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Steve Shackleford

Collector Shares Young Sub-Chute Knife

 

 

Collector Adam Jacobs (right) had wanted a John Young (left) sub-chute knife for quite some, and his wait came to an end at the recent Plaza Cutlery Knife Show.

 

“I am an avid collector and huge BLADE® fan,” Jacobs noted. “My friend, Steven Garsson, got me into collecting knives in 2004, and since then I have been fortunate to acquire many pieces by some of the greats.  My favorite fixed blades are made by John Young, and, in 2005, I asked John to make me a custom sub-chute.  He made the knife this year and I took delivery on it at the Plaza show.

 

“It is one of only six knives total in existence with John’s rare signature logo. I humbly feel it is a pretty impressive piece and wanted to share it with you. Hiro Soga photographed the knife.

 

“John really enjoyed the challenge of this piece,” Jacobs continued. “I intentionally asked him to be creative and work outside his normal Loveless patterns and constraints.

 

“I wanted an amber-stag-handled melding of a chute blade with a sub-hilt handle, but with John’s own unique talent and vision—you don’t tell DaVinci how to paint. I think collectors and the art of knifemaking is well served when we encourage brilliant makers like John Young to do something new!”

 

Two Knife Shows On Deck This Weekend

Check out the latest in custom, factory, antique and other knives at the SHARP Show and Ohio Classic Knife Show this weekend.

Held at the Fern Valley Inn in Louisville, Kentucky, the SHARP Show will be Oct. 20-22. It is sanctioned by the National Knife Collectors Association. For more information call 423-238-6753, e-mail spiritofsteel@ymail.com or visit www.spiritofsteel.com.

The Ohio Classic will be conducted Oct. 21-22 in the Pritchard-Laughlin Civic Center in Cambridge, Ohio. Call L.T. Wright at 740-219-1141, e-mail bhkship@yahoo.com or aliciabhk@yahoo.com, or visit www.ohioknifeshow.com or www.bhkoutdoors.com.

Dozier 9-11 Knife Raises $1,525 For Benefit Fund

The Bob Dozier 10th anniversary 9-11 knife sporting a damascus blade that includes steel from the South Tower of the World Trade Center brought $1,525 in an auction that concluded earlier this week, with proceeds going to the New York Police and Fire Widow’s and Orphans Benefit Fund.

The bid for the winning knife—the folder was featured on page 50 in the December BLADE®—was submitted by retired New York City firefighter Keith Kaiser.

Forged by Daryl Meier, the knife’s blade includes a piece of South Tower steel and 1095 carbon steel. The pre-ban ivory handle boasts scrimshaw scenes by Sandra Brady. On one side is “We Remember 9-11-2011” commemorating the 10th anniversary, and the New York city skyline, including a shadow outline of the Twin Towers in place of the missing jet in a flyby jet formation, and a soldier saluting. On the flip side is a scene of firemen fighting the fires of the Twin Towers before they fell, an American flag, and the words, “Lest We Forget 9-11-2001.”

“There will never be enough to repay our debt for what [the first responders] paid,” Dozier noted. “All proceeds from the auction of this knife will go to help the families of the firefighters and policemen who lost their lives that day.”

For more information contact Bob Dozier Knives at info@dozierknives.com or visit www.dozierknives.com.

Jensen Knives To Be In S.F. Art Exhibit

Award-winning knifemaker John Lewis Jensen will have two knives on display at 724 Studios in San Francisco Nov. 4 through Nov. 19, according to Jensen’s e-mail newsletter.

The knives will be exhibited in a show entitled “MOveMENT” sponsored by the Metal Arts Guild of San Francisco in celebration of the guild’s 60th anniversary, and will coincide with the one-day symposium, “Forging Communities.”

A story on how Jensen makes his “Desk Daggers” will appear in the upcoming book, “BLADE’s Guide To Making Knives, Vol. 2.” The book has a tentative release date of late April 2012.

For more information visit Jensen’s Website at www.jensenknives.com or e-mail him at john@jensenknives.com. Or, call him on his cell at 323-559-7454 or his alternate cell at 401-829-9959.

Knifemaker Claude Montjoy Passes Away

Knifemaker Claude Montjoy of Clinton, South Carolina, passed away Sept. 23. He was 74.

A member of the South Carolina Association of Knife Makers, Montjoy was a full-time maker who sold his first knife in 1982. He made knives by the stock removal method and built folders, including slip joints, locking liners and interframes, and also hunters, boot knives, fighters and some art knives.

Services were held Sept. 24. Condolences may be expressed online at www.grayfuneralhome.com.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the First Baptist Church of Joanna, 301 Magnolia St., Joanna, SC 29351.

Fox News Analyst Knows Knives And Uses Them, Too

Fox News analyst S.E. Cupp (at right in accompanying photo), who will appear on the Don Imus Show tomorrow morning on the Fox Business Channel, is a huge supporter of veterans and wounded veterans. She recently attended a hunting trip for wounded veterans coordinated by Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Ken Onion (left in accompanying photo) and others. In the process, Cupp got elbow deep dressing out a bear and also learned how to throw knives made by Bobby Branton.

“I donated a set of throwing knives to Ken Onion to keep them busy between hunts,” Branton stated. “Ken said that they threw them 15 hours a day for three days. He sent a picture of S.E. Cupp throwing and he has video, too. He said she caught on quick and turned out to be a good thrower. I’m proud everyone enjoyed my knives.”

Thanks to Onion, Branton and others, the wounded vets had a great time, and Cupp was exposed to the world of custom knives—good news on all fronts.

Ray Appleton Passes Away at 88

Ray Appleton, maker of the “I.Q.” and other puzzle-type, “multilock” custom knives, passed away Saturday. He was 88.

The tall, lanky, likable Appleton caused quite a sensation with his puzzle/multilock knives in the late 1980s. Beautifully carved, anodized titanium folders, they were way ahead of their time (see “Ray Appleton Redefines the Folding Knife,” January/February 1988 BLADE®). One of their main endearing features is that Ray would build them with hidden mechanisms, etc., so you had to figure out how to open them.

BLADE field editor Ed Fowler, a long-time acquaintance of Ray’s, had nothing but good things to say about the talented maker. “Ray was my hero when I was a kid in high school and remains a hero to me,” Fowler observed.

According to Ray’s son, Ron, an accomplished maker in his own right who will display his knives at the upcoming Art Knife Invitational, Ray had not been in a knife shop in at least seven years. Ray had moved to Montana to live with his daughter and spend time with his grand kids and play on the computer.

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