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ABS Youth Hammer-In at SMKW June 28-30

Steve Shackleford
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ABS Youth Hammer-In at SMKW June 28-30

The American Bladesmith Society (ABS) Youth Hammer-In will be held Friday through Sunday, June 28-30, at Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville, Tennessee.

Youths from all over the country will descend on Sevierville to learn how to forge a knife under the expert direction of ABS master, journeyman and apprentice smiths. Safety is always the No. 1 concern when forging, and that concern is magnified when children are involved. The ABS has an exemplary record in this regard, and its bladesmiths/teachers are among the finest in the world. Leather shoes or work boots (no tennis shoes), cotton shirts and long cotton pants, work apron and leather work gloves will be the uniform of the day. Safety glasses will be provided. Feel free to bring your favorite hammer and tongs.

Classes will include safety talks, forging demos, hand finishing techniques, a chalk talk on handles and guards, individual instruction on the anvil and more. Lunch and dinner will be provided.

The hammer-in is open to participants ages 9 to 18 who are accompanied by a parent or guardian. Registration fee is $65.

While there, the kids and their parents/guardians can tour Smoky Mountain Knife Works (SMKW), one of if not the world’s largest retail knife stores. The latest in knives, sharpeners, knife accessories, displays, knife maintenance kits, tomahawks, swords and everything that has to do with cut are on display and for sale.

SMKW is also home to the National Knife Museum, which houses an incredible array of antique pocketknives, custom knives, swords and much more. Tour the facility’s historical displays to learn all about the history of man’s oldest tool in a modern, air-conditioned environment.

For more information on the ABS Youth Hammer-In, contact BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© (www.blademag.com) member Houston Price 865-397-0053 choustonprice.att.net or visit www.americanbladesmith.com.

For the latest in knives and knife news, stay tuned to www.blademag.com.

ABS journeyman smith Wes Byrd instructs young students on the art of the forged blade at a past ABS youth hammer-in.
ABS journeyman smith Wes Byrd instructs youngsters at a past ABS Youth Hammer-In.

World Championship Cutting Competition at BLADE Show

Steve Shackleford
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World Championship Cutting Competition at BLADE Show

Defending champ Ted Ott and a host of challengers will compete for the 11th Annual World Championship Cutting Competition at the BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com) May 31-June 2 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.

 

The World Championship will be conducted by BladeSports International (BSI) the Saturday of the show at 4:15 p.m. in “The Courtyard”—the parking lot of the show’s host hotel, the Renaissance Waverly. Current qualifiers include Ott, past champ Gary Bond, Donavon Phillips, Jim Cottingham, Michael Eubanks, Dwight Schoneweis, Dan Keffeler, Bud Robbins and Chris Rowland. Whether more will qualify by the time of the competition, including at least one international contestant, remains to be seen.

 

Speed, power, technique and a good knife are all important ingredients to winning the competitions. All certified beforehand by BSI, the knives must be no longer than 15 inches overall, with a blade 10 inches or shorter and no more than 2 inches wide. There are no thickness or weight limits. The majority of the knives are custom made, with the balance being factory.

 

 The contestants perform a number of cuts, all of which are timed. Points are deducted from the total time for successful cuts, and the low score wins. While some cuts such as slicing through hanging ropes, water-filled plastic bottles and chopping 2x4s are standard fare, there are usually a couple of surprise cuts for which the competitors cannot prepare. The knives are inspected after each round and disqualified if the blade is damaged.

 

 For more on the BLADE Show, subscribe to BLADE® www.shopblade.com/blade-magazine-one-year-subscription-us?icid=SHBLNCF2BL1SU-030613?lid=ssfbbl042413

 

Ted Ott show's his championship form at last year's BLADE Show. (Point Seven photo)
Ted Ott won last year’s BLADE Show World Championship Cutting Competition. (Point Seven photo)

Mel Pardue Wins Lorenzi Award

Steve Shackleford
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Mel Pardue Wins Lorenzi Award

A veteran knifemaker exemplary in terms of teaching and mentoring his fellow makers in the fine art of building knives, Mel Pardue is the 2016 BLADE Show winner of the Edda and Aldo Lorenzi Award.

Edda and Aldo Lorenzi, owners of the old G. Lorenzi retail knife store in Milan, Italy, continue to support the custom knife industry through the Aldo and Edda Lorenzi Award, an honor bestowed annually at both the BLADE Show and the International Custom Cutlery Exhibition (this year Sept. 23-25 in Kansas City). Each carries a $1,000 prize graciously provided by the Lorenzis to the honoree.

Pardue made his first knife in 1952. He participated as a voting member of the Knifemakers’ Guild for 39 years, and served on the Guild’s board of directors in various capacities for 14 of those years. He is the first person without membership in the American Bladesmith Society to teach at the Bill Moran School of Bladesmithing, where for five years he conducted classes on how to make folders. He has taught the same subject at the Batson Bladesmithing Symposium for the past half-decade or so, and has held seminars and classes in his shop for almost 40 years. He received the Ron Little Award in 1992 and is a past winner of the Guild’s Red Watson Award.

Pardue has over 15 design and utility patents with Benchmade Knife Co. He has served on Benchmade’s board of directors several years. He taught the Benchmade staff how to refine three production models in the company’s Gold line of knives.

Pardue wins Lorenzi Award.
Mel Pardue won the Edda and Aldo Lorenzi Award at the 2016 BLADE Show.

He organized and helped set up the website for the Gulf Coast Custom Knifemakers Association in Florida. His tireless commitment to the knife industry has inspired such makers as ABS master smith Steve Schwarzer, BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Ken Onion and many others. He joins last year’s winner, ABS master smith Joe Keeslar, as the epitome of what it means to be a mentor to knifemakers everywhere.

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Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame Series: CRKT/A.G. Sting

Steve Shackleford
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Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame Series: CRKT/A.G. Sting

CRKT/AG Russell StingWhen you talk Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© members, few carry the cache of A.G. Russell, and his Sting design reproduced by CRKT is a great way to experience his knife genius. The non-reflective, powder-coated blade of 1050 carbon steel is 3.197 inches long, and the integral handle is contoured to fit your hand.

Click here to get stung for yourself at ShopBlade.com.

Claim Gray’s Knife Illegal Appears False

Steve Shackleford
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Claim Gray’s Knife Illegal Appears False
CRKT assisted opener
An arresting officer claims Freddie Gray’s assisted-opening knife was illegal but state and city law say otherwise. The CRKT Mini My Tighe is an assisted opener.

A claim by one of the Baltimore police officers who arrested Freddie Gray that Gray was arrested because he was carrying an illegal knife appears to be baseless, according to interpretations of Maryland and Baltimore knife laws provided by Knife Rights.

Gray died while in police custody and his death prompted the recent Baltimore riots. The six arresting officers are on trial for his death on an array of charges, including that they unlawfully arrested Gray. However, one of the officers, Edward Nero, said the arrest was lawful because Gray was carrying an illegal knife.

Court documents state the knife was a “spring-assisted, one-hand-operated knife,” otherwise known as an assisted opener. In an assisted opener, the blade must be opened part way manually before the spring assist engages and opens the blade the rest of the way.

Marc Zayon, Nero’s attorney, argued in a motion filed Monday that Gray’s knife is illegal under state law. He said Maryland law defines a knife as unlawful if it opens automatically by pushing a button, spring or other device in the handle—in other words, an automatic, aka a switchblade. However, according to Knife Rights, while Maryland law prohibits concealed carry of switchblades, open carry and possession are not illegal. Court documents indicate the knife was visibly clipped to Gray’s pocket, so the knife was not concealed. Nonetheless, even if the knife was concealed, it is an assisted opener, not a switchblade.

According to Knife Rights, Baltimore’s city code bans the sale, carry or possession of “any knife with an automatic spring or other device for opening and/or closing the blade, commonly known as a switch-blade knife.” To include an assisted opener under this part of the city’s code would “conflict with virtually all other switchblade definitions throughout the country,” Knife Rights noted.

The latest issue of BLADE is on newsstands now!Recommended:

Stay abreast of the latest developments on this and many more knife rights issues with a subscription to BLADE.

CKCA Club Knife Orders Are Sold Out

Steve Shackleford
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All 13 pre-orders for the 2012 Custom Knife Collectors Association (CKCA) Club Knife, a Loveless-style boot knife by CKCA knifemaker/member Charles Vestal, have been sold. The picture above is an example of one of the boot knives Vestal has done in the past. The pattern for the club knife will be somewhat different but close. 

     The CPM-154 stainless steel blades will be 4 3/4 inches long. The price of $500 for each order will include a Vestal-made leather sheath.

 
      Handle material will be black, green or burgundy Micarta®, with wood handle options as provided by the collector, and approved for use by Vestal, with no guarantees as to suitability (i.e., shrinkage, etc.).

     The guard and furniture will be stainless steel. Thad Buchanan provided Vestal with a pattern from the Loveless Shop from which the club knife will be modeled.

     First deliveries should be at the CKCA Banquet on Thursday, June 7, the night before the beginning of the 2012 BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com).

    For more information regarding the knives click on www.customknifecollectorsassociation.com/

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+ssfb020712#BL1SU

KA-BAR Knives Featured on New History Channel Show

Steve Shackleford
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KA-BAR Knives Featured on New History Channel Show

KA-BAR Knives will be featured on a new History Channel Show, What People Earn, Sunday, March 10.

Highlighted on the show’s premier episode entitled “Beer, Knives & Football,” the 115-year-old manufacturer will star along with American brewer Samuel Adams.

The March 10 issue of Parade Magazine will run a companion piece on the new show and KA-BAR.

The show will air at 10 p.m. EST in most areas, though be sure to check your local listings.

Of the 45 products that were in the KA-BAR line in 1996, only five still remain in line and one that is/was made in the USA: the 1217 Marine Combat Knife. There are now 85 products made in the USA by American cutlers stemmed in the KA-BAR tradition born in 1898. Among them is KA-BAR’s Zombie® Knives line, the Becker Knife & Tool line, a number of Bob Dozier designs, the TDI Law Enforcement line, Union and traditional KA-BAR knives including the Dog’s Head pocketknives, the Mule line of folders, and more.

For more visit KA-BAR.com or call 800-282-0130.

KA-BAR's USMC fighting/utility knife, an industry icon.
KA-BAR’s USMC fighting/utility knife, an industry icon.
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