Steve Shackleford, Author at BLADE Magazine

Next Ivory Meeting Deadline is June 2

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May 12, 2014

If you care to express your views concerning the federal ivory ban, you are urged to participate in another public meeting—scheduled this time for June 9—by the Advisory Council to the Presidential Task Force on combating wildlife trafficking. Signup deadline to attend is June 2. If you want to submit talking points for discussion during the meeting but cannot attend, you must submit them in writing by June 2 as well. No e-mails or faxes will be accepted!

The meeting will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT at the U.S. General Service Administration Building, 1800 F St. NW, Room 1153, Washington, D.C 20405. For more information on deadlines, where to send your written statements, etc., visit https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2014/05/06/2014-10295/advisory-council-on-wildlife-trafficking-meeting.

According to scrimshander Sandra Brady, you may attend the meeting in person or you may participate via telephone. “At this time, we are inviting submissions of questions and information for consideration during the meeting,” she noted. “If you or anyone you know would like to have their voice heard, now is the time. You must sign up to make a statement or sign up to be present during the meeting by June 2. I believe letters would be appropriate if received no later than June 2.

“If you are a knife club member or in charge of a newsletter, please get this info out. Also, those of you who are active on forums, please pass this around there, too. We need a strong showing, lots of letters, and don’t forget to contact your congressional representatives. We do not want sales in pre-ban ivory to become a felony!”

The Advisory Council is called upon to hold such meetings as a result of Executive Order by President Obama (see http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/01/executive-order-combating-wildlife-trafficking). The June 9 meeting will be the third one held by the Advisory Council. According to an Advisory Council release, the meeting will be held to “discuss administrative topics and hear public comments and questions.”

Stay tuned to a special ivory site, www.elephantprotection.org, for updates and more information.

Available Now: Only 12 Limited Edition 2014 BLADE Show Sebenzas

BLADE Show

Steve Shackleford

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May 9, 2014

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Available Now: Only 12 Limited Edition 2014 BLADE Show Sebenzas

The Chris Reeve Sebenza 2014 BLADE Show Knife is available NOW—and you’d better hurry if you want one because they are in a super-limited edition of only 12. Historically, the lower the number of the limited edition, the more valuable the knives will be, and 12 is one of the lower limited-edition numbers on knives you will see, especially for a BLADE Show knife.

Voted No. 2 in BLADE® Magazine on the list of the top custom knives from the years 1989-2000, the Sebenza is Reeve’s most famous knife and remains his most popular model. Made today in a factory iteration, the knife recently celebrated its 25th anniversary with the introduction of the Model 25, an exclusive version of which serves as the 2014 BLADE Show Knife.

Featuring the official 2014 BLADE Show logo and limited-edition number embossed on the handle, each of the dozen knives includes new concepts Chris Reeve brought to the Model 25, all in celebration of the 25th anniversary. Click here to buy one of 12 BLADE Show Sebenzas.

Those concepts include:

The first blade to feature Large Hollow Grind Technology, a blend of the best of hollow and flat grinds;
A shaped phosphor bronze washer on the lock side brings additional stability to that side of the blade;
An eighth-inch ceramic ball acts as the interface between the lock bar and the blade, and doubles to drop into the detent, ensuring the blade stays in place when closed;
Larger perforations in the washers reduce friction, store more lubricant and offer space for small dirt particles to move away from the blade/washer interface, helping prevent the blade action from becoming “sticky”;
416 heat-treated stainless steel drop pin;
Asymmetrical pattern thumb serrations on the blade’s curved thumb ramp give excellent purchase, and;
At .140 inch thick, the blade is more robust than previous Sebenza models.

In addition, the knife features:

CPM S35VN stainless blade steel;
Blade length: 3.625 inches;
Weight: 5.2 ounces, and;
Closed length: 4.71 inches.

Click here to buy one of 12 BLADE Show Sebenzas exclusively from ShopBlade.com. Hurry!

Knife Museum “Dissolved”; Collection to 3 New Venues

Steve Shackleford

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May 5, 2014

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Knife Museum “Dissolved”; Collection to 3 New Venues

After over 30 years of operation, the National Knife Museum (NKM) is “being dissolved.” However, the old museum’s knife inventory will carry on at three separate museums, according to Lisa Sebenick, president of the National Knife Collectors Association (NKCA) and secretary of the NKM.

The only museum of its kind in the USA, the NKM had been housed on the mezzanine of Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville, Tennessee, since late 2006. The original rent for the space was all of $1 per year. “The officers, directors and staff of the National Knife Museum sincerely thank Smoky Mountain Knife Works/Kevin Pipes for giving our collection of cutlery a home these past seven years,” an NKM release stated.

According to Sebenick, the museum’s knife inventory will be donated to three different museums: the National Rifle Association Museum in Springfield, Missouri, the Berman Museum of World History in Anniston, Alabama, and the Janney Furnace Museum in Ohatchee, Alabama.

As for the 50 or so Bill Moran knives that were exhibited at the NKM, an official statement from the Moran Foundation was that no decision had been made for those knives at press time. At some future date, perhaps some of the Moran knives would be put on loan elsewhere, the statement concluded.

The NKM was the vision of BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Jim Parker. Located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the original museum was built in 1981 and was the creation of the NKCA as a separate, educational, non-profit corporation. It opened its doors in 1982. It was moved to Sevierville in 2006.

According to Pete Cohan in BLADE’s Guide to Knives & Their Values, 7th Edition, while many NKCA members were heavily involved in the original museum’s creation, it was the donation of three major individual knife collections—those of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Frank Forsyth, Dr. James Wilkison and Dr. William Rosenthal—that created the foundation for a comprehensive museum display collection.

During its run at Smoky and in addition to the many other knives it exhibited, the NKM also included the custom knife collection of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Joe Drouin, a number of club knives from knife clubs around the country, various knife ephemera and more.

For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more, stay tuned to blademag.com.

BLADE Show Updates Exhibitor Layout

Steve Shackleford

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April 28, 2014

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The BLADE Show‘s new exhibitor layout is designed to improve the overall show experience for the thousands of patrons who will attend and the close to 750 exhibitors who will display the industry’s finest knives and knife accessories.

The world’s largest knife show is set for June 6-8 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.

In the past, the rows of exhibitor tables were dissected by lines of factory booths in some areas, making it somewhat difficult to pick up where you left off from the previous table row. It also presented a somewhat choppy look to the overall setup.

When you walk into the show hall this coming June, a new layout will greet you. Instead of being dissected in some areas by lines of factory booths, the exhibitor tables will be in the right-hand portion of the show hall and most of the factory booths will be in the left-hand portion. There will be no lines of factory booths dissecting the rows of tables. As in the past, there also will be factory booths along the walls of the entire hall. According to one exhibitor, the change should make it so show patrons are not so overwhelmed by the visual challenge of negotiating the large number of exhibitor tables and booths.

As a consequence of the changes, the booths have been renumbered from last year.

Looking from right to left, exhibitors’ tables will be divided in the usual fashion: Antique, American Bladesmith Society, the Knifemakers’ Guild and Handmade. The collector displays will continue to be in the right-hand back portion of the show hall. The Stage and Demo Areas will be in the back center of the hall. The Knife-Of-The-Year® Display will be in the middle of the floor starting where the booths are.

For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more, stay tuned to blademag.com.

Pirate-Pistol-Packin’ BLADE On Newsstands TODAY!

Steve Shackleford

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April 22, 2014

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Pirate-Pistol-Packin’ BLADE On Newsstands TODAY!

Learn how to make a cut ‘n shoot “pirate pistol,” what effect the federal ivory ban has on your knives, all about the BLADE Show’s groundbreaking new BLADE University and much more in the latest issue of BLADE®, on many newsstands today.

Steve Culver won “Best Of The Rest” in the 2013 BLADE Show custom knife judging competition with his “Laffite’s Revenge” cut ‘n shoot, and he takes you through the building of his award-winning knife pistol in this month’s issue.

On the ivory knife front, the federal government is targeting any and all items made of elephant ivory, including the very same knives that have been legal to sell for decades! Find out what the new regulations mean for you and your knives on page 10.

BLADE University is a brand new approach to knife show seminars. In fact, instead of seminars, BLADE University is a curriculum of classes, each concentrating on specific subjects and including some of the world’s best-known knife professionals as teachers, including knifemakers Jerry Fisk, Chris Reeve, Jerry Busse, Tony Bose and Bill Harsey, to name a few.

A chief concern among many in the knife industry is there are far too few young people making knives. In “Kids Just Want To Make Knives,” three young aspiring makers show off the knives they’ve made and tell how they make them, and also explain the support system of family and friends that has sustained their knifemaking endeavor.

Other stories in the new BLADE include: the heartwarming tale of how many in the knife community came together to help damascus maker Zoe Crist and family after he suffered a debilitating shop accident; the end of an era is saluted with a story on the closing of Aldo and Edda Lorenzi’s famous retail knife store in Milan, Italy; and much more, all in the new BLADE.

Free BLADE Show Seminars Educate, Entertain

Steve Shackleford

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April 21, 2014

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Free BLADE Show Seminars Educate, Entertain

The federal ivory ban, the 12th Annual BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competition, how to make a cut ‘n shoot and much more will highlight the free seminars of the 33rd Annual BLADE Show June 6-8 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.

The seminars are free to all BLADE Show ticket holders only.

Knifemaker Jim Hammond has made knives with assorted ivory handle materials for decades, and Sandra Brady has scrimmed ivory handles for many years as well. She also has been on the front lines of the debate over the federal ivory ban. Both will discuss the ban, its effect on knives, how to identify the many different ivories and much more in their free seminar, “Ivory: Past, Present and Future.”

Knifemaker Dan Keffeler will return to defend his title in the 12th Annual BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competition, conducted by BladeSports International (BSI). Others who will participate in the competition that pits big cutters in such regimens as the 2-inch free-hanging rope cut, 2×4 chop and more will include past champion Ted Ott, BSI Executive Director Donavon Phillips, Jim Cottingham and others.

ABS master smith Steve Culver won “Best of the Rest” in the 2013 BLADE Show’s custom knife judging competition with his “Laffite’s Revenge” cut ‘n shoot knife/pistol—which also will serve as the cover knife for the July BLADE® (on many newsstands beginning April 22)—and will show you how he made it in his special seminar. Other free seminar topics will include: Sharpening On a Stick, with knifemaker Jared Williams; How To Use Bushcraft Knives, with knife writer/designer Abe Elias; Surviving Inside the Kill Zone, with knifemaker Ernest Emerson; Tactical & Handforged Knives: What To Look For, with purveyor Les Robertson; Estate Planning and Your Knife Collection, with BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Bruce Voyles; and much more.

For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more, stay tuned to www.blademag.com.

BLADE Show Announces New Knife-Of-Year Award

BLADE Show

Steve Shackleford

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April 14, 2014

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BLADE Show Announces New Knife-Of-Year Award

The BLADE Show is proud to announce a BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® award new for 2014: the People’s Choice Award.

It, along with the other Knife-Of-The-Year Awards—all sponsored by New Graham Knives—will be chosen during the 33rd Annual BLADE Show June 6-8 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.

Designed as a way to get the rank-and-file of knife enthusiasts everywhere involved in the selection of one of the industry’s most coveted factory knife honors, the People’s Choice Award will be determined by a vote of knife enthusiasts via the BLADE website, www.blademag.com. Stay tuned to the site for more details on how you can participate.

Only factory knife and factory knife accessory companies with booths at the BLADE Show are eligible to enter the competition for the BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year Awards.

The 13 other awards are voted on by BLADE Show booth exhibitors, with the exception of the Publisher’s Award and the Industry Achievement Award, which are named by the staff of BLADE® Magazine.

KNIFE-OF-YEAR DISPLAY DEADLINE MOVED UP!

Entries for the Knife-Of-The-Year Awards are exhibited in the Knife-Of-The-Year Display area in the show hall of the Cobb Galleria Centre for all show patrons to see. The deadline for factory booth exhibitors to have their Knife-Of-The-Year entries on display in the area has been moved up to show Friday at noon this year from the 4 p.m. Friday of previous years. The change is due to the People’s Choice Award, which will require the BLADE Show staff to photograph ALL of the entries and post those images on blademag.com for knife enthusiasts to study before placing their vote for the award.

For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more, stay tuned to www.blademag.com.

Steve Shackleford

Next Ivory Meeting Deadline is June 2

Available Now: Only 12 Limited Edition 2014 BLADE Show Sebenzas

Knife Museum “Dissolved”; Collection to 3 New Venues

BLADE Show Updates Exhibitor Layout

Pirate-Pistol-Packin’ BLADE On Newsstands TODAY!

Free BLADE Show Seminars Educate, Entertain

BLADE Show Announces New Knife-Of-Year Award

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