The 2017 BLADE Show Knife and its 1.4116 stainless steel blade cut stationery with ease after whittling curlicues. It was very sharp out of the box.To begin disassembly of the 2017 BLADE Show Knife, push the lever on the bolster up.The sensation of holding a knife that’s coming apart in your hand is kind of cool.The 2017 BLADE Show Knife separates into three parts: two handle halves and the blade. Keep it super simple, you might say.Partially reassembled you can see the liner lock spring and wheel in the handle butt.Rotate the wheel in the handle butt clockwise until the handle separates.
The centerpiece of the 2017 BLADE Show Knife, however, is Onion’s “Field Strip” technology, which enables you to easily disassemble the knife for cleaning and reassemble it in a matter of seconds without the need of a takedown tool of any kind.
Sounds easy but what about people with 10 thumbs like me? I pulled out the 2017 BLADE Show Knife and opened and closed it a few times. The flipper opener works well. I tried whittling some curlicues from a board and cutting stationery, both with good success. The blade was very sharp out of the box.
The directions for the “Field Strip” feature are pretty straightforward. With the knife in the closed position, push the lever on the bolster up. No problem. Rotate the wheel on the handle butt clockwise until the handle separates. The wheel is notched with gears. I found it turned well either with one of my 10 thumbs or my “second thumb” that passes for an index finger. The handle separates into three pieces—two handles and the blade—all simple to clean when the time comes.
To reassemble, put the three pieces back together, press down on and hold the pivot, rotate the wheel counter-clockwise until snug, and push the pivot lever down. It’s pretty easy, even for me.
The CRKT Homefront Tactical is the Official 2017 BLADE Show Knife.
A couple of things: If, after reassembly, the pivot lever balks any when you try and push it down, tweak the screw on the reverse side of the pivot pin until the lever cooperates. Also, be sure the white washers on the pivot pin stay put when you have the knife apart. If they were to come off for any reason during cleaning and/or reassembly, they could be difficult to find. You may even want to remove them during cleaning and apply a small dab of oil to keep them lubricated.
A new pro-knife law expands the blade-length limit for knife carry in Georgia, home of the BLADE Show, to 12 inches. Jerry Fisk’s bowie features a damascus blade and stag handle. (Chuck Ward image)
A new pro-knife law signed into law this week in Georgia comes just in time for the 36th Annual BLADE Show.
Signed May 8 by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, the new pro-knife law (HB 292) increases the legal carry length of a knife blade in the state from 5 to 12 inches.
“With the BLADE Show coming up June 2-4, attendees and exhibitors will have more freedom to carry their larger knives without fear of legal entanglements,” Knife Rights reported. It is language from Knife Rights’ Georgia Knife Law Reform bill, SB 49, that is included in the new pro-knife law.
The new 12-inch length limit became effective as soon as Deal signed the bill. Since Georgia passed Knife Rights’ Knife Law Preemption in 2012, any lesser length restrictions in cities and towns are now voided by HB 292. Moreover, neither can local jurisdictions enact prohibitions more restrictive than those in the new pro-knife law.
The BLADE Show and blademag.com express their gratitude to such organizations as Knife Rights, the American Knife & Tool Institute and others that fight for common-sense knife legislation. Both organizations will be among the exhibitors at the BLADE Show and blademag.com encourages you to stop by the booths of each for more information on how to protect your right to own and carry knives.
Both will be formally inducted into the Cutlery Hall Of Fame the Saturday night, June 3, of the BLADE Show at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta during the BLADE Magazine Awards Reception (tickets required). The BLADE Show will be June 2-4.
According to a fellow Cutlery Hall Of Famer, de Asis has been a major pillar in the knife industry for more than 35 years. He founded Bali-Song, Inc., which later became Benchmade Knife Co. From a fledgling business in a garage to a major force in the cutlery industry, Benchmade is among the top knife manufacturers in the world. Les was a major influence in the renaissance of the butterfly genre of knives, which continues to enjoy a large following of knife fans. He was a founder of the American Knife & Tool Institute (AKTI), one of the earliest and most successful of the organizations protecting the rights of knife enthusiasts and the knife industry, and remains a driving force in the organization. He raised the bar significantly on the quality and function of automatic knives for military, law enforcement, first responders and general use, and Benchmade remains a leading manufacturer of autos today. The AXIS™ Lock designed by William McHenry and Jason Williams and introduced into production by Les helped maintain the revolution in locks for folding knives that persists today.
James L. “Jim” Batson is one of the world’s most noted bladesmiths and authorities on both bladesmithing and Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer James Bowie and bowie knives. The Batson Bladesmithing Symposium near Bessemer, Alabama, is one of the world’s most respected and best attended annual hammer-ins, attracting bladesmiths, knifemakers and knife enthusiasts from around the world, and has been doing so for almost 30 years now. Through his symposium and his many nationwide seminars teaching the art of bladesmithing, Batson is a standard bearer of the American Bladesmith Society’s stated goal of educating any and all on how to best make knives of forged steel. He has scoured the countryside in Texas, Arkansas and the Southeast, and combed through the archives of dozens of libraries and city and town halls in search of information on bowie knives and the life and times of James Bowie. He also has written extensively on both subjects.
Batson is an award-winning master smith in the American Bladesmith Society (ABS) and two-time ABS chairman. He led the ABS through some of its most successful times in recent years and shows no signs of slowing down. In the February 2014 BLADE®, he was ranked No. 9 among the top 13 knifemakers from 1989-2000. “Jim is a great bladesmith, a great leader, a great historian, a great bowie authority, a great writer and a retired rocket scientist,” wrote one Cutlery Hall Of Famer. “I challenge anyone to match that record!”
BLADE® field editor Ed Fowler will hold down table 3N at BLADE Show 2017.
If you are one of thousands of knife enthusiasts worldwide who will attend the 36th Annual BLADE Show June 2-4, it’s time to start making your to-do list for the world’s largest and most important knife event.
There are oh-so-many—almost 1,000 booths and tables in all in the cavernous Cobb Galleria Centre show hall—including the world’s top makers, sellers and displayers of all things sharp. Among them will be three who on a regular basis help make BLADE® Magazine the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication—BLADE Magazine field editors Kim Breed, Joe Szilaski and, health permitting, Ed Fowler.
BLADE® field editor Joe Szilaski will exhibit at Table 3P for BLADE Show 2017.
A retired member of the 5th U.S. Army Special Forces group, Breed’s 20-year military career took him to various world hot spots, including the Gulf War in the early 1990s. It was while there that he wrote a letter to BLADE about his love for knives. One thing led to another and BLADE asked Kim if he would like to write for BLADE on a regular basis testing knives. He took over BLADE’s “Spec Sheet” department and has been testing and writing about knives for the magazine ever since. He also makes custom knives and will be displaying them, along with scrimshaw work by Mrs. Melissa Breed, at table 17G. Stop by and see them—and if you can, do it on June 2. That will be Kim’s birthday. Ask him how old he is—and be sure to duck afterward.
A High-Endurance Performance-Knife (HEPK) master smith, Fowler has been writing for BLADE even longer than Breed—since the late 1980s. BLADE got wind of him after reading a booklet he had written sharing his thoughts on all things knife, including how to use them, how they should be made and much more. Since then in his “Knife Talk” department he has exposed BLADE readers to his distinctive brand of writing and knifemaking, including his preference for 52100 ball-bearing steel, his multiple quenching of his blades, the HEPK courses he teaches at his Willow Bow Ranch in Riverton, Wyoming, and so much more. Visit him and his bladesmithing co-hort, Chris Amos (Chris also has written for BLADE), at table 3N. Also, be sure to attend Ed’s demo, “Choices The Maker And One Who Seeks a Knife Need To Make” show Saturday from 2:15-3:30 p.m. in Room 107. (Note: Ed has been experiencing some health problems of late but both he and we hope it will not prevent him from attending the show.)
Last among three BLADE field editors who will exhibit at BLADE Show 2017 is ABS master smith Joe Szilaski. A native of Hungary who was in-country during the Hungarian Revolution against the Soviet Union in 1956, Joe moved to America and has embraced all things USA, including bladesmithing. He has assumed the mantle of writing the BLADE “Question & Answer” department originally started by Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame member Wayne Goddard, and also teaches knifemaking and tomahawk making in his facility in New York state. In fact, he will teach the BLADE U. class “How To Filework Knives” on show Saturday from 8:30-9:30 a.m. in Room 109. His table is 3P, where he will be ably assisted by Mrs. Lori Szilaski.
BLADE® field editor Kim Breed (in ball cap) will be on duty at Table 17G at BLADE Show 2017.
It’s never too early to start planning your BLADE Show 2017 itinerary, and visiting three of the top BLADE field editors who also happen to be show exhibitors is as good a place as any to start. Meanwhile at least three other BLADE contributors—knifemakers Brian Goode (table 19G), David Lisch (13R) and RJ Martin (11M)—will be exhibiting. Also, other BLADE field editors who should be roaming the show hall will be Abe Elias, Dexter Ewing, Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame member B.R. Hughes and Les Robertson. Elias, in fact, on show Saturday in Room 107 will present the BLADE U. classes “Steel: The Heart Of The Knife” from 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and “The Best Edge For The Job” from 2-3:15 p.m.
Goddard considers it all part of paying your dues to go to knife shows, spend countless hours getting ready and perhaps not even selling enough to cover your expenses. But what you will come away with is contacts. You’ll meet people who can help you better your knifemaking skills, get you better materials to work with, photograph your work or help you get it publicized.
Thousands of knife enthusiasts from all corners of the globe will descend on the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta June2-4 for the BLADE Show. (PointSeven image)
I say, come prepared. Professional business cards are cheap to make up, like less than $10 for 500 at Vista Print, for example. Make sure you triple-proof your phone number and email address because those are the primary ways people get in touch with you. Include how your professional Page is listed on Facebook, and if you’re still mixing business with pleasure, it’s time to start driving folks to a professional page. Include your Instagram handle. You can have one of your photographed knives as a background image one side of your card and a photo of yourself on the other side. A little space on the front or back allows either you or whomever you’re conversing with to jot down something to prompt them to remember how to follow-up with you.
2. Gain Perspective On Your Work
Goddard’s second reason to go to a knife show is somewhat dated. You can clearly see what knives are being made in the industry through magazines like BLADE®, online through visually focused Facebook and Instagram, and through websites. There are books to read and endless hours of You Tube videos to absorb. However, the only thing none of these outlets will provide is touch.
Shows offer you a chance to pick up knives, open them, close them, weigh and balance them in hand. You’ll be able to get ideas on what you can do to improve your work, or in which direction you want your style to head.
3. Establish A Broad Customer Base
You can indeed stay quite busy just through website or Facebook orders, but Goddard brings up a good point about making sure you bring some of everything you offer to a show so there will be something for everyone. A collector may never know about you unless he sees you at a show. He has to hear about you before he can look you up online. Sometimes we only expand our tastes if we are forced to. At a show, buyers will at least glance at knives that normally they’re not drawn to. Every once in a while, they stop and buy something out of character for them, and you’ve just sold a fixed hunter to a guy who thought he only liked tactical folders.
I would add that you might want to consider bringing a few knives to a show that would fit a youth or woman. Sometimes finger placement isn’t comfortable for smaller hands. There could be an extra sale or two for you in a sometimes overlooked segment of the knife-buying population.
4. Show Off Your Art
If you have a wild and crazy, beautiful and bejeweled, historic or psychedelic piece of artwork that people admire but are hesitant to spend money on, the knife show is your outlet. Chances are someone just might buy it, but you’ll also get the accolades such work so richly deserves.
5. See The Country, The World
The Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia, is the site of this year’s BLADE Show, but there are many other knife shows all over the country. Get to a few.
Not only is a knife show an excuse to travel the country, but it’s a chance to meet people from all over the world. You just never know. You could meet someone from the Netherlands, strike up an online friendship and the next thing you know, you’re ordering a plane ticket to attend your new buddy’s local show.
6. Sell Knives
This is the last thing you should be thinking about if you’re just starting out. Goddard explains that it’ll take a while to figure out what sells for you and what doesn’t. Don’t get discouraged. Keep at it. If there’s a waiting list for the show you want to get into, then put your name on the list and wait.
I would add to practice going to local or regional shows first. Let’s be honest, shows can be exhausting. You’re on your feet all day, always “on” and having similar conversations with many people. It’s hard to take breaks to refresh yourself, but it’s probably one of the best things you can do. Go visit a few booths that have something you’d be interested in buying. Figure out what works for you and what doesn’t so that you stay refreshed and positive for your customers and yet get something for yourself out of the show too.
And although it’s tempting to start packing up early, resist. There’s nothing worse than thinking you can hit the last hour of a show only to find vendors packing up. That last customer may be your best one of the day.
Learn From A Master
There’s so much to learn, and you can’t learn it all in one day, but Wayne Goddard’s “The Wonder of Knifemaking” is a great place to start.
Wayne Goddard not only shares his suggestions for getting the most out of attending knife shows in “The Wonder of Knifemaking,” but he also shares his experience in setting up workshops, accumulating tools and, of course, making knives. Right now you can save $10.17 off this knifemaking library essential.
ABS master smith Wally Hayes will show you how to use simple tools to make a throwing knife at the 4th Annual BLADE University. Here he teaches flipper folders at last year’s BLADE U.The 4th Annual BLADE University will feature such classes as how to checker knife handles taught by ABS master smith Timothy Potier.
The 4th Annual BLADE University will offer knife enthusiasts an almost completely overhauled curriculum of classes on the subject of knives and knifemaking June 1-3 in conjunction with the BLADE Show at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
Beginning the day before the BLADE Show and ending BLADE Show Saturday, this year’s BLADE University offers a wide-ranging selection of courses on how to make knives—including blade grinding, handle checkering, embellishment, color-case-hardening knife parts, chatoyance and others—all about blade steels, how to use knives, how to price them and much more.
ABS master smith (MS) Timothy Potier will kick off the instruction in Thursday’s “Knives The ABS Way” with his class on how to checker knife handles, followed by fellow MS Jim Rodebaugh‘s “How To Design A Purpose-Built Knife” and “How To Etch and Polish a Damascus Blade.”
In his fourth appearance for BLADE U., MS Joe Keeslar will show you how to make a brut de forge knife, and ABS journeyman smith (JS) Butch Sheely will end the day’s classes with his tutorial on how to make a pipe tomahawk.
Friday’s instruction will begin with MS Joe Szilaski‘s class on how to filework knives and Tom Krein‘s three-part class entitled “How To Grind a Blade.
ABS master smith Joe Keeslar will teach you how to make a brut de forge knife at the 4th Annual BLADE University.
In the last two parts of his class Tom will demonstrate how it’s done on a Burr King grinder under the Burr-King-sponsored tent in “The Courtyard”—the adjoining parking lot of the BLADE Show host hotel, the Renaissance-Waverly.
Other classes will include two by knifemaker/BLADE® field editor Abe Elias: one on how blade steel is made and blade geometry and how it affects edge retention, and the second on which blade edge and grind is best for which cutting job.
MS/BLADE contributor Wally Hayes will show you how to use simple tools to make a throwing knife, and MS Steve Culver will demonstrate how to design a slip joint with a half stop. Niagara Specialty Metals will wind up the day’s instruction with a class designed for the veteran knifemaker and novice knife enthusiast alike that will include a discussion on the properties of various elements in the steel, proper heat treating, tempering and what it does to the steel, CPM vs. air-melt steels and more.
Saturday’s final sessions will commence with “Knifemaking for Kids” taught by Jason Brous. (Youngsters need not be accompanied by a parent/guardian, though if the youths are so accompanied the parent/guardian will be admitted free of charge.)
Knifemaker Grace Horne of Sheffield, England, will conduct a class on how to make one of her specialties: custom scissors. Knife and sword maker Wally Hostetter will present a two-part class on how to do the Japanese handle wrap, or tsuka maki, and knifemaker/U.S. Marine veteran Les George will show you how to color-case-harden knife parts—that is, the process of adding a multi-colored hard surface to mild steel for use in various knife fittings.
Learn to make a pipe tomahawk in the style of ABS journeyman smith Butch Sheely at the 4th Annual BLADE University.
JS Brian Thie‘s class will cover how to give damascus blades chatoyance—an effect that exhibits an almost mirror-polished look within the damascus pattern itself. MS David Lisch will present a class on how to make the best stag handle, including sharing his “tricks” in working with the material. Knifemaker Johnny Stout‘s class will be on how to price custom knives, including actual costs in building knives, how to price the knives to make a profit (or at least break even) and more. And, finally, knifemaker L.T. Wright of L.T. Wright Handcrafted Knives will present “Draw It, Grind It, Sharpen It: The Beginner’s Guide to Knifemaking,” which will feature knives in various stages of completion to show you how your knife should look all along the way to a finished product, with L.T.’s helpful insights and educational visuals.
Visit BLADE U. for enrollment information, dates, times, classroom locations and more.
Knife bill SB 49 would affect this year’s BLADE Show and needs your help by Friday. Bladesmith Butch Deveraux (in cowboy hat) waits on a customer at last year’s BLADE Show. (PointSeven image)
A Georgia knife bill that would reform law and impact the 2017 BLADE Show needs your help by Friday, March 3, or it will die.
According to Knife Rights, SB 49 would increase the legal carry length of a knife blade in the state from 5.5 to 12 inches, but before that can happen the Georgia state Rules Committee must release the bill for a vote.
A recent applicable Knife Rights email stated that “efforts to completely eliminate the carry length limit have been stymied due to the manner in which a knife is defined in Georgia law. [If enacted, SB 49 would] make life much better for knife owners in Georgia without hampering future efforts to completely eliminate the carry length limit at some future opportunity.”
That’s where you come in.
If you plan to attend the BLADE Show June 2-4 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta or live, travel or work in Georgia, please call or e-mail the Rules Committee members now. Whether you call or email—if emailing, enter on the subject line “Please Move SB 49″—tell them you respectfully request that they please pass SB 49 out of the Rules Committee so that it may be voted on by the full Senate. Also, be sure to thank them after you make your request. As noted in a recent Knife Rights email on the subject, “Please be polite and respectful and remain on point.” Hey, as with any request, sugar always works better than sulphur, right?
Below is a list of Georgia legislators to contact concerning the matter:
