Hosted in Atlanta, Georgia in May or June every year, the BLADE Show truly is the World’s Largest Knife Show. It features the most diverse array of knives from manufacturers, knifemakers, collectors, dealers and purveyors, all under one roof. The BLADE Show plays host to the Blade Magazine Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards, the Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame© induction ceremony, seminars, demonstrations and much more.
Visit BladeShow.com for tickets, travel information, exhibitor registration and sponsorship opportunities.
The Knife Rights Awards Breakfast took place during the 2012 BLADE Show in Atlanta. Georgia State Senator William “Bill” Heath received the 2012 Freedom’s
Edge™ Award, and FOX News host SE Cupp spoke about knife rights.
Get the latest knife rights news by signing up for a subscription to BLADE magazine.
Few seats remain for BLADE University, the BLADE Show‘s classroom approach to teaching you all about your favorite subject—knives—from every angle. Held on the BLADE Show site at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, BLADE University will begin the day before the BLADE Show next week, June 5, and end June 7.
•TACTICAL KNIVES: In Knife Designs of The Masters, learn from such world-renowned tactical makers as Chris Reeve, Bill Harsey and Jerry Busse as they explain how they approach making their tactical and other knives, from the design process all the way to the completed knife;
•FORGING: Let ABS master smith Joe Keeslar and other members of the ABS take you through how the ABS tests applicants for journeyman and master smith status, how and why ABS smiths incorporate the concept of line and flow into their knives, and how to inlay wire in handles and sheaths. Also, ABS master smith Jerry Fisk will explain how he forges such knives as his award-winning Sendero model and others in his Knife Designs of The Masters class;
•COLLECTING: The knives of such legends as Bob Loveless, Bill Moran, Bo Randall and Jim Schmidt are among the world’s most collectible custom knives. Major Louis Chow, Dave Ellis and Gary Clinton will school you on which of the legends’ knives are most collectible, their values, what to look for and much more;
•EMBELLISHMENT: Glendo Corp. has a state-of-the-art engraving school in Emporia, Kansas, where it teaches some of the world’s finest engravers and also knifemakers the art of engraving. Learn from the experts via the latest in engraving equipment and hands-on instruction and much more in this comprehensive series of classes;
•TRADITIONAL POCKETKNIVES: Tony Bose has been making award-winning slip joints for decades and also designs special collaborations for W.R. Case & Sons. Allow him to share his extensive experience and knowledge on how he makes his famous saddlehorn trapper and other traditional pocketknife patterns;
•JAPANESE SWORDS: ABS master smith Wally Hayes forges both Japanese swords and knives and also specializes in their handles and fittings. Let him show you hands-on how to wrap Japanese handles and his approach to fittings and the wavy temper line known as the hamon.
For information on how to enroll, visit BLADE University.
A switch to the plush Fort Worth Convention Center, an expanded roster of international and domestic custom and factory knifemakers and much more promise to make BLADE Show Texas one for the record books March 18-19 in Fort Worth.
Formerly known as the International Custom Cutlery Exposition (ICCE) and held last year at the Fort Worth Stockyards, the new name of BLADE Show Texas and the new venue are all part of the event’s continued revamping under the umbrella of the world’s largest and most important knife show operation, the BLADE Show, the latter which will be June 4-6 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
But first thing first—and that thing is BLADE Show Texas.
Approximately 300 exhibitors will be on hand to display their hottest knives, knifemaking supplies and more. Among those exhibitors are members of both The Knifemakers’ Guild, the American Bladesmith Society and many other unaffiliated makers as well. Also exhibiting will be a number of cowboy artisans to show off their creative works in spurs, bits and similar gear in a special section of the Exhibit Hall E-F called Cowboy Alley. All will gather in the expansive Fort Worth Convention Center in the heart of downtown Fort Worth. Spanning 14 city blocks of the city’s central business district, the convention center is surrounded by four-star hotels, restaurants, shops, galleries and assorted performance venues, with free transportation provided throughout the downtown area via Molly the Trolley.
Helping make the show a reality are its sponsors, which include Smoky Mountain Knife Works, WE Knife Co., Civivi, Hogue Knives, New Jersey Steel Baron and The Blade Bar.
Last year’s show was one of the first major knife events to return after the pandemic had caused a number of other shows to cancel, and people who both attended and exhibited gave it rave reviews. Many makers sold out and many who didn’t sell out didn’t miss by much. Bubba Crouch, who, along with many other members of the South Texas Cartel of custom slip joint makers returns this year, said it was the best-attended show he’d been to since BLADE Show 2019. “There was a lot of money in the room and a lot of veteran-type collectors,” he observed. “I brought three or four customers who’d never been to a knife show and they were overwhelmed with all the talent.”
This year’s array of talented artisans promises to be even better. An incomplete but representative sample of domestic and international exhibitors in assorted categories includes:
The knife awards for the Texas BLADE Show have been especially tailored this year to address the specialties of the exhibiting makers. As a result, the awards in the custom category will be Best EDC, Best Slip Joint, Best Kitchen Knife, Best Fixed Blade, Best Folder, Best Damascus, Best Art Knife and Best in Show. Each winner will be judged in terms of how well it fits the category, quality design, construction and materials, fit and finish, line and flow, and the other intangibles that identify most top knives.
The knife awards in the factory category will be Best EDC, Best Fixed Blade, Best Folder and Best in Show, with each winner judged in the same terms as those used to rate the custom winners as outlined in the preceding paragraph.
The BLADE Show franchise is renowned for its cutting-edge demos, and those for BLADE Show Texas maintain that tradition. All are free of charge to show attendees. On Friday those demos will include:
12 p.m., Grinding Seminar, Room 104: Using only four abrasive belts on his Moen Tooling Platen and grinding fixture, Jerry Moen of Moen Tooling will show you how to apply a bevel grind in a 2,000-grit finish.
2 p.m., Fundamentals of Inlay, Room 104: Award-winning bit-and-spur maker Wilson Capron will demonstrate several different inlay styles and techniques and the tools to do them with, styles and techniques that can be applied to assorted media;
3 p.m., How to Make the X-Rhea Knife, Room 104: ABS master smith Lin Rhea will outline the details that go into the making of his X-Rhea knife, including variations on a theme, how the design came to be, how to forge it and more.
All Day, Free Knife Sharpening and Hands-On Demo, the Mobile Forge: Joe Maynard of Primitive Grind will provide hands-on demos and free knife sharpening.
Saturday’s demos will kick off at 10:30 a.m. in Room 104 with a repeat rendition of Jerry Moen’s Grinding Seminar. In addition, Joe Maynard will conduct his All-Day Free Knife Sharpening and Hands-On Demo in the Mobile Forge. The day’s other seminars will include:
12 p.m., How to Make a Single Blade Trapper, Room 104: Award-winning makers Luke Swenson and Bill Ruple and other members of the South Texas Cartel will show you how it’s done based on Swenson’s video tutorial “Slipjoints with Luke Swenson.”
1:30 p.m., Leather Sheath Making Demo, Room 104: Joey Dello Russo of Imperial Leather Works will give a complete rundown on how to make a sheath, including measuring the blade, leather thickness, welt dimensions, belt loop location, and sizing, laying out and drawing the pattern.
Blade Show Texas and Texas Gun Experience have teamed up to provide a night of hands-on experience in a safe and managed environment. Show attendees are invited to a private demo event on Saturday evening from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Only those that have a BLADE Show Texas wristband will be eligible to attend to the TGE event and are eligible to win the following giveaways:
For more information on the show, pick up your special show program at the event itself or visit bladeshowtexas.com. For more information on the Fort Worth Convention Center, visit fortworth.com/convention-center.
As the years go on the BLADE Magazine Knife Of The Year® Awards only get sharper. The 2025 chapter, held during the June 7-9 BLADE Show at the Cobb County Galleria, is a case in point.
Hosting among the largest fields to date in the factory knife competition, the contents had roughly 350-400 entries vying for the title of “Best” in their respective categories. Add-in production knives are reaching an unimaginable height in both design and manufacturing quality, the event was as tight as ever. Speaking to the stiffness of the competition, two categories produced contender finishers—an honor meant to recognize a creation that is nearly on par with the category winner.
The winners were selected by a panel of four judges, experts drawn from different backgrounds in the knife industry. Below are their selections of knives that are more than worthy of calling themselves Knife Of The Year®.
Steve Schwarzer, Bob Terzuola and Devin “Hoss” Thomas are the newest members of the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame®. All three will be formally inducted Saturday morning, June 3, of the BLADE Show at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta in a special ceremony in the Kennesaw Room of the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly, the show’s host hotel. The ceremony will be a combination breakfast/triple induction and will start at 8:00 a.m. Tickets are required and seating is limited, so the tickets will go fast. For ticket information, email [email protected].
A veteran ABS master smith, Schwarzer is probably best known for his pioneering work in the canister method of forging mosaic damascus. His hunter and dog scene in mosaic damascus on the blade of one of his hunting knives forged circa the early 1990s was a defining moment for the genre. He is considered one of the finest instructors and ambassadors of the forged blade and of mosaic damascus, teaching at seminars and hammer-ins on the subjects for decades in Europe, South Africa, all over the USA and elsewhere.
Known as a pioneer of tactical knives, especially his ATCF (Advanced Technology Combat Folder), Terzuola started out making fixed-blade combat knives for the CIA, soldiers and security personnel in Central America. In 1984 he began making folders of titanium and Micarta®, which helped set the stage for the tactical folders that dominated the American custom knife scene for decades beginning in the mid-1990s. Aka “Bob T,” he wrote the how-to book, The Tactical Folding Knife, originally published in 2000.
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While a fine knifemaker in his own right, Thomas is best known for his pioneering work in forging stainless and carbon damascus, and supplying thousands of knifemakers industry-wide with the material from the 1990s forward. He was one of the first to make quality damascus available for sale to the “average” knifemaker. The damascus patterns he offers are among the most recognizable in the industry and include but are not limited to Raindrop, Spirograph, Basketweave, Herringbone and others.
The new inductees were determined by a combined vote of sitting Hall Of Famers and, for the first time this year, a Panel of Industry Authorities, the latter chosen by the BLADE® staff. The latest inductions bring the total number of members in the Cutlery Hall Of Fame to 71.
How to make and design knives, how to determine which steel for which knife, what to look for in proper damascus patterns and how to enhance their appearance and other incisive knife subjects will highlight the class schedule of the 12th Annual BLADE University.
Held in conjunction with the 44th Annual BLADE Show June 6-8 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, BLADE University will be sponsored by Work Sharp. Classes begin the Thursday before the show, June 5, and will run through Friday, June 6, and Saturday, June 7. All courses will be taught in the Cobb Galleria except one—Fundamentals of Grinding—which will convene under the tent in The Courtyard, aka the parking lot of the show’s host hotel, the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly.
BLADE University assembles some of the world’s best knifemakers, bladesmiths and other cutlery and steel professionals to teach a wide range of subjects for the knife user, knifemaker, knife hobbyist, knife entrepreneur, knife designer, and knife aficionado and novice alike. If you love knives or are just beginning to, BLADE University has a topic for you. The complete course schedule, with subjects, teachers, times and venues:
More classes were being determined at press time. For more information on them and on how to enroll in one or more of BLADE University’s classes, see our course offerings. There will be additional information on BLADE University in the June BLADE® and also in the BLADE Show Program, copies of which will be distributed for free at the BLADE Show.
The BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame® brought three groundbreakers of the world of knives into the fold June 7 with the formal inductions of premier knifemakers Ted Dowell and Bill Harsey and ABS master smith Don Fogg.
About 75 patrons were on hand for the breakfast/induction ceremony held in the Kennesaw Room of the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel the Saturday morning of BLADE Show 2024. For the first time in recent memory for the Hall-of-Fame ceremony, none of the inductees were on hand. Fogg and Harsey were unable to attend for health reasons, while Dowell passed away in 2012.
However, somehow it didn’t seem to matter so much as friends, family and acquaintances of the inductees and others took up the slack to produce a memorable induction event. Present to formally induct the new Cutlery Hall of Famers were Jeff Dowell (his father, Ted); Anne and Tim Reeve of Chris Reeve Knives and Curtis Iovito of Spartan Blades (Harsey); and Cutlery Hall-of-Famer Steve Schwarzer (Fogg).
As a founding member of The Knifemakers’ Guild, Ted Dowell played a key role in helping to organize the Guild, the grandaddy of all modern knifemaker organizations, in 1970. Along with fellow Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Bob Loveless, he wrote the Guild’s original bylaws.
A veteran of the United States Navy, Ted resigned his position as a full-time mathematics professor in 1974 to go full time making knives. As Guild president in 1975, overcoming opposition from some in the Guild’s ranks, he coordinated the organization’s first custom-knives-only-no-guns show. He also helped Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Phil Lobred establish the Art Knife Invitational in the early 1980s. Lobred credited Dowell with making the first modern integral knife, a design Ted introduced in 1972 in his basic hunters and which eventually evolved into some of the most ornate of integral art knives. Integral knives became a category of their own and remain popular to this day.
As Jeff noted, his father was passionate about the Guild and “all the foundations that set the pace and the tone for a lot of us that sit here today and reaped those rewards.” Jeff said much of the credit for his father’s success was due to the support of Mrs. Betty Dowell, who, while unable to attend the induction ceremony, was there vicariously through her son.
“Mom had her 93rd birthday a couple of days ago,” Jeff said to cheers and applause from those in attendance, “and she’s doing pretty well for 93. She still lives in the house that she and Dad bought in 1962 in Bend, Oregon, and the shop is still in the backyard. It’s not as completely outfitted as much as it was when he was working but a lot of the core stuff is still there. I go out there and tinker around quite often, and his presence is still very much there.”
Jeff and his brother, Scott, worked in the shop making sheaths for their father’s knives before tragedy struck in 1975 when Scott was killed in a car accident. He was only 19. “That was a tough day,” Jeff recalled, “and it took both my dad and mom a while to recover.” Jeff soon assumed the sheath-making duties and Ted and Betty soldiered on with life, with Betty taking more of a lead role than ever.
“My mom was galvanized and determined to have a family to take care of and a household to run,” Jeff said, “and she ran every bit of the business. [Dad made the knives] but everything else she did. She attended to every detail of the business. She had two kids to take care of and she had a grieving husband and a knifemaker and a business to support, and she did so for another 40 years.”
Meanwhile, Ted continued to establish a reputation as one of the finest makers of custom knives. “During that time Dad produced some great hunting knives and was best known for his integral designs and Funny Folders and those types of things,” Jeff remembered. “It was really Phil Lobred that pushed him and got him into art knives, and Dad produced some absolutely stunning art knives over the years.” Many of those images are on the impressive tmdknives.com website for which Jeff provides updates when warranted.
Still, Jeff said, his mother loomed large in every knife her husband made. “I don’t know that Dad could have made all those knives if not for her,” he noted. “She was that influential and resolute in seeing this through. I was fortunate enough to be a big part in working in the shop before heading off to college, and I visited quite often during that time to see some of the great knives Dad was doing. They both felt he deserved to be in the Hall of Fame and it’s wonderful that he finally is.
“I thank everybody here who voted him in and the other inductees as well. It’s a great honor.”
Bill Harsey has made and designed knives for 38 years, during which time he has been one of the most prolific and recognizable names in the industry, working behind the scenes and designing for Al Mar Knives, Beretta, Chris Reeve Knives, CRKT, Gerber, Ruger and Spartan Blades. He worked and consulted with and designed for Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Col. Rex Applegate, including the British SAS Collaboration Knife. Bill designed the U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret Knife, aka The Yarborough, for Chris Reeve Knives, a serialized version of which was presented to each graduate of the Special Forces Qualification Course. He also designed the official knife of the Canadian Special Forces and the U.S. Navy SEAL Silver Trident knife, and worked on the Neil Roberts knife project.
A fourth-generation lumberjack, Bill was born into a family of lumberjacks that, as Anne Reeve put it, was kind of a working ranch. “His grandparents taught him the importance of a knife,” Anne read from notes Bill had prepared beforehand. “His grandfather taught him very much, including how to hand sharpen tools for work.”
As Anne noted, Special Forces soldiers guided Bill’s knife work from the beginning. Bill met and was advised by Cutlery Hall-of-Famer Al Mar, and they worked together on knife projects for many years. “Bill credited Al Mar with teaching him to recognize good design,” Anne noted. It was Mar, a Green Beret in his own right, who introduced Bill to Col. Applegate, and the two struck up a working relationship that lasted 14 years. Among the fruits of that relationship was the Applegate-Fairbairn combat knife for which, Cutlery Hall-of-Famer Bob Terzuola noted, Harsey did the prototypes and grinding of the blades.
Curtis Iovito explained how and why Bill fulfilled the requirements (see sidebar) for Hall-of-Fame membership. “In an industry where trust is paramount, Bill exemplifies honesty, character and integrity,” Curtis said, citing how Spartan Blades and Harsey consummated their numerous collaboration agreements. “Every deal we’ve done with Bill Harsey has been sealed with a handshake,” he said as Anne Reeve nodded in agreement. “People are just supposed to do things right,” Curtis observed. “Bill set a standard for ethical conduct in the knife industry.”
Demand in one’s area of expertise is almost always a sure sign of success, and the demand for Harsey’s design skill is high—not only domestically but internationally as well.
“He is an ambassador of American knives. His collaborations have transcended awards as demonstrated by the Special Ops community seeking his work throughout the world,” Curtis observed of the new inductee. “Through his contributions he has elevated the status of American knifemaking but also positive relationships around the world. [Spartan Blades] is located near Fort Bragg and I’ve had people from the Italian Special Forces, German Special Forces, GSG 9, and a plethora of others visiting Fort Bragg to call our shop and ask for Bill.
“Finally, I believe Bill is more than worthy because of his dedication to the craft. He sets the example for everyone else to follow and that reaches far beyond the U.S. border, which I find really cool, and in the relationships he builds. His legacy is one that’s shaped our industry and continues to inspire future generations of knifemakers.”
A United States Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War, Don Fogg long has shared his vast knowledge of steel and making knives and swords. He helped further the art of Samurai and Viking sword making and developed the W’s damascus pattern. He shared the drawings of his best gas forge and his gas heat treat oven for swords. He built one of the first 20-ton hydraulic forging presses for making damascus. Today the press is as popular as a power hammer. He also was instrumental in starting the American Bladesmith Society-sanctioned bladesmithing school in Auburn, Maine. In 2005, he won the BLADE Magazine Industry Achievement Award. In 2006, he was inducted into the ABS Hall of Fame.
Steve Schwarzer said Don is like the “original Yoda of bladesmithing” and is “a genius in the knife business.” The new inductee has been a guiding light of bladesmithing instruction, including teaching classes at the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing, damascus and swordsmithing at the J.C. Campbell Folk School, and at Montgomery College, to name but a few. He has written many stories on bladesmithing that have been published in magazines and books worldwide. Steve said Don was one of the first to spread bladesmithing information on the Internet, including hosting an international chat group that flourished for years teaching and spreading the good word of the forged blade.
Like Harsey did for Anne Reeve, Don wrote a timeline of his career to help guide Schwarzer’s induction speech. Don’s “knifemaking adventure” started in 1976 when he met and befriended Jimmie Fikes, a master blacksmith who “really knew his stuff.” Don soon met Jim Schmidt and they gathered at Fikes’ shop to forge weld a damascus billet. “It became apparent if we were really going to grow we were going to have to expand the market and the number of people making blades,” Don wrote. Added Steve, “And that’s what Don did. He was one of the few knifemakers early on that approached it as a business.”
The Ashokan seminar in New York in 1980 was a pivotal moment that brought together the few leading smiths of the day, including Don, from all over the country. The hammer-in was a way of teaching and sharing knowledge that each smith had learned individually, exploding the growth of bladesmithing. “There’d been a lot of discussion about creating standards for the craft and a ratings system was developed,” Don wrote. Cutlery Hall-of-Famer Bill Moran, who together with Bill Bagwell, Don Hastings and Cutlery Hall-of-Famer B. R. Hughes formed the American Bladesmith Society in 1976, announced the first ABS master smith ratings at the 1982 New York Custom Knife Show. Fogg was one of those ABS master smiths.
Don’s main interest was steelwork, which soon exceeded his ability to make handles. Enter Murad Sayen, with the two forming the knifemaking team of Kemal. Don learned so much from Murad it opened his eyes creatively and he learned a whole new line of form, texture and contrast, which in turn changed his approach to making steel. One of their knives was pictured in the highly influential Esquire Magazine, which helped bring the beauty of art knives to the world outside the knife industry.
Don moved to Alabama, where he befriended Cutlery Hall-of-Famer Jim Batson. Fogg became a regular at Batson’s hammer-ins, sharing knowledge and also meeting bladesmith Chuck Patrick. Don and Chuck taught swordsmithing and worked together for years. In the interim Don dropped out of the ABS and lost his MS rating, but had grown and was “representing bladesmithing to the world.” With Batson’s encouragement he retook the MS test and passed it again.
“I feel privileged to have been at the beginning of what was to become a global rebirth of this ancient craft,” Don wrote. “I used to joke I have a well-developed set of archaic skills, but in truth I was so fortunate to have found my community and one that challenged me for my entire life and educated me in so many ways.”
To be inducted into the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame®, prospective members must have practiced all of the following during their careers:
