famous Pit, the sunken lounge of the show’s host hotel, the Renaissance-Waverly—these and much more all await you June 5-7 in Hot ‘lanta. Don’t miss it!
Learn how custom knifemakers and manufacturers join to make knife collaborations from two of the best at it: knifemaker Tony Bose and John Sullivan of Case at BLADE University.Award-winning custom knifemaker Tony Bose.
Learn how to have your design turned into a custom/factory knife collaboration from renowned custom knifemaker Tony Bose and John Sullivan, marketing director at W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co., at BLADE University.
Held in conjunction with the world’s largest knife show, the BLADE Show, BLADE U. will be held the day before through show Saturday at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta. The BLADE Show will be June 5-7.
In Bose and Sullivan’s “Your Knife Design Into Production,” you’ll learn the keys behind the decision to produce a particular knife pattern and what knife manufacturers are looking for in new production concepts. Additional topics will include how to plan for the production of the first knife samples and the steps involved in preparing for a larger-scale production run. Product packaging, promotion, marketing, sales and post-sales support also will be discussed.
Bose is an award-winning custom knifemaker of international renown whose custom slip-joint knives set the standard in the genre. Working out of Shelburn, Indiana, he has long been a proponent of traditional pocketknives, and few manufacturers have a better reputation for such knives than Case. Bose has designed knives for special collaborations with Case since 1998, including but not limited to a sowbelly pattern (2001), his Saddlehorn design (2004), a sway-back jack/gent’s knife (2008) and the BackPocket.
Based in Bradford, Pennsylvania, and owned by Zippo, the famous lighter manufacturer, Case is the leading name in collectible factory knives. Sullivan has worked hand-in-hand with Bose on the Case collaborations and will share his insight on the relationship from a manufacturer’s point of view.
For more on this class and the many others of BLADE U. visit BLADE University.
Forged tacticals are heating up in the new BLADE®, on newsstands NOW!
Forged tacticals as a trending new niche market, perhaps the best knives to use in corrosive saltwater environments, four hot new butterfly knives, the latest machetes and a comprehensive preview of the 2nd Annual BLADE University highlight the new BLADE®, on most newsstands today.
Purveyor Les Robertson specializes in tactical and handforged knives, so it only stands to reason he would be on the cusp of the edge if forged tactical knives were to become hot as firecrackers—and apparently such is the case. Find out why, which ones are hot and more in Robertson’s “A Niche Market In The Making?”
Spyderco has long touted its H1 steel as being not just stainless but stain proof. Ocean kayaker Lance Clinton decided to try out the company’s Pacific Salt model while floating off the coast of Costa Rica. Find out what he found out about this intriguing blade material in “Down To The Sea With Knives.”
Balisongs—aka butterfly knives—have long intrigued edged enthusiasts, and the latest examples of the genre will capture your fancy in “Enter The Spin Zone.” Factory machetes, meanwhile, are appearing in ever-increasing numbers. Check out some of the latest of the long blades in “Those Magnificent Machetes.”
BLADE University, a fresh approach to knife education at knife shows, was a huge hit at last year’s BLADE Show—and this year’s 2nd Annual BLADE University has been expanded to cover a wider range of topics, including knife grinding, collecting, how to have your design picked up by a knife manufacturer, 3D CAD/CAM knife design, how to engrave, how to design combat knives, how to make handles and guards, introduction to bladesmithing, how to sharpen, what to look for in the best high performance knife and much. Get the complete lowdown in “School of Steel.” BLADE University will commence a day before through the show Saturday of the BLADE Show, which will be June 5-7 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta.
There’s much more in the latest issue of BLADE. Check it out at your local newsstand.
Recommended:
Stay abreast of the latest developments on this and many more knife rights issues with a subscription to BLADE.
Chris Williams of Wilmont Grinders will be among the makers who will teach knife grinding during BLADE University, brought to you by Premium Knife Supply. (Wilmont Grinders photo)
Learn knife grinding at the 2nd Annual BLADE University brought to you by Premium Knife Supply in a three-part class taught by knifemakers Lucas Burnley, Tom Krein and Chris Williams.
BLADE U. will be held in conjunction with the 2015 BLADE Show June 5-7 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta. Also held in the Cobb Galleria, BLADE U. will begin the Thursday (June 4) before the show and end show Saturday. The grinding seminar is but one of a full range of classes on a variety of knife subjects taught by some of the world’s leading cutlery professionals.
In their blade-grinding instructional, the three makers will outline the proper tools and equipment, the importance of safety and show you how it’s all done.
In the classroom setting of part one, they will discuss two-wheel vs. three-wheel grinders; variable speed vs. fixed speed; the differences between 1- and 2-inch contact wheels; belts and belt backings; flat platens; small wheel attachments; rotary attachment; grinding jigs; and more.
From the classroom to the outside setting of The Courtyard of the show’s adjoining host hotel, the Renaissance Waverly, in part two the three makers will teach grinding for beginners on machines provided by Wilmont Grinders. The session will include how to scribe the centerline and grind lines on the blade, how to hollow grind to the grind lines and grind a swedge/clip, and more. Finally, in part three, Burnley will cover advanced blade grinding—including grinding in a fuller—and recurve, compound and convex grinds.
Learn both basic and advanced knife making techniques with expert instruction from Allen Alishewitz in Tactical Fixed Blades. Allen demonstrates how to craft a double-edged tactical fixed blade knife from start to finish, and creates two knives in order to fully illustrate the knife building process. You’ll learn:
– Profiling and Drilling the Knife
– Tang Tapering on a Grinder
– Tang Tapering on a Mill
– And more!
The Harpoon designed by Jerry Hossom is new from Outdoor Edge.
The factory knife industry is always evolving and the evolution of change exhibited by the latest and greatest sharp stuff at the 2015 Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show at the Sands Convention Center in Las Vegas was a case in point.
Automatics appeared in increasing numbers, both by companies known for them, such as Pro-Tech and Benchmade (CLA or Composite Lite Auto), and those not known for them as much, including Buck (Impact), Kershaw (Launch 1, 2 and 3), Hogue (EX-AO1, AO3 and AO2) and Timberline (18-Delta). Machetes were in abundance, including those by Outdoor Edge (Brush Demon), CRKT (Mah-Chete designed by Liong Mah), Timberline (Machete Survival System), Condor (Duku and Mini Duku) and the CHOP slated for a BLADE Show debut by DPx Gear. More in big fixed blades included a bolo (Jungle Bolo) and a bowie knife (Jungle Clip-Point) from Benchmade, the Camp 12 by Kershaw, a Steel Will bowie and also tactical fixed blades, the latter including a stretched-out-and flatter version of the Jerry Fisk Sendero in CPM S30V from White River, and Canal Street Cutlery’s Green River Tactical Knives in D2 tool steel with handle slabs by VZ Grips and model numbers based on special dates/battles of the Iraq and Persian Gulf Wars.
Also proliferating were models in a tomahawk, hatchet or hatchet configuration from 5.11 Tactical, Hogue, Spyderco (Szabohawk), Kershaw (Tinder), SOG Specialty Knives & Tools (Survival Hawk), Timberline (Tomahawk CBT/Combat Breaching Tool) and Puma (Tomahawk XP and Packable Hatchet). A design collaboration with Allen Elishewitz, the Hogue model is especially noteworthy with hammer poll and spike attachments to make it two hawks in one.
The new Chef’s Choice Hybrid AngleSelect from Edgecraft combines electrice and manual sharpening stages and is desgined for sharpening traditional European/American at a 20° angle and Asian style knives at a 15° angle.
Knives designed by or dedicated to military heroes were highlighted by a Case V-42 based on vintage drawings of the original model made for World War II’s First Special Service Force, the father of today’s spec ops units, with two surviving FSSF members—93-year-old Eugene Gutierrez and Del Stonehouse, 90—on hand at the Case booth to visit with show attendees. Buck offered the 245 Matt Would Go Knife designed by Navy SEAL Matthew J. Leathers, who was lost at sea during open ocean training exercises in 2013. Camillus featured new tactical fixed-blade designs by retired Green Beret Grady Powell and retired Navy SEAL Jared Ogden of National Geographic TV’s Ultimate Survival Alaska. (Editor’s note: All of the preceding military knives will be featured in special stories in an upcoming BLADE®.)
Other knives with a celebrity influence include new Kutmaster fixed blades inspired by the Pigman TV series. Condor premiered the Primitive Bush Knife used by survivalist Matt Graham on the Discovery Channel’s Dual Survival reality show.
It’s not a knife event without new tactical folders. Emerson Knives, Inc., debuted four entries—the Sheepdog, Iron Dragon, Hattin and Combat Systems Fighter—and Kershaw a larger version of its most popular Emerson collaboration, the CQC-4KXL. Coast Cutlery presented three smooth-opening, economical tactical folders (models TX399, TX395 and TX360) with design input from Spec Ops personnel. Krudo had four new folder designs—three flippers and an Asian-influenced model with a modified tanto blade called the Dao.
Other introduced models and items of note include:
ESEE’s long-awaited Camp-Lore bushcraft series, the Ontario Bushcraft Woodsman chopper and the Saker, a bushcraft design by BLADE contributor Abe Elias for CRKT;
Zero Tolerance addressed the lower-end and smaller-knife industry segments with smaller folders (the 0450 and 0452CF) designed by Dmitry Sinkevich in the $200 MSRP range, and also introduced the model 0630 folder which includes Ernest Emerson’s wave-opening feature;
DPx is working on a new version of its pivoting-handle-and-blade-guard design, also set for a BLADE Show debut, that is easier to operate and will be in a skinning knife configuration;
White River’s hunting knife collaborations with Fisk, the Sendero Bush knife, with CPM S30V blade steel and an MSRP of $220;
Hogue and Benchmade (a river knife) fixed blades with lock-and-switch-release sheaths for both secure knife carry and easy deployment;
For the ladies, 5.11 Tactical’s black folders with assorted handle color inserts with matching anodized liners;
Traditional pocketknives by Queen that include Schatt & Morgan Anglo-Saxon patterns and those by Case in handles by Eagle Grips;
Timberline’s Trophy Drop-Point hunters designed by knifemaker/professional Alaskan hunting guide Russ Kommer;
Spartan Blades is developing a lapel dagger and a redo of an old Bill Harsey tactical folder design;
Smith’s and its new Edgesport outdoor specialty tools and product line includes a natural tinder maker w/fire starter ($8.99 MSRP); Pack Pal Sharpener and Fire Starter w/emergency whistle ($9.99 MSRP); Pocket Pal X2 Sharpener and Survival Tool (sharpener, LED light, compass, whistle and fire starter, $14.99 MSRP); Survival Knife (a folder w/sharpener, whistle and fire starter, $19.99 MSRP); Survival Knife and Kit (w/collapsible silicon cup, fishing kit, duct tape, safety pins, emergency blanket, zip ties and tinder, $39.99); and Ultimate Survival Kit and Multi Tool 10-N-1 Multi-tool w/basic survival and first-aid kit, $49.99 MSRP).
Recommended:
Stay abreast of the latest developments on this and many more knife rights issues with a subscription to BLADE.
Sword Making Secrets (Download)
