BLADE Show

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.

In addition to all the knives and knife accessories, BLADE University classes, demos, cutting competitions, knife collections, knife judging competitions, BLADE Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® awards, inductions into the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame© and so much more are the people who make the show go.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

It’s that time of year again, time when Internet, telephone and other scammers misrepresent themselves as so-called “official” agents of the BLADE Show in booking hotel rooms for the world’s biggest and most important knife event. Beware BLADE Show hotel scammers! To find out how to both identify such unauthorized charlatans and protect yourself from them, read on.

Slated for June 2-4 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, the 2017 BLADE Show will attract knife enthusiasts from all over the world, knife enthusiasts unscrupulous scammers will try to exploit. However, if you follow a few easy guidelines, you can foil the scammers and get the best lodging for the show your hard-earned dollars can buy.

The BLADE Show has designated EventSphere as the ONLY housing provider for the 2017 BLADE Show. If it’s anyone but EventSphere, delete. There are fraudulent companies and organizations that will try and present themselves as official partners of the BLADE Show and offer you a potential room that might not be guaranteed or available. When booking with Eventsphere use the online reservation link or call 855-547-8429 and expect to receive an immediate confirmation e-mail.

PLEASE NOTE: EventSphere will NEVER call you directly to book a reservation!!!!!!!

The only reasons EventSphere would call you are:

•You phoned and left a message requesting a returned call;

•There is a problem with an existing reservation;

•Someone from BLADE Show management told EventSphere to contact you.

Should you be contacted by someone other than EventSphere or have any question concerning what you may suspect is a fraudulent booking attempt, please let us know by emailing [email protected].

For more information on the 2017 BLADE Show, the 4th Annual BLADE University and more, stay tuned to this space or visit BLADE Show.

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