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.
ABS journeyman smith Michael Deibert took home the George Peck Award for the best knife made by a journeyman smith applicant at this year’s BLADE Show.
“I forged this knife after a long look at many historical and modern bowies. After a few rough sketches I lit the forge, heated a hefty piece of 1095 and let the hammer fall. I tried to come up with something as original as possible, yet maintain the flavor of the bowie. Even though the bowie inspired this particular knife, it is a bit shorter, though I don’t consider it a ‘small knife.’ For this reason I call it the ‘Mid-Bowie.’”—Michael Deibert
Knife Name: Mid-Bowie
Maker: Michael Deibert
Award: George Peck Award for the best knife submitted by an ABS journeyman smith applicant
Blade Material: 1095 carbon steel
Blade Length: 8.5”
Handle: Stabilized spalted maple
Special Features: Guard and pin are both cold-blued mild steel; a slender clip extends the majority of the blade length
Custom knife purveyors can help you find the knife that’s best for you. In the foreground, from left: Dan Delavan, knifemaker Pat Crawford, Strider Knives’ Josh Lee and Dave Nittinger. Dan and Dave are veteran custom knife purveyors.
Choosing the custom knives that are best for you can be a tricky proposition. There are a number of things to consider, including how much money you have to spend, whether you’re buying the knife to use, collect or resell, and other factors. Especially if you’re new to the market, looking to change the focus of the kinds of knives you buy or simply unsure which knife is best for you, a custom knife purveyor (also known as a dealer) is out there who can help you.
There are a number of different types of custom knife purveyors. Some specialize in one type of knife only, such as art knives or tactical knives. Since tactical knives have been hot for a long time, there are probably more tactical knife purveyors than any other type.
The serious ones have websites with professionally photographed images of the custom knives they offer for sale, and/or advertise their purveying service in knife magazines and/or other media. A sign of a purveyor who is in business for the long haul is one who advertises consistently over an extended period of time. (The latter also goes for knifemakers.) Still other purveyors may photograph their knives for marketing purposes—with some being quite good at it—own a brick-and-mortar retail knife store, and a very few produce/coordinate their own knife shows. Some purveyors do two or more of the preceding and at least one does all three.
To find out which purveyor fits your needs, ask around at knife shows, knife discussion forums, social media sites and other venues, check websites and knife magazines, etc. Talk to your friends or acquaintances who buy custom knives or ask them for the names of others who buy custom knives. Tell them what kinds of knives you’re looking for and ask them which purveyors are the best at providing such knives and offer the best customer service. Get as many opinions as you can. It’s better to have more information than not enough. Whittle the purveyors down to a select few you think you might want to work with and call them and feel them out. Go with the one you connect with best—in other words, go with your gut feeling in picking the one you want to use.
Before we continue, some fundamentals on how purveyors obtain the knives they sell is in order. It’s really pretty cut and dried: the purveyors attend select knife shows in search of the top knives and makers and/or establish relationships with those makers—and a select knife show is always a great place to both meet the maker and see some of his/her best work. The best purveyors work with proficient makers who are good at meeting deadlines on the knives they agree to make, offer good customer service if something goes wrong with the knife, and who, in general, appeal to custom knife enthusiasts of most all stripes. The purveyor will reach an agreement with the maker to buy one or more of his or her knives and then sell the knife/knives at enough of a markup to make a profit, stay in business and buy more knives for sale. That’s pretty basic, but that’s essentially how it works.
Why should you buy from a purveyor instead of a maker? Actually, if you can bypass the purveyor and buy directly from the maker, you probably should. However, that’s not always possible and is where purveyors come in. (Besides, as noted, if you’re new to the market or unsure of what to buy, the guidance a capable purveyor can provide in buying a custom knife can be invaluable.) Through the working relationships they establish with leading makers, purveyors have access to knives from those makers that most individual custom knife enthusiasts do not. Many makers have to struggle to make deadlines for other custom orders and knife shows, and often cannot fill your order quick enough or before the knife loses some of its luster and is no longer “hot.” Purveyors, on the other hand, may have the knife in question in stock or something from the maker that will fill your needs immediately.
As an aside, if you look around enough, you will no doubt hear from some that one purveyor or another is prejudiced in favor of a certain maker or makers. Whenever you hear this, take it with a grain of salt because most all purveyors will indeed be prejudiced in favor of makers that are a) easy to work with and b) make deadlines—traits that you would probably like in a maker as well.
These are just some of the things to look for in a custom purveyor. The more you look and ask around, the more you will find other traits that will make the custom purveyor the best for you and your knife needs.
See the latest knives, swords, and edges of all types, and explore the latest trends in blades, steels, styles, and materials. Gaze upon a “State of the Art” section parading engraved, scrimshawed, jewel-inlaid, carved, etched, sculpted and forge-welded, and Damascus and mosaic-damascus knives. Click here.
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.
Help us fill in our BLADE calendar. Send us the details and we’ll help spread the word.
We’ve added a calendar to BLADEmag.com. Now, we need your knife events to fill in the BLADE Calendar. We’ll take anything to do with knives: shows, seminars, workshops, hammer-ins, demonstrations, shop tours, classes, throwing competitions, open meetings at your knife club. You supply the details below. We’ll enter it onto the site and send you a link when it goes live so that you can use it on your Facebook Page, Instagram account, forum, blog or other social media outlet.
But wait, we want manufacturer and distributor events too: retail location grand openings, factory tours, celebrations. Anything the public is welcome to attend or sign up for is acceptable.
Be sure to include a photo: It can be of a past occurrence of your event; your company, show or club logo; or an image of the venue. Attach the photo to your email that provides all of the following information:
Complete name of event
Date or dates of event
Start time and end time on each day of the event
Event website or page
Event admission cost
Event organizer’s name
Event organizer’s phone number
Event organizer’s email
Description of event
Complete name of venue
Complete address of venue
Venue phone number
Venue website
Send your email to [email protected]. Be sure to submit your listing a minimum of two weeks prior to the event. We’ll do our best to help you get the word out, and we hope you refer people back to the BLADE Calendar.
New to ShopBlade is Sentry Solutions’ Gear Care Kit-Field Grade for all your hunting knives, guns, tactical gear and collectibles.
The kit includes:
•Sentry Solutions’ award-winning Tuf-Cloth for lubrication and rust protection of all metal, wood and plastic surfaces;
•Tuf-Glide oil-free lubrication in an applicator that can reach inside knife pivots and other hard-to-reach areas (Tuf-Glide was the Blade Magazine 2000 Accessory Of The Year);
•And the GATCO Super Micro sharpener, great for all blades, including those with plain and/or serrated edges.
ABS journeyman smith Michael Deibert took home the George Peck Award for the best knife made by a journeyman smith applicant at this year’s BLADE Show.
