Knife collecting is an extremely rewarding experience for knife enthusiasts. There truly is a knife for everyone. Many increase or hold their value throughout the years, making collecting knives something to pass on to the next generation of knife collectors.
A remarkable video entitled “En Puntas” (“On Points”) featuring ballerina Amelie Segarra and her “knife dance” is on www.boredpanda.com—and it is worth a watch.
At just over three minutes in length, the video starts with a ballerina putting on her leg wraps and then a pair of ballerina slippers with “kitchen knife” blades at the toe ends. She proceeds to somehow gain her balance atop a grand piano and then “dance”—though it’s more like a drag and stick of the blade shoes into the surface of the top of the piano. It’s really very good and about how you might expect such a venture to unfold—the ballerina wobbling, gasping and shouting at times as she does her best to keep her balance. The knife blades appear to be real, as the scratched surface of the piano top would attest. In fact, the top of the piano appears to get quite marred/carved up in the process.
Segarra dances what is called the “en pointe” ballet technique, the classic style in which the ballerina dances on her toes. According to the accompanying copy on the site, Segarra’s performance is “a testament to the intense dedication and sometimes physical suffering required of ballet performers.” The knives look pretty sharp, too. Exactly who made them or what brand they are we have no idea. They get to the point, though.
Props to BLADE® contributor Stephen Garger for turning us onto this video.
For the latest in knives, knife news and the sharpest stuff anywhere, stay tuned to www.blademag.com.
In a remarkable video, a ballerina does a “knife dance” with shoes sporting kitchen knife blade tips. This is the Kershaw chef’s knife. (Kershaw photo)
The American Flag blade consists of 13 flags, each of which is underscored with the letters “USA.” The flags are so true to the original that you can make out the details of all 50 stars in each one under a microscope. Meier says he forged the flags to appear as they might look to someone in a crowd as he/she watched a parade of flags go by. (Weyer)
Editor’s note: This article originally ran in the May/June 1991 issue of BLADE magazine. With the death of President George H.W. Bush on Nov. 30, 2018, it seemed appropriate to look back at an impressive custom knife presented to the 41st president in the early ’90s.
by Nathan Burdette
Daryl Meier wasn’t in the best of moods on a gloomy January day. His knife forge/shop had recently been burglarized and his son was about to begin Army boot camp at the outset of Operation Desert Storm.
“Maybe this interview will cheer me up,” one of the standard bearers of pattern-welded (or damascus) steel sighed. “Nothing else has gone well lately.”
He had to be kidding. Barely a month before he’d presented his revolutionary American Flag blade, a blade with American flags on it so true to the original that each will stand up to microscopic inspection, to President George Bush at the White House.
But then Meier is not your typical 9-to-5 working stiff. A case in point: He said the more meaningful part of the White House trip wasn’t so much meeting the president as was the two-hour plane trip sitting next to and conversing with Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson, who had arranged the knife presentation after seeing Meier’s work featured in a local newspaper.
The fact that Meier rejects the American dream of two cars in every garage and a boat in every driveway is not news to those who follow the knife scene. He’ll be the first to tell you that his mother raised him to be independent, and that independence is reflected in a lifestyle lacking in creature comforts. He resides in a log house of his own construction and makes a living selling his pattern-welded steel to knifemakers and manufacturers. He also teaches workshops and gives symposiums on the fine art of pattern welding. “I teach workshops from time to time, but I don’t do it for the money, though even that doesn’t amount to much,” he notes.
At the White House are, from left: Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson, President Bush and Daryl Meier. Bush admires the American Flag blade and listens as Meier explains how the flags were forged into the blade. Thompson arranged the knife presentation after reading about Meier and his pattern-welded steel in a local newspaper. (White House photo)
Instead of acquiring money, Meier is more interested in amassing knowledge, specifically, knowledge of how the ancients made pattern-welded steel and how he can improve on their time-tested methods. He traces the earliest pattern welds to as early as the 4th or 5th centuries B.C., and by the 4th or 5th centuries A.D. he says blacksmiths were able to control the patterns in the steel to a certain degree.
Meier says letters or words first began to appear on pattern welds between the 5th and 8th centuries, though the letters or words were forge welded on the surface of the finished blades. It wasn’t until the 18th century when a French smith named Coluet devised a method to make the word “Liberty” appear on a sword blade that letters or words were forged throughout the steel rather that on it, Meier notes. Between 1875-1925, he continues, gunsmiths refined the technique of words in the steel of pattern comforts. welded gun barrels.
Able to figure out how to forge words into the steel simply by looking at pictures of such works, Meier forged his name in a blade in 1978. But it wasn’t until the American Flag blade that he was sufficiently inspired to make what he calls “to date the most intricate thing done” in the genre.
“The tolerances (in the American Flag blade) are much tighter than in my name blade,” he begins. “The flag (there are actually 13 flags in all on the blade) that appears on the blade has 50 stars in it, each of which has five points, and which are arranged in five rows of six and four rows of five stars like on the standard flag.”
Talking about the work that went into the American Flag blade got Meier started and he wasn’t about to stop.
“I sweated blood to make that blade right. I could’ve made something that looked suggestive of what I made but then it all has to do with the philosophy of how you do a thing. That’s what’s prevalent in our society. We’re too cost conscious and few of us are willing to pay the full price for a good product,” he exclaims. “You’ve either got to say, ‘I’m going to make something I’m proud of or you’ve got to get out of the business.”
With that kind of attitude, let’s hope Daryl Meier stays in the blademaking business for a long time.
There is an enduring quality to Mac Gray & Co.’s designs. One has the idea that 100 years from now, the California company’s knives will continue be as stylish and eye-catching as they were the day they were purchased. It is certainly the case with Mac Gray’s Mako Folder.
The flowing lines and seamless appearance of this classy little folder makes it as hard to ignore as a seductive wink. But the Mako isn’t all good looks. Beneath its seductive façade lies a workhorse, more than ready to pull its weight in any duty it’s called upon.
To that end, Mac Gray has ensured the Mako will have a long life, lining the handle with 6AL4V Titanium. The material adds incredible strength and durability to the knife, at the same tick keeping it a lightweight companion, ready to be toted everyday.
The 3.5-inch blade, which boasts a saber grind, is made of 154 stainless steel, which is renowned for its toughness and edge retention. These qualities are primarily due to the steel’s high-carbon content and the addition of molybdenum. To top it all off, Mac Gray has included an attractive thumbscrew on the modified drop point blade for quick opening — a feature which will win fans among both righties and lefties as it is ambidextrous.
Mac Gray allows a certain amount of customization when it comes to the 8.5-inch Mako. Customers have the choice of Micarta or G-10 for the handle material and can choose from five colors (red, bone, black, OD Green or pink). The Mako comes with a stainless steel clip, emblazoned with Mac Gray’s name. The standard configuration is right side, tip down; but the company will tailor the clip to the customer’s carry style upon order.
The folder has a linerlock style locking mechanism, which prevents the blade from closing on a user’s hand. It has ¼-inch pivot with a bronze pivot bushing to ensure smooth operation. And, like all of Mac Gray’s knives, the Mako comes with a lifetime guarantee.
That last feature — the guarantee — might be among the most important of any when it comes to the folder. Because, with its timeless lines and top-notch function, it is almost certain that will be the length of time it’s carried.
Bids for the Emerson CQC-7 tactical knife carried by “Mark Owen,” a SEAL given the order to kill or capture Osama bin Laden, will be accepted through 8 p.m. EST today, according to Ernest Emerson.
Ernie Emerson’s CQC-7 used in the Osama bin Laden is on auction through May 15.
Owen is the pseudonym of the author of the book on the Bin Laden raid, “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden.”
Emerson is one of the leading names in tactical and hard use knives, both custom and factory. He is also known for his system of self-defense and knife combatives training, instructing military, law enforcement, civilian and other agencies worldwide.
He said he gave the knife to Owen in person. “I’ve known him a long time,” Emerson noted. “I gave it to him in 2005. It’s the real knife, the real deal and the real guy.”
Emerson added that he will supply letters of provenance indicating the tactical knife is what Owen says it is.
As these words were written, the latest bid was $15,400.
Emerson will have a booth at the BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com) May 31-June 2 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia. He will conduct a special seminar, “Train Like A Madman,” conduct a lottery for his knives, and display a number of his new, never-before-seen custom knives—at least 12 prototypes—at the show. He also will appear on Armed Citizen Radio this Sunday discussing knives and, among others, mentioning the BLADE Show. Visit Emerson’s booth for more information on the time and location of his knife lottery.
To place your bid, visit http://www.24fundraiser.com/site/stores/5/events/5/items/114.
It’s not a knife show. It’s not an industry trade show. It’s not a 9 to 5 stroll through a bunch of crowded aisles filled with tables and people that you don’t know. It’s a huge family reunion with family members who you’ve personally chosen to call your own. There will be no strangers at The Gathering. Just hundreds of your closest friends and chosen family.
Sure, there’s a show too, but no boring, confusing aisles to navigate. The Gathering is set up in intimate quads, where a novice and two established makers or suppliers will join a major maker. A circular traffic flow guarantees that you won’t miss anyone, and makes it easy to re-locate them as well.
There will be plenty of knives, gear, lights and toys, but first and foremost, they’re all friends who you already know and trust because you deal with them and see them on the USN pretty much every day.
Speaking of family, we’ve set up special Spa options for the wives- they deserve to be pampered.
Aside from the show itself, have you ever imagined Traders’ Cove coming to life? You’re going to see it happen at The Gathering each night in a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere. It’s the ultimate show and tell, trade and barter, buy and sell; all with great atmosphere, food, drinks and the best of friends. You’re actually going to walk into a physical version of Traders’ Cove, and party all night.
Contact:
Summer means camping and camping requires lots of chopping jobs for such handy pieces as the Alaskan Bush Pilot Hatchet from Timberline.
Designed by custom knifemaker Russ Kommer, the hatchet features a 440 stainless steel blade in a satin finish and a finger-grooved haft covered with Zytel slabs. Overall length: 9 inches. Weight: 3 pounds. It comes with a bridle leather sheath and a non-slip belt loop.
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