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Knife Collecting

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.

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Cutting Critique: Spyderco Persistence

Steve Shackleford
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Cutting Critique: Spyderco Persistence
Consider the Spyderco Persistence—a small knife that cuts like a bigger one.
The Spyderco Persistence is a small knife that cuts like a bigger one and gets the once-over in our “Cutting Critique.”

The Spyderco Persistence is one of those compact cutting knives you may or may not like—depending on your tastes in general and how the knife fits your hand.

I have a medium-size hand and if I hold the handle in the standard grip, half of my little finger overlaps the butt. That’s bordering on too small for me.

However, for detail or draw cuts where I place my finger atop the blade spine, the fit is just about perfect. The 2.75-inch blade is 1.25 inches at its widest and tapers quickly to the point. Under 3 inches in blade length is a good thing in terms of many legal length limits. (Be sure to check your local and other pertinent knife laws.)

The G-10 handle material is good and solid and provides a nice abrasive-type feel for sure gripping for most any type of cutting.

The clip is reversible for tip up or tip down right-hand carry.

The plain-edge blade of 8Cr13MoV stainless steel out of the box is razor sharp and is a cutting moose. I like the blade shape, which is along the lines of the Spyderco Caly I carry on a regular basis.

The Michael Walker LinerLock@ is nice and tight and has a good spring to it that makes you work just a bit—though not too much—to push it open. I like that because it reinforces the notion that the lock will not disengage easily—always a good thing.

The Persistence is one of Spyderco’s knives made in China, and as many industry observers are noting, the Chinese are getting better and better at making knives—and the Persistence is an excellent example of this improvement.

At 4 ounces the Persistence may seem a bit heavy to some for a knife of its size (4.125-inch closed length), but not me. I like the overall weight and feel. It’s a small knife that cuts like a bigger one.

For more info on how to get your Persistence, click on www.shopblade.com/persistence-black-g-10-plainedge-w8476?lid=ssfbbl070313

“Art of the Knife” Starts July 10

Steve Shackleford
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“Art of the Knife” Starts July 10

The Art of the Knife, an exploration of the history of the handmade knife as a tool of value in both function and aesthetics, will run July 10 through Aug. 18 at the Guilford Art Center in Guilford, Connecticut.

Mace Vitale, a journeyman smith in the American Bladesmith Society and also a blacksmith and coppersmith, will jury the invitational event. An awarding-winning bladesmith and a regular exhibitor at the BLADE Show & Living Ready Expo (www.blademag.com), he also serves as an instructor at the Guilford Art Center.

Juried by ABS master smith Mace Vitale, maker of this damascus dagger, the Art of the Knife will run July 10-Aug. 18.
Mace Vitale, maker of this damascus dagger, will jury the Art of the Knife exhibit beginning July 10.), Vitale also serves as an instructor at the Guilford Art Center.

Vitale started out working with his father in a pre-cast concrete business that specialized in architectural reproduction. Mace learned a lot from his dad, from how to use tools to “how to make something from nothing.”

Mace bounced from job to job after the family business closed in the 1990s until he found work as a coppersmith. “Its effect on me was less than subtle,” he writes on his website. “I was hooked!”

 

He attended a blacksmithing class at the Guilford Art Center and subsequently found out about the ABS. He took the ABS “Introduction fo Bladesmithing” class and has been making knives ever since, obtaining his ABS journeyman smith stamp in 2006.

 

“I pride myself on my attention to detail,” he observed. “The way I see things, the only way I’ll possibly be able to garner a customer’s satisfaction is through my own satisfaction. I fashion everything I make as if it will be my own.”

 

The opening reception for the exhibit will be Wednesday, July 10, from 5 to 7 p.m. It is free to the public, as is admission to the exhibit. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 12 to 4 p.m.

New Alliance Foundation sponsors the exhibit in part.

For more information contact the Guilford Art Center 203-453-5947 or visit www.guilfordartcenter.org.

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.

The Bermans: Valued Friends of Custom Knives

Steve Shackleford
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The Bermans: Valued Friends of Custom Knives
Shelley and Sarah Berman long have been champions of custom knives. (Dave Harvey photo)
Shelley and Sarah Berman show off some of the custom knives in their collection. (Dave Harvey photo)

The custom knife industry has few better friends than Shelley and Sarah Berman, and that point was driven home once again when Shelley wrote about custom knives in the May 31 issue of The Wall Street Journal.

A long-time comedian and actor, Shelley penned the story titled “The Comedian in the Tomato Patch” in the WSJ edition that appeared the Friday of the 2013 BLADE Show & Living Ready Expo (www.bladeshow.com). An accompanying picture showed Shelley and Sarah working the tomato patch in their garden. While Shelley started off talking about his garden, he wrote more about his custom knife collection and damascus steel than anything.

“I collect custom knives,” he wrote in the WSJ story. “In many cases, I know—or knew—the maker. Many of my knives are one of a kind. Some of the great knifemakers are no longer with us. Some of the younger knifemakers are fine at the trade, though many of us old-time collectors still respect and revere the ones we’ve known … One section of the knives in my collection is mostly damascus process. In every case, one side of the blade has an almost scattered pattern, but, oh, what a blade. Frankly, I am very proud of my knife collection.”

Shelley’s affinity for custom knives is well known to many BLADE (www.blademag.com) readers and many in the custom knife industry. He has written stories about his knives and has been interviewed about his collection in BLADE. He has attended any number of custom knife shows over the years, including the California Custom Knife Show, the Solvang Custom Knife Show, the Art Knife Invitational and the Knifemakers’ Guild Show. In fact, he has performed his comedy act at a number of knife shows, including a most memorable performance at the 25th Anniversary Guild Show in Orlando, Florida.

Hats off to Shelley and Sarah Berman—two class acts and valued friends of the custom knife industry.

Read more about custom knives in the new Knives 2014 book.

 

Parkers’ Knife Show June 13-15

Steve Shackleford
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If antique knives are your bag, Parkers’ Greatest Knife Show tomorrow through Saturday, June 13-15, is for you.

Held in the Sevierville Events Center at Bridgemont in Sevierville, Tennessee, the 20-plus-year-old event draws antique pocketknife dealers and collectors from around the region—the heart of the old pocketknife network of the mid-South. And it’s not just pocketknives—antique fixed blades will be there, too. From Case to Boker and many well-known and not so well known brands, vintage cutlery will be in abundance at an event started by the late BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Jim Parker and continued by his son, Buzz.

 

In addition to the great old knives are the dealers, many of whom have been in the business for decades and have forgotten more about antique knives than most knife enthusiasts know. These dealers are fountains of knowledge. Not only will they sell you great vintage knives but they also can answer your questions about your antique knife or knives as well.

 

Sevierville is also home to Smoky Mountain Knife Works, one of the world’s largest retail knife stores if not the largest, which also contains the National Knife Museum. In the shadow of the storied Smoky Mountains, Sevierville is also within a short ride of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, home to Dollywood and other attractions, and Gatlinburg, one of the South’s most popular mountain getaways.

 

The show kicks off tomorrow at noon, with the doors closing at 6 p.m. Friday hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday’s are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is $7 per day or $15 for a three-day pass. An early bird pass is $20, which allows for “special entry time” each day and free parking at the event.

 

For more information call Ed Henley at 423-892-0448 or visit http://www.insidesevierville.com/things-to-do/sevierville-events/parkers-greatest-knife-show/.

 

For more on the latest knife news, stay on www.blademag.com.

 

Check out such classic knife names as Case at Parkers' Knife Show.
Case and many other legendary knife names will be featured at Parkers’ Knife Show.

Conversation Overheard @ the BLADE Show

Joe Kertzman
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Conversation Overheard @ the BLADE Show

So I was working behind the table at the book booth during the BLADE Show this past weekend in Atlanta, a great show, by the way, best ever. And this gentleman was interested in buying the “First 25 years of BLADE Collection: 1973-1997” DVD. He said he already owned the DVD that came after it, “BLADE 1997-2007.”Y0602

The lady he was with asked, “Why don’t you just subscribe to BLADE®?”

He replied, “I can get 25 years worth of the magazine for $42.99, why would I want to pay $21.98 for one year?”

She said, “The subscription is new magazines, not old magazines, that’s why!”

It got me thinking that neither one of them was wrong. I prefer to get my magazine when it comes out, but to each their own. And I’m just glad they enjoy the magazine well enough to have the conversation.

Tactical Knife From Bin Laden Raid Up For Bid

Steve Shackleford
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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.

Ernest Emerson holds one of his tactical folders.
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.

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