The latest iteration of the famous BLADE Show, Blade Show Texas brings all the best knifemakers, collectors, dealers, manufacturers, and purveyors to the Lone Star State for a sharp weekend of cutting-edge exhibition!
BLADE Show Texas makes the “impossible” look easy.
“BLADE, it seems, has done the impossible—having a successful knife show in Texas!” exclaimed Bill Ruple, BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member and “The Maestro” of custom slipjoint knifemakers. “All of the South Texas Slipjoint Cartel guys had excellent sales. I can’t wait till BLADE Atlanta!”
The fact Bill brought 10 knives to the 3rd Annual BLADE Show Texas in the Fort Worth Convention Center and sold them all pronto would seem sufficient to bear out his observation, but selling out is pretty much routine for the big friendly Texan. No, it was more than just brisk knife sales that made the third rendition of the show February 23-24 so appealing. It was also the number of people—and agreeable people at that—attending.
“The attendance at the show was off the chart,” noted exhibiting knifemaker Roger Green, who sold six of the eight knives he brought—including four push daggers to one customer—and happily entertained a number of selfie requests from show patrons. “It seems both days were equally busy.”
Most of the factory and custom knife winners proudly display their trophies after the award presentation at the Hilton Hotel Fort Worth. From left: Phil Jacob; Harvey Dean; Mark Winburn; Evan Nicolaides (ESNYX); Jason Knight (behind Nicolaides); Princeton Wong; Jared Oeser; Jim Rodebaugh; Mike Quesenberry (behind Rodebaugh); Karis Fisher; Les George; Allen Elishewitz; David Deng (Reate); Joe Vero (Vero Engineering); Anthony Marfione (Heretic); Franco de Souza (behind Marfione and Ramm holding up his three awards); Peyton Ramm; and Tim Robertson.
The atmosphere in and around the show itself impressed ABS master smith Brion Tomberlin. “I like that this show is more laid back than BLADE Atlanta. It’s easy to get to. We stayed at a nice hotel with decent room rates. There are plenty of restaurants within easy walking distance. It’s a good set up,” he wrote. “It is a big show with a small show feel, if that makes sense.” The show hall indeed was bigger, with an additional 100 exhibitors over the previous year bringing the total to more than 400, plus an additional 28,000 square feet of space. Added Brion, “More space is good.”
The mix of show patrons was all over the board. Diane Carver of Fox Cutlery in the factory section indicated about 75 percent were sophisticated knife enthusiasts “willing to purchase expensive knives.” Set up in the custom section, Tomberlin broke it down even more: “About 10 percent were seasoned collectors and enthusiasts and about 30 percent were buyers who know what they want and come for the latest trends. Sixty percent were newbies who want to see what a knife show is all about.”
The seasoned buyers and those who know what they want no doubt helped make it a successful show for many exhibitors. In addition to Ruple a number sold out, Duane Dwyer and Bobby House among them, Fox Cutlery and Pro-Tech reported brisk sales and many did more than well enough to return. Among them was Burt Flanagan, who in addition to selling his award-winning slippies also sold three heat-treating ovens in his role representing Paragon Industries. Tomberlin brought five knives and sold two, a mix from high end to lower price. “Not a fantastic show for me sales wise but not horrible, either,” he observed. ABS master smith Harvey Dean sold his slicing knife, winner of Best Kitchen Knife, for $6,400 and took four other orders in the four-figure range. Smiled Harvey, “A lot of those orders will develop into more down the line.”
Swords were hot at the Valiant Armoury booth.
NEW AWARDS
To open up the custom and factory knife judging segments to more knife styles and contestants, show officials made several improvements.
To provide an award avenue for tomahawks, swords, innovative designs and other “specialty pieces,” the category of Best of the Rest was added to both the custom and factory segments. Also in the factory segment, the categories of Best American Made and Best Imported were added, with Best Tactical being dropped.
Finally, in an effort to recognize knives that came within a whisker of winning but were edged out for one reason or another, a new award called Best Contender was introduced to the custom segment, with three makers earning the new honor. For the list of all the award winners, see sidebars.
SEE YOU THERE! All in all, it was a most rewarding show for most everyone who came. Next year’s show will return to the Fort Worth Convention Center March 7-8. See you there, partner.
See who took home the hardware from the custom knife competition at BLADE Show Texas
With its roots in fine custom knives, BLADE Show Texas tends to draw the top names in makers. In turn, the custom knife awards competition turns out to be a heavyweight slugfest of some of the country’s most accomplished blade artisans. The 2024 competition at the Feb. 23-24 show lived up to this expectation completely.
The judging hall buried in the catacombs of the Ft. Worth Convention Center was packed to the gills with exceptional specimens in 12 categories. To say the 3-judge panel had their work cut out is an overstatement as large as the Lone Star State itself. But after much debate and some furrowing of brows, this team of custom knife experts came up with the top picks from each category.
This included Best Of Show (and Best Bowie), Mike Quesenberry’s dog-gone outstanding bowie knife—a creation that sucked the air out of the room. A testament to how competitive the competition was, the judges for the first time awarded “Contender” awards in three categories for knives that were worthy of top honors, but were just edged out of the highest award.
See who took home the hardware in seven categories at BLADE Show Texas
Over the years, the BLADE Show Texas Awards contest has proven among the most competitive of the triad of shows—perhaps only second to Atlanta. The 2024 event was no different with the factory section of the Feb. 23-24 drawing in cutting-edge designs and hot new takes on the age-old technology. It’s an understatement to say the three-judge panel had its work cut out for it deep in the bowels of the Fort Worth Convention Center in picking the best of a very accomplished field. Yet the experts did, choosing winners in 7 categories—including Best Of Show, ESNYX’s EDC folder. Get a gander of it and the other top picks from the ever-growing blade shindig from deep in the heart of Texas.
In Just Over Two Weeks Time, BLADE Show Texas Will Descend Once Again On The City Of Fort Worth.
BLADE Show Texas ’23 expects to follow up on its wildly successful ’22 rendition when it rides herd on the Fort Worth Convention Center March 17-18 in Fort Worth.
Over 300 national and international exhibitors, including the best in custom and factory makers and companies, will display their hottest knives, knifemaking supplies and more. All will coalesce in the roomy 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/Sencut, The Blade Bar, Nottingham Tactical, TOPS Knives, Hogue Knives, Microtech, Jantz Supply and New Jersey Steel Baron.
Beat The Line And Buy Your BLADE Show Texas Tickets Now!
BLADE Show Texas 2023 Set To Top 2022
ABS master smiths Bruce Bump (left) and Shane Taylor (right), both of whom are in the book The Greatest Living Knifemakers, return to display their knives. At press time, others in the book who will be exhibiting at the show are Bill Ruple and Tom Overeynder.
While Texas long has been hailed as a hotbed of knives of all shapes, sizes and types, its knife shows haven’t always seemed to keep pace. Debuting under its new name in ’22 after several years as the International Custom Cutlery Exposition (ICCE), BLADE Show Texas seemed to buck that trend, with custom and factory exhibitors praising the event.
“The attendance was excellent and sales were awesome,” BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Bill Ruple observed of BLADE Show Texas ’22. “What a great show!”
“BLADE Show Texas was a great one. Attendance was crazy good,” agreed ABS master smith Bruce Bump. “And it was good to connect with old friends and make some new ones.”
“BLADE Show Texas was a great success as far as our time there,” noted John Cammenga of White River Knife & Tool. “We sold a lot and there was great traffic.”
“One thing I personally really liked was the eclectic mix of makers throughout the show,” pitched in maker Tom Krein. “You just didn’t know who or what would be at the next table.”
This year’s array of talented artisans promises to be even better. Also on hand will be a wealth of premier custom knife purveyors, engravers and other embellishers, many more knife professionals and entrepreneurs of all stripes—and, of course, knife enthusiasts, users and collectors galore.
Award Changes
The knife judging awards for BLADE Show Texas have been especially tailored this year to address the specialties of the exhibiting makers. As a result, there are two changes, one each in the custom and factory categories.
The new category in custom is Machine Assisted Custom Knife, or M.A.C.K (see next section. Last year’s custom category of Best Fixed Blade was scratched in the middle of show judging and was broken down into three separate categories: Best Bowie, Best Fighter and Best Hunting Knife.
As a result, this year’s custom awards will be Best M.A.C.K., Best Art Knife, Best Bowie, Best Damascus, Best EDC, Best Fighter, Best Folding Knife, Best Hunting Knife, Best Kitchen Knife, Best Slip Joint and Best in Show.
To differentiate it from Best Slip Joint, Best Folding Knife will be for non-slip joints only. Each category winner will be determined 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.
Best Tactical is the new factory category and will include both folders and fixed blades. Hence, the awards in the factory category will be Best EDC, Best Fixed Blade, Best Folder, Best Tactical and Best in Show. Each category winner will be determined in the same manner used to rate the custom winners as outlined in the preceding paragraph.
M.A.C.K.
The fastest growing and, some would say, most exciting segment in custom knives now has its own category: Machine Assisted Custom Knife.
In conjunction with a number of intrepid pioneers in the category, BLADE® Magazine and BLADE Show have created an awards segment that aims to recognize the diverse array of knifemakers whose fertile minds are dedicated to creating knives that exist in the space between the entirely handmade custom knife and the entirely machine-made custom knife.
To qualify for the category, the knife must have one or more key elements crafted by hand. It is up to the maker to determine which element(s) to handcraft, but the judges will look for makers who challenge themselves in this regard. Judges will look for a knife that is first and foremost a cutting tool.
The design must be functional, beautiful, have great ergonomics, yet still have practical applications and uses. The winning knife should be able to go from the debutante ball to the wrecking ball without changing shoes. From a technical standpoint, execution of fit and finish across the entire knife, basics such as blade centering, lock kinetics, lock feel and lock positivity/safety, etc., will all factor heavily into choosing a winner.
To reiterate, overall aesthetic design must be cohesive and beautiful without compromising the knife’s primary purpose as a cutting tool. Exhibitors should bring their best of kinetics, aesthetics and handcraft to this category. And may the best knife triumph!
Demos And Seminars
Tom Overeynder will bring an Art Knife Invitational level of talent to the show with such pieces as his 34 Big Jack slip joint in PSF-27 stainless blade steel and a new handle material—jagged bone. Closed length: 5 inches. Maker’s price: $3,250. (SharpByCoop image)
Friday
12 p.m.-Grinding Fundamentals, Room 104: Co-owner of Brodbeck Ironworks, knifemaker Vince Molina will showcase the Brodbeck grinder complete with flat platen and integral bolster attachment.
2 p.m.-Let the Pros Critique Your Knife, Room 104: Award-winning knifemakers Bill Ruple and Tom Krein and ABS master smiths Jason Knight, Steve Schwarzer and Brion Tomberlin will examine your knife and tell you the good, the not so good and how to make it better. This will be a limited-seating event. Bring one knife only. Sign up when you enter the class on a first-come, first-served basis. Questions will be entertained from attendees throughout.
3:30 p.m.-Building an 1830s Knife with Modern Tools, Room 104: It seems almost certain that James Black made a number of knives circa 1830. Though he did not mark his knives with his name, the style attributed to him is one of the most distinctive and admired of his or any era. ABS master smith Lin Rhea is a student of Black and antique bowie knives in general. His seminar will be a discussion of how to build knives in the Black style in the modern knifemaker’s shop, substituting modern techniques for those of the 1830s. In addition, Lin will outline the things to consider in recreating a historic knife style.
Saturday
10:30 a.m.-Grinding Fundamentals, Room 104: Co-owner of Brodbeck Ironworks, knifemaker Vince Molina will reprise his Friday seminar on the Brodbeck grinder complete with flat platen and integral bolster attachment.
12 p.m.-Trainer Knife for Kids, Room 104: Nicole Larkin of Bradford USA will introduce Bradford’s newest trainer for kids. Nicole will cover what makes the trainer a great first knife, outlining such topics as utility, basic safety principles and sharpening. “We wanted to build a trainer knife that will grow with your child as he or she matures beyond the need for one,” Nicole noted.
1:30 p.m.-Silver Wire Inlay in Wood, Room 104: A past Forged in Fire champion, ABS journeyman smith Allen Newberry will demonstrate silver wire inlay in wood, how to make the tools required and where to procure the needed supplies.
The official BLADE Show Texas photographer will be SharpByCoop.
Get more information about BLADE Show Texas, the foremost knife show in the Lone Star State.
Veronique Laurent Has Become One Of The Most Accomplished Smiths In The World Even After Fighting Against Prejudice In Her Native Belgium.
I come from Texas where a knifemaker is more likely to wear boots and a cowboy hat than a suit and tie. In many parts of the world, it’s commonly assumed that a knifemaker is a man.
This past March I caught up with American Bladesmith Society Master Smith Veronique Laurent at BLADE Show Texas in Fort Worth, Cowtown, USA. She had no boots or cowboy hat and her accent isn’t “Southern,” but she’s sure enough a bona fide knifemaker.
Veronique comes from Brussels, Belgium, where French is the spoken language. Now, I don’t speak French, so out of respect I asked her how a non-French-speaking person should pronounce her name.
Over here she’ll answer to the Americanized Veronica Lawrent, but the correct answer is more like Vehr-o-NIK-eh Law-ron, with the rolled R’s in the middle of each. In Belgium the people use the last name first, so she’s often just called “Laurent.” Now that you can read her name in your head in a beautiful French accent, let’s move on to the interesting part of the story.
Veronique found her first career as a clerk at a Belgian TV station. She did cold metalworking as a hobby. While on holiday in France in 2004, she attended a knifemaking and blacksmithing event similar to a U.S. hammer-in. She later took a one-day knifemaking class with the Belgian Knife Society and never looked back.
She became involved with the Society and learned more about knifemaking from the members of that community. The group eventually broke up but not before Veronique was well on her way.
In 2010, again in France, she attended a hammer-in that included ABS Master Smiths/BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® members Joe Keeslar and Jay Hendrickson. In Belgium and France, a woman is not commonly accepted as a knifemaker. So it was that Veronique was pleased and surprised by the hospitality that Joe and Jay showed her, particularly with the respect they gave her as a craftsperson.
For while a female knifemaker is a bit of an American rarity, being female isn’t an automatic gale-force headwind in the American knifemaking journey. In Europe, however, things are quite different. Veronique struggled to sell knives in Europe even as her skills advanced.
“When a man came to my table and picked up a knife, he would ask me who the maker was,” she recalled. “When I said that I made the knife, he would then ask the person next to me who made the knife. Once he knew I was the knifemaker, he’d put the knife down and walk away. In Europe they don’t want to buy a knife from a woman.” She made it her goal to be a full-time maker, and her American contacts became even more important.
Becoming An ABS Master Smith
Veronique (left) makes a point as her fellow panel members—from right, ABS Journeyman Smith Lora Schwarzer and knifemakers Grace Horne and Abie Lyons—listen during the Women’s Bladesmith/Knifemaker Panel class of BLADE University at BLADE Show ’22.
After her contact with Keeslar, she journeyed to the 2013 BLADE Show and gained her ABS journeyman smith certification. She then began corresponding with ABS Master Smith John White, who encouraged her to learn to build takedown knives.
“In 2015 I built my first takedown knife, and that same week I received the ABS email notification that John White had passed away,” she recalled. “I built all of my master smith test knives as takedowns in his memory.”
Veronique pretty well blew away the crowd at the 2015 BLADE Show and gained her MS stamp. After the show, she and ABS Master Smith Jean-Louis Regel of France spent three weeks in Brazil learning advanced damascus techniques from ABS Master Smith Rodrigo Sfreddo.
“After I was a master smith, I began to ‘exist’ in Europe,” she noted. “I became a full-time knifemaker shortly after that.” Even with American renown and credibility, the headwinds of bias still were a challenge in her home country. “People were rude, and it made me think ‘I will show you!’ Their bad attitude became my motivation,” she said.
She began to work with Jean-Louis more and more (Jean-Louis also earned his MS in 2015). Because of bias, it was often assumed that he did her work for her, that he made her damascus or that she worked only in his shop. This was not the case.
Though to Americans it makes sense that the two French-speaking master smiths must be connected, the real story is that Veronique and Jean-Louis each have their own shops in their hometowns. Their shops are roughly 375 miles apart, with Veronique in Belgium and Jean-Louis in France. The journey between them takes about eight hours.
Even in Texas, where we measure trips in hours, not miles, an eight-hour trip is a “long haul” or a “far piece.” While the distance was significant, they covered it about once a month depending on workflow. Veronique says that she has better grinding and finishing tools in her shop, while Jean-Louis has a bigger shop with better damascus-making equipment.
Veronique and Jean-Louis attended the International Custom Cutlery Exposition (now BLADE Show Texas) in Fort Worth in 2018, and each won multiple awards.
“In all my trips to America, only one time has anyone set my knife down rudely like in Europe,” she noted. They joined The Knifemakers’ Guild on that trip also and spent a week learning bladesmithing from ABS Master Smith Rick Dunkerley.
Covid got in the way of travel plans and so Veronique and Jean-Louis were unable to return to America until this year’s BLADE Show Texas. As an American, it wouldn’t cross my mind to visit France regularly to try to sell knives, so I was curious why Veronique keeps coming back. She explained that “Europe doesn’t like to ship big knives. It is very complicated and expensive. Sometimes you can ship a small letter opener or something, but it is very difficult.”
Rather than fight the restrictions, it’s easier to travel over here and sell her work where it is in high demand. Another thing she does is make a “junior baby” model of each major piece. If she makes a dagger, she makes another small one. If she makes a big bowie, she makes a similar hunter. These smaller pieces tend to sell better in Europe than the big works.
Veronique Laurent’s Knives
Based on the Musso Bowie, Veronique’s Big Boy Bowie won Best Fighter at BLADE Show Texas. It has a 13-inch feather damascus blade of O2 and 45NCD16 tool steels with a riveted brass back. Parts of the guard are mirror polished, parts are stippled, and parts are engraved with raised flowers. The handle is ancient walrus ivory. Overall length: 18.5 inches. (SharpByCoop image)
Veronique had a good variety of knives at BLADE Show Texas that showcased her skills and versatility: a large brass-backed bowie, a few elegant hunters and a folding dagger.
“It was an honor to be asked to make a big bowie,” she observed. “It’s a man’s knife and it took many years for a man to trust that I could build a large bowie.”
While she doesn’t build knives “to order,” she does keep a list of customers who are looking for a particular type of knife. “I don’t take orders. I want to be free!” she explained. She’d been asked to build a big bowie and did her research and came across the Musso Bowie. She built the Big Boy Bowie and it promptly won Best Fighter in Fort Worth.
Big Boy is highlighted by a feather damascus blade of O2 and 45NCD16 tool steels with a riveted brass back. The guard is O2 also. Parts of the guard are mirror polished, parts are stippled, and parts are engraved with raised flowers.
“O2 steel is good because you can finish it many ways and it works well for the engraving,” Veronique explained.
The handle is ancient walrus ivory. Also on her table was a fine damascus folding dagger that won the show’s custom judging award for Best Folding Knife. All the fittings, engraving, jewel settings, and display box are by Veronique.
So where does one go next when you’re already known worldwide?
“I want to focus on engraving and filework,” she said. “I am also learning to make automatic folding knives from Rick Dunkerley.”
Veronique is a strong woman and plays well at what is often a man’s game. She doesn’t take orders but builds a few major pieces in several categories each year. She prefers email communication from Americans because it is difficult to hear and translate over the phone. She’ll be at the major shows, but you’d better get there early as her work is in high demand.
For more information about Veronique Laurent and her knives e-mail her at [email protected].
Everything is bigger in Texas. That includes knife competitions. BLADE Show Texas’ first year in the Fort Worth Convention Center March 18-19, 2022, the BLADE Show Texas Awards turned out a host of excellent entrants in 11 factory and custom knife categories. The knives were judged by a panel of top knifemakers from across the industry, who evaluated each for superior utility, design, creativity, materials, aesthetics, and feel, among other traits.
