One of knifemaker John Lewis Jensen’s classic art knives is in the Mesa Art Museum’s 34th Annual Contemporary Crafts Exhibition, Jensen announced in an e-mail release.
Located in Mesa, Arizona, the museum will feature the knife as one of 47 selected pieces in a highly competitive juried exhibition through March 31.
For more information visit www.mesaartscenter.com or http://www.jensenknives.com.
Wayne Goddard, BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member, ABS master smith and long-time BLADE® Magazine field editor, has passed away.
Goddard was widely respected and loved throughout the knife industry for his undying mentorship to bladesmiths and knifemakers everywhere. He was a prolific writer, and his Question & Answer column in BLADE Magazine was regularly one of the magazine’s most popular features in reader surveys, with Wayne also being picked as the most popular BLADE writer in those same reader surveys. On at least one occasion he was referred to as “The BLADE Answer Man.” He also wrote a column on knife steels for BLADE.
His books $50 Knife Shop and The Wonder of Knifemaking remain popular.
A long-time member of the Knifemakers’ Guild, he designed knives for Spyderco and taught bladesmithing at locations throughout the USA. His sharpening seminars at both the BLADE Show and BLADE Show West were among the best attended of each show’s seminars for many years.
There will be more here on his passing and in BLADE Magazine as details emerge. May he rest in peace.
From BLADE‘s Facebook page:
If you knew knifemaker Rob Simonich, share your memories of him with us on www.blademag.com.
BLADE® field editor Dexter Ewing has written the story, “Heart and Soul,” in the February BLADE which remembers Rob on the 10th anniversary of the death of one of knifemaking’s favorite sons. Killed tragically in a truck accident, Rob was loved by many, and his award-winning knives were among the best of their time—and they still hold up today.
Ten years is a long time, and a lot of people have come into the knife industry since Rob’s passing that do not know of the kind of person he was. If you knew Rob, you can help them know what kind of person he was by sharing some of your favorite memories of him.
Though Rob was taken away far too soon, he left an indelible mark on the knife industry, and, of course, his wife Christine and daughter Megan. Rob loved to break new ground in terms of knives, especially with blade materials such as Talonite® and CPM S30V. His knives won a number of awards, including his Urban Raven taking home the BLADE Magazine 2003 American-Made Knife Of The Year®.
As good as his knives were—and they were extremely well thought of and accepted by knife enthusiasts—it was Rob’s warm smile and sincere manner that helped him win over many friends. He loved people and he loved the outdoors, and it showed in most everything he did.
He also loved the BLADE Show and made it a point to attend every one he could. It was there that he made many friends in the industry.
How about it? Care to share any memories? We’d love to hear them—as would those who both knew him and those who want to know more about him.
For the latest knives, knife trends, knife news and more, stay tuned to www.blademag.com.
Three knife events—the Kentucky Cutlery Association Show, the Boise Knife Show and the Art Knife Invitational—all will be conducted this weekend.
A one-day, by-invitation-only event, on Saturday, Oct. 29, the Art Knife Invitational assembles 25 of the world’s leading knifemakers and their knives in San Diego. For more information, call 877-734-2726.
Held at the EXPO Idaho Center in Boise, Idaho, the Boise Knife Show will run Friday through Sunday, Oct. 28-30. For more information contact David Jacobson at 208-447-7000 and/or visit www.rockymountainknifeshow.com.
The Kentucky Cutlery Association Show also will run Friday through Sunday and will be held in the Paroquet Springs Conference Center in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. For more information contact Jerry Bodner at 502-968-5946 or 502-552-1103.
Butch Vallotton’s table was abuzz with activity at last year’s BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com). We need your help to get Georgia Knife Preemption Bill SB432 scheduled for a vote in the coming days or it will not become law.
Georgia Knife Preemption Bill SB432 must be scheduled for a vote in the coming days or it will not become law, Knife Rights reported.
SB432 makes certain that Georgia’s knife laws are consistent throughout the state. As the home of the BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com), this is very important to knife owners, collectors and manufacturers and means millions of dollars in business to Georgia.
The Georgia legislature is in the final hours of the 2012 session and there are a lot of bills competing to be heard before the legislature adjourns, most likely on Thursday.
It is critical for you to call the office of Georgia’s Speaker of the House David Ralston and POLITELY request that he “please schedule SB432 for a vote as soon as possible.” That’s all the message you need to leave.
If you are a BLADE Show attendee, or ever plan to be, and even if you are not a Georgia resident, you have a stake in this issue…CALL TODAY! Phone calls will have the greatest impact.
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston: 404-656-5020 Email: [email protected]
For more click on www.KnifeRights.org.
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+ssfb032712#BL1SU.
Herman Schneider, one of the most talented of the pioneering custom knifemakers of the 1970s and beyond, passed away Jan. 26. He was 87.
Perhaps best known for the spiked dagger in the 1986 Sylvester Stallone movie, Cobra, Schneider made some of the cleanest knives anywhere. Among them were hunters and skinners in his early days to art knives and reproductions of 19th-century dress bowies in the style of Michael Price as Schneider’s style evolved.
The workmanship of Schneider knives was second to none. As long-time knife collector and the headman of the Art Knife Invitational (AKI), Phil Lobred, once noted, “Herman Schneider’s knives lifted the industry up two notches in the fit-and-finish department.” Schneider was among the very first group of elite knifemakers to be invited to the AKI, and exhibited at the premier event for a number of years.
Of all Schneider’s impeccable knife creations, it was his art knives that stood out. “Herm Schneider built beautiful art knives,” observed Dave Harvey, owner of Nordic Knives retail knife store and coordinator of the biennial Solvang Custom Knife Show. “Many of his blades featured complex grinds that many of the most talented makers would not, or could not, pull off themselves.”
In 1982, Schneider was Lobred’s first choice to make the landmark King Tut Dagger reproduction. Schneider had to decline, however, and Lobred chose BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Buster Warenski to make it instead. The rest is history.
An interesting back story about the Tut dagger repro: As part of Lobred’s instructions for the making of the legendary knife, the blade had to be solid gold. Warenski struggled with finding a way to harden the all-gold blade. After repeated failed attempts, he enlisted the aid of Schneider and Jim Hardenbrook, and together they were able to harden the blade successfully.
In a poll of the greatest custom knifemakers from BLADE®’s first 15 years (1973-88), Schneider did not make the top 10, though he didn’t miss by much and made the honorable mention list. And in the Top 10 custom knives from the same time period, Schneider was the only maker Lobred mentioned for his entire body of work instead of just one piece.
An early member of The Knifemakers’ Guild, Schneider not only was a great knifemaker but was also close to many in the knifemaking and knife fraternity. Along with Buster and Joan Warenski, Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer D’ Holder and Bob Gladstone, Schneider was instrumental in helping Dan and Pam Delavan get the first California Custom Knife Show up and running in the early 1980s. Many thought a lot of Schneider, not just for his knifemaking ability but for his friendship and kindness as well.
Ted Dowell, long-time knifemaker, past Knifemakers’ Guild president and popularizer of the integral knife design, passed away Oct. 5.
In a statement, Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member and current Guild president Gil Hibben noted, “It is with a heavy heart that I report the passing of my friend and Knifemakers’ Guild Founding Member and Past President, Ted Dowell. Our hearts go out to his family and especially to his beloved wife, Betty. As soon as I know the arrangements and details I will post them. Ted was a true pioneer of the KMG and a great master knifemaker. He will be deeply missed.
Also known for his “Funny Folder” design, among many others, Dowell was the only Guild member to exhibit at every Guild Show—40 in all—until the streak came to an end in 2010, Betty always by his side, smiling and flying the “Dowell banner.”
According to Hibben, the family of Ted Dowell has requested that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to the Knifemakers’ Guild (www.knifemakersguild.com) in Ted’s memory. “Ted truly loved the Guild, and the Dowell family’s request reflects that love,” Hibben added.
To stay abreast of the latest in knives and knife information, subscribe to BLADE at http://www.shopblade.com/blade-magazine-one-year-subscription-us?lid=SSfbbl101012
