The Shin by Rockstead is the one of the three stolen knives still missing. (KnifePurveyor.com)This John W. Smith folder in fossil ivory is the second of the three stolen knives that are still missing. (KnifePurveyor.com photo)
Purveyor Michael Donato was one happy man earlier this week when all but three of approximately 150 stolen knives were returned.
The three knives that remain missing are the Shin by Rockstead and two John W. Smith folders, all of which are pictured at right.
“This has been the craziest roller-coaster ride of my life,” the owner of KnifePurveyor.com said. “The support of the custom knife world between collectors, dealers and others has been incredible.”
How the alleged thief was caught is a story in itself. Video surveillance captured him stealing Donato’s pelican case containing the knives at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport that services Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina. Law enforcement was able to identify the man from the video and later used it to identify him among the passengers coming off a flight from Indianapolis, Indiana. Officials determined the suspect’s next flight destination and were waiting for him when he got off the plane. He was even wearing the same clothes he had on when he allegedly stole the knives. Detectives watched as he apparently tried to steal another piece of luggage and nabbed him. He confessed and is being held on $100,000 bond. He led detectives to the knives, which he had stashed in his hotel room. Donato said the man had separated the knives by maker and had prices by each. “He must have seen my business card, visited my website and guessed at the values from it,” Donato said. “He was pretty spot on with the prices.”
This John Smith folder in mother of pearl is the last of the three stolen knives still missing. (KnifePurveyor.com photo)
Unfortunately, the man apparently was able to sell the three knives that are still missing before he was apprehended.
If you have any information concerning the stolen knives, contact Donato via www.knifepurveyor.com.
For the latest knives, knife trends and more, visit www.blademag.com.
Great knives, knifemakers, tips on knife collecting and much more are in the offing at venues across the country and abroad today and tomorrow, April 28-29.
The Solvang Custom Knife Show is in Solvang, California, today ONLY. Some of the world’s finest custom knives and knifemakers are there. For more info click on www.nordicknives.com.
The 30th Annual NCCA Extravaganza Knife Show is at the Hilton Hotel in Mystic, Connecticut, today and tomorrow.
The Wolverine Knife Collectors Show is in Novi, Michigan, today and tomorrow at the Suburban Collection Showcase.
The ABS Spring Piney Woods Hammer-In is today and tomorrow at the Texarkana College/Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing in Washington, Arkansas. For more info click on www.americanbladesmith.com.
The 13th Annual Knifemakers Show is at the German Blade Museum (Deutsches Klingenmuseum) in Solingen, Germany, today and tomorrow. For more info click on www.messer-macher-messe.de.
And finally, today is the final day of the Mason Dixon Knife Club Annual Show at the Best Western/Grand Venice Hotel in Hagerstown, Maryland.
For more on the latest knives, knife legislation, knifemaking instruction, knife trends, knifemakers, what knives to buy and where and much more, subscribe to BLADE Magazine, the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication. For subscription information click on http://www.shopblade.com/product/blade-magazine-one-year-subscripti…?r+ssfb042812#BL1SU.
Buck’s new outdoor series features a hot red powdercoat finish.
Buck Knives’ new Compadre series in a hot red finish will debut Aug. 6-9 at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Tradeshow in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Just in time for those preparing for the upcoming hunting season, Buck Knives will debut its new Compadre Series of knives and edged tools in a hot red finish at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Tradeshow Aug. 6-9.
Consisting of a camp knife, hatchet and chopping froe, the series is highlighted by a red powdercoat finish on the 5160 carbon steel blade of each piece. WIth MSRPs in the $80 to $160 range, each tool is affordable for the serious hunter. The blade selection also is attractive in that the set addresses most of the cutting, kindling needs and brush-clearing tasks associated with hunting and camping.
For instance, the model 104 Camp Knife’s 9.5-inch overall length makes it the choice for certain game care chores as well as all-around cutting duties. With its forward weighting, the 1 pound, 7.7 ounce Compadre Hatchet is tailored for chopping and also game prepping and other hunting and camping chores. And, at an overall length of 16.75 inches and weighing in at just under 2 pounds, the heavy-duty Compadre Chopping Froe can handle any number of brush clearing, heavy chopping, splitting and baton duties
The handles on each piece are made of Heritage walnut Dymondwood®, and both the 104 and Compadre Hatchet include black leather sheaths.
Held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Tradeshow, like its name implies, is targeted to those who have a passion for the outdoors. Thousands of retailers will be on hand to see the latest in outdoor products, and the new Buck series will be just one of many.
If the Buck series is something you think you’d like, check with your local retailer and see if he’s attending the show to get more information on it. If he’s not attending, see if he’s aware of the new series for possible stocking in his store.
Knives 2014 provides the types of knives they make, technical information, and embellishments like engraving, scrimshaw, jewel inlay, wire inlay, carving, sculpting and etching.
You can’t beat fixed blades for down-and-dirty, heavy-duty hunting knife use, and three hot factory examples from ShopBlade are more than ready for the woods.
Designed for fish and small game, the Buck 102BR Woodsman (second from top) boasts old-time Buck styling in an affordable ShopBlade price of $39.99. Overall length: 7.75. inches.
Speaking of Moran, Spyderco’s Bill Moran upswept hunter (top) boasts a VG-10 stainless blade and a comfy palm swell handle of fiberglass-reinforced nylon (FRN) at a ShopBlade price of $99.96. For out-of-the-box sharpness, this one is hard to beat.
Two of Shelley’s early favorite knives: the Hermes folder (right) and a Randall.
While there have been many celebrities in and out of show business embraced by the custom knife community, none embraced it in return and then some as did cutlery’s comic, Shelley Berman. Actor, comedian, writer, poet, professor and knife collector, Berman passed away quietly on Sept. 1 at the age of 92, but not before decades of touching the custom knife community like no one else.
Known worldwide beginning in the late 1950s as a top comedian, Berman recorded six comedy albums, including 1959’s Inside
Shelley Berman, the first non-musical recording to win a Grammy Award. Three of his comedy albums went gold and he was the first non-musical comedian to appear in Carnegie Hall. According to an Associated Press story, Berman was “a pioneer of a new brand of comedy that could evoke laughter from such matters as air travel discomforts and small children who answer the telephone. He helped pave the way for Bob Newhart, Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld and other standup comedians who fashioned their routines around the follies and frustrations of modern living.”
Shelley also starred on stage and in musicals on Broadway, had several film roles and continued acting into his mid-80s, appearing as Larry David’s dad on TV’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, and also on Boston Legal and Grey’s Anatomy, among others. He retired in his 80s after 20 years of teaching humor writing in the Master of Professional Writing program at the University of Southern California.
Shelley Berman was known worldwide for his comedy in the 1950s and won the first ever Grammy Award for a non-musical album—of comedy, naturally enough—in 1959.
of custom knives. All that changed when he was working in Las Vegas in the late 1970s.
It was there he saw his first custom knife at a knife show in the old Sahara hotel and casino. He wasn’t sure custom knives were for him until he subscribed to the American Blade magazine—now BLADE® Magazine. “When I saw [the stories in the magazine] I realized, my God, I’m not crazy, I’m a collector!” he said in an interview with Dave Harvey in the December 2009 BLADE. “I had all these knives in my drawer, so I ‘came out of the drawer.'”
But it was more than just the knives that attracted both Shelley and Sarah—it was the makers themselves. The Bermans admired the work of such cutlers as Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Buster Warenski, Warren Osborne and Larry Fuegen, to name a few. The Bermans also came to know the wives of the makers as well, such as Dorothy and Jim Ence, Betty and Ted Dowell and many more. The Bermans were regular visitors to the Art Knife Invitational, the California Custom Knife Show, the Solvang Custom Knife Show and other knife events. Each April during the Solvang Show there would be a barbecue, and for many years Shelley emceed the post-dinner awards ceremony. In 1996 he did a comedy routine to headline the banquet for the 25th anniversary Knifemakers’ Guild Show—now the International Custom Cutlery Convention (ICCE)—at the Marriott Hotel in Orlando, sparing no one from a comedic jab or two, including Cutlery Hall-Of-Famers Bob Loveless, A.G. Russell, Frank Centofante, D’ Holder and Dan Dennehy, Ted Dowell and others in the jam-packed ballroom.
Shelley and his wife for 70 years, Sarah, and their knives in the Berman home—including the photo of the Virtue knife signed by all the participating makers at top right.
During the 2000 Solvang Show, many of the show’s custom makers the Bermans had befriended over the years huddled and decided to make a special surprise knife that they would deliver unbeknownst to the Bermans at the following year’s Solvang Show. A work schedule was planned so the knife would spend the least amount of time possible in the mail between destinations. One of the biggest obstacles was getting the knife in and out of over 50 workshops in less than 10 months. Work began in July 2000 and the completed masterpiece arrived in Solvang just three weeks prior to the 2001 Solvang Show. The project began in Arizona and from there went to Nevada; Idaho; Washington; Oregon; California; Hawaii; back to Arizona; Utah; Colorado; New Mexico; Texas; Arkansas; Kentucky; Tennessee; South Carolina; North Carolina; Virginia; West Virginia; Maryland; Pennsylvania; New Hampshire; Quebec, Canada; Ohio; Minnesota; and Wisconsin.
The worry was that the knife, christened “Virtue: The 2-24-50 Knife,” would look as if 50 different makers had made it, which, of course, would not be the desired result. However, just the opposite occurred and the knife came out beautifully. Nothing quite like it has been attempted before or since.
As Dave Harvey, Solvang Show producer and owner of Nordic Knives, noted, one concern was that word of the knife would leak to Shelley before it was finished. However, the secret was kept and Shelley’s reaction made it abundantly clear that he was genuinely surprised and thrilled when the knife was presented to him and Sarah at the 2001 Solvang Show.
Shelley holds two of his favorite knives, the favorite being the Hermes folder. He was featured with it in the second installment of BLADE‘s “My Favorite Knife,” the forerunner to the magazine’s popular “The Knife I Carry” feature, in the October 1991 issue.
Shelley also wrote for BLADE on occasion, and even appeared in the second-ever installment of the magazine’s popular department, “The Knife I Carry,” which originally was known as “My Favorite Knife.” The knife was a Hermes folder and Shelley is pictured holding it on page 94 of the October 1991 BLADE.
With the permission of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Jim Weyer, the March 1996 BLADE reprinted Shelley’s story “Symbiosis” from Weyer’s Points Of Interest Book IV. In the story about knife collectors and what makes them tick, Shelley nailed it perfectly when he wrote, “Since only the Good Lord knows what makes a collector a collector, it follows that only the Good Lord knows why a collector is after only a certain kind of knife on a given day. Even then, if one should ask the collector what kind of knife he has in mind, the collector may answer, ‘I’ll know it when I see it.'”
Likewise, the members of the knife community know a great collector and friend when they see one, and along with his wife Sarah, Shelley will forever fit the mold.
Over 50 makers working on the knife in shops in 24 states resulted in the Virtue knife for Shelley and Sarah Berman.
Frost Cutlery’s new retail knife store will host a Duck Dynasty celebrity Saturday, Dec. 14.
Frost Cutlery’s new retail store will host Duck Dynasty celebrity “Mountain Man” Saturday, Dec. 14. In addition to its own brand, Frost sells a wide range of brands, including Buck and others. This is the iconic Buck 110.
Tim Guraedy, better known as “Mountain Man” from A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” TV show, will be at The Knife Shoppe to meet and greet customers from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is free to the public.
Mountain Man is one of several guests Frost will have in the coming months to help promote The Knife Shoppe located by the company’s headquarters and warehouse in Ooltewah, Tennessee. Boasting 9,000 square feet of space, the new store features a wide range of knives and knife brands—not only Frost knives but also those of Buck, Schrade and many others. Swords, hatchets, sharpeners and a wide assortment of other edge-related items also are on the menu.
Frost opened the story this past Black Friday. Company officials decided the store was long overdue to attract the millions of motorists that pass by Frost Cutlery on Interstate 75 each year.
Owned and operated by Jim Frost, Frost Cutlery generates $30 million in annual revenue, including $18 million from Cutlery Corner, a four-hour live knife show the company films and broadcasts four nights a week. The show reportedly reaches 90 million viewers in weekly replays. Frost Cutlery is known for a wide range of knives in its own brand, perhaps most famously the line of Dale Earnhardt knives it has done for many years.
The Knife Shoppe’s store hours are Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. It’s closed on Sunday. For more information call 423-305-6911.
For the latest knives, knife news and more, stay tuned to www.blademag.com.
Zirconium is the hot-bling knifemaking thing in the latest BLADE®, on newsstands now!
Zirconium as the hot-bling knifemaking thing, the complete curriculum and class schedule for the 3rd Annual BLADE University, how to avoid getting burned buying knives on social media and more highlight the new BLADE®, on newsstands now!
Spearheaded by Brian Tighe’s stunning Tighe Fighter cover piece, the story on zirconium outlines one of today’s hottest materials for custom knives. Originally started by Black Timascus™ and sustained by zirconium and Zircu-Ti, the material or variations thereof is used for bolsters, scales and other knife accents.
Held the Thursday before through the Saturday of the June 3-5 BLADE Show at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, the 3rd Annual BLADE University gathers some of the cutlery industry’s leading knifemakers, knife manufacturers, knife users and others for three days of the most educationally diverse instruction anywhere. Among the highlights will be a class on what Forged In Fire TV officials look for in contestants, with one of the stars/panel judges on the show, ABS master smith J. Neilson, presiding. Other classes will include how to grind, how to sharpen, how to build and tune a flipper folder, how to make a spike tomahawk, how to make a cut ‘n shoot knife and many more, with such instructors as knifemakers Rick Hinderer, Les George, Jason Brous, Lucas Burnley and Tom Krein, ABS master smiths Joe Szilaski, Steve Culver, Joe Keeslar, Timothy Potier and Wally Hayes, factory knife leaders Curtis Iovito of Spartan Blades and Rod Bremer of CRKT, and many others.
In the last issue of BLADE, the top knifemakers on Facebook were named by virtue of a poll of BLADE Facebook page members. As promised after that story, this time BLADE delves into how to avoid getting taken to the cleaners on social media by those who are the opposite of the top Facebook makers—those who are more into making money for themselves than selling you a good knife.
There’s much more this issue, including: how to make tools with knives; the latest in piggyback sheaths; the Ed Fowler Edge Test; hot custom balisongs/butterfly knives; tests of four new kitchen knives and two flippers folders; nine mini-knifemaker profiles; a salute to the late Phill Hartsfield; and much more, all in the new BLADE.
