Work Sharp Sharpeners put together this tutorial of five knife sharpening “hacks” when you’re away from your usual setup. Watch the video to learn how to sharpen a knife with:
Hopefully you won’t ever need to use these techniques, but now you’ll know what to do if you’re in a pinch.
BLADE Show management is proud to announce that it is the new owner of the International Custom Cutlery Exhibition. The 2021 International Custom Cutlery Exhibition (ICCE) will take place March 26-27 once again at the historic Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas.
Tickets are slated to go on sale in November.
The successor to the old Knifemakers’ Guild Show, the ICCE first took place in Kansas City in September 2015 before moving to the new site in Fort Worth in March 2019.
The ICCE featured exhibitors exclusive to the Guild and the American Bladesmith Society (ABS) all under one roof in one show—the first time such an event had ever been tried. Although the event was a success, show coordinator Jerry Moen and officials of the Guild and the ABS wanted more. Meanwhile, BLADE Show management showed interest in running the event. It was time for a change in show leadership—and what better hands to place the reins of that leadership in than that of the BLADE Show team?
“The only way the ICCE can do what it needs to do is with the help of BLADE Show management,” Moen observed, adding that BLADE® Magazine is an invaluable tool to add to the mix, too.
Chimed in ABS Chairman Steve Dunn, “I think the change will be a good thing. I think BLADE Show management will be able to reach more people and generate a lot of new interest in the show.”
According to BLADE Show officials, the first goal of the new arrangement is to keep the ICCE close to what it has been before. After that, the event will transition to resemble BLADE Show.
“We just don’t want to come in right out of the gate and change everything,” noted BLADE Show/ICCE director Alicia Newton.
As a result, don’t expect many changes at the 2021 ICCE. What you can expect, though, is an exciting venue with loads of potential.
Moen, who also is a voting member in the Guild and served on the Guild board of directors for six years, said BLADE Show officials fell in love with the Fort Worth venue at first sight.
Added Guild board member Gene Baskett, “It’s a great venue. There are many great places to eat.”
There are also many attractions for the whole family, music venues and much more.
While the ABS will not present awards or do any testing for ABS master or journeyman smith stamps at ICCE—the ABS does most of that at the BLADE Show—the Guild will. It will continue to present honors for knives in the following show categories: Best Art; Best Bowie; Best Fighter; Best Dressed Fighter; Best Folder; Best Multi-Blade Folder; Best Collaboration; Best Hunter; Judges’ Choice; and Best Tactical Folder.
The Guild also will present the annual Red Watson Award, Nate Posner Award and Hank Rummel Award, the latter for best first-year probationary Guild member. It will also determine both its voting and probationary members at the show.
The ICCE, meanwhile, will present awards for knives in the following show categories: Best Forged Blade; Best Bowie; Best Art; Best of Show; Best Combat Knife; Best Folder; Best Hunter; Best Damascus; and Best Collaboration.
Moen said he will stay on as a show consultant. “I’m 71. I can’t do it justice [as coordinator] anymore. I don’t have the energy level to. But I’m going to stay because I know the show politics around here,” including having Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price give the official show welcome as a special guest at the 2019 ICCE. “I will stick with it as long as I can, anything to make it work.
“I always thought a show in Texas would work. There’re cattle, oil—the money’s here.”
Now BLADE Show management is, too.
THOSE WHO KNOW DISSECT TV’S LONG-RUNNING FORGED IN FIRE
Bladesmithing enjoys the same treatment as motorcycle building got in the mid- 2000s—that is, it has become a well-established reality show competition on cable television. Such treatment has ups and downs regarding its effect on the knife industry. Be that as it may, History Channel’s hit show, Forged in Fire, has been on the air for seven seasons, which proves its staying power.
FIF is characterized as both inspirational and gimmicky depending on who you ask. And ask we did—two contestants, a former FIF guest judge and a member of the board of directors of the American Bladesmith Society—with the goal of shedding light on where the hit show lands on the spectrum between the two.
The long-running TV competition undoubtedly has been an asset to the forging community. For starters, it has introduced the general viewing public to a cast of characters that constitutes a realistic cross section of the knifemaking community. While its list of participants is far from a comprehensive Who’s Who of bladesmiths, one would be hard-pressed to spend more than an hour at the next BLADE Show without encountering a first- person recollection of pounding steel on the small screen.
More important is the awareness such publicity has brought to the craft, according to J.W. Randall, veteran ABS master smith and winner of FIF’s 2017 international championship (season four, episode 19). “It’s brought the public’s awareness around to hand- crafted items, and that’s a good thing,” Randall observed. “It appeals to a lot of people because it’s an old craft, and it’s been brought back, in a sense.”
Indeed, the fiery furnaces easily translate into a burning interest among many of the show’s viewers. For them, witnessing the process of manipulating steel into a knife, sword or axe using fire, a hammer and other assorted machinery and instruments, while facing the adversity of time constraints and random surprises, is at once exciting and inspiring.
“The men and women who compete on this show are engaging in an arena of gladiators,” described ABS master smith Jason Knight, B.R. Hughes Award winner and guest FIF judge during portions of seasons three and four. He agreed that the show’s primary value lies in inspiring its audience to appreciate, and perhaps pursue, a craft that ties together history, art, science and technology from an ancient world. “It’s important in our culture,” Knight added. “People like me hold fast to it, and I want to share it as art.”
Such interest has had a measurable effect on ABS membership, according to ABS journeyman smith, board member and treasurer, Bill Wiggins. “I don’t know what to call it,” he pondered. “It’s not a spike—I’d call it a steady rise in membership since the show started.”
He added that the ABS has also seen a lot more turnover lately, with people joining up for a year only to never be heard from again. “We’re still gaining members, though,” he allowed. “There’s good and bad, but the good outweighs the bad.”
“The bad” is definitely part of the mix, according to the story’s sources who were contestants. Though none had the proverbial sour grapes about their FIF experience, the recurring caveat was that good television producers have one goal in mind, which is producing good television—and that doesn’t necessarily translate into total satisfaction for the contestants.
One way to achieve “good television” is to introduce drama. Thankfully, according to Josh Smith, a two- time FIF contestant and the youngest person ever to earn an ABS master smith stamp at 19 in 2000, it didn’t include any typical reality-show-style infighting on the set.
“Everybody needs to realize that they’re trying to make an entertaining TV show, and I think they do a good job,” Smith explained. “The clock provides the drama that they need instead of drama between the contestants.” He added that Mareko Maumasi, his competitor and winner of the “Judges’ Pick” special episode (season four, episode one), is now a good friend. “We didn’t have to become enemies!” Josh emphasized.
TIME TELLS
Regarding the clock, each bladesmith is presented with strict time constraints— typically three hours to forge, grind and heat treat a blade, followed by a round of judging. In a second round, they have three hours to finish and handle the blade, followed by another round of judging.
“Three hours is a totally unrealistic timeframe,” Randall said. “That’s what makes the show interesting. Everything is stacked against you from the front, and that’s just a critical-thinking-and-an- overcoming-adversity deal. If you realize you’re backed into a corner, you have to adjust and come up with something to overcome it to gather yourself some time back on that clock.”
“A lot of these contestants have no experience, and it’s very entertaining to watch someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing get out there and forge a blade with unknown material,” Knight added. “It’s like throwing them to the beasts. It’s very gladiatorial and can be catastrophic. A lot of people will win by default because competitors will push themselves to the edge or get a bad choice in some garbage materials.”
He emphasized that the use of questionable materials adds a dramatic challenge to the mix, and during his time as a judge, Knight would advise the show’s producers on what to make available. “They have no idea about metallurgy, chemistry, physics or any science,” he remembered. “Their job is to produce content, and they have license to do whatever they want because it is entertainment. It’s good television but it’s not good bladesmithing.”
During a third portion of the show, makers have five days, or 40 hours, at their home shop to produce another more elaborate project.
Knight likened the whole production to a television game show made to entertain rather than inform viewers of the actual forging process. “You shouldn’t watch Forged in Fire with an expectation of learning how to forge blades,” he said. “That isn’t what the show is about.”
He should know, as he said he and his wife, Shelly, created the original premise. Before Forged in Fire was ever conceived, Battle of the Bladesmiths began as an ABS competition. “In 2010, Bill Wiggins asked ‘Hey, what could we do at a hammer-in that would be more fun?’” Knight recalled. “Shelly got the idea from Iron Chef. She said ‘What if you did a competition where you have unknown materials, a limited amount of time and you have to make a knife that works?’”
“Jason approached me about doing Battle of the Bladesmiths at the Haywood Hammer-In,” at Haywood Community College in Clyde, North Carolina, Wiggins confirmed. “He won the first one, and since then it has become a yearly event.”
Flash forward to 2014. Knight also competed in and won the first-ever, never-aired pilot episode of Forged in Fire. “I’m glad to have been a part of the founding legacy that no one knows about,” he laughed, adding that he also advised the content producers on 12 of the episodes but remains unlisted as a creator. “I wouldn’t do the show again unless they paid me what I want to get paid,” he added. “What I want to do is what I’m doing. What I want that show to be, it can’t be.”
Smith, who competed on the show twice (including season three, episode five) but never won, said if he could change something about the show, it would be an opportunity to explain the knife project to the judges. “Instead of just handing the sword over to the judges, give me two minutes to talk about it,” he said. “I would have educated those guys about details that otherwise they wouldn’t notice with a cursory glance. I think it would have made a difference.”
He feels like he got a raw deal with his Kora Sword, in which his mosaic damascus was oriented so the pattern lined up, made with all take- down construction and blind-pinned together. “It’s a lot of stuff that no one on TV knew,” he noted. To his credit, changing the rules to allow non-winners to get their knives back was a prerequisite for his return to the show.
Randall said editing was an aspect that bothered him. “I want to be represented for who I am. I don’t want television to modify me and make me be somebody that I’m not,” he said, referring to being “bleeped” twice during his episode when he did not use profanity. “I don’t want to be seen by the world as that guy. That’s not who I am and what I want to represent, and it bothered me.
“And more so in my closing remarks,” Randall added regarding the editing. “I gave God the credit and the glory at the end of this deal, and I also gave our military a bunch of credit for providing the freedom that we should never take for granted. That all got omitted. Represent people accurately for who they are and what they are.”
MORE JACK
Unanimously, those interviewed who appeared on FIF maintained that the contestants should be better paid. The $10,000 prize, which is only administered to the winner, isn’t enough compared to the month it takes the maker away from his or her work. For non-winners, it is a big financial hit to walk away with nothing. “If you’re not sure if you do that show that you’ll be able to make your house payment, don’t do it,” Smith advised.
“It’s like rolling the dice,” Randall proclaimed. “For me, it’ll take $25,000 to get me back. They’re cutting a fat hog, partner. That producer is making money hand over fist. They asked me to come back and I told them I’m not leaving my shop for 10 grand when I can make more money staying in my shop. Why would I roll the dice and potentially come up empty and lose a month of income?”
Overall, each source in the article was gracious in his comments about Forged in Fire, often reiterating that the drawbacks are tied into the fact that it is a television show. The point is to be entertaining, and it comes at the expense of some grievances about how it should be produced. They unanimously agreed that the most important effect is that it has enlightened and inspired millions of people regarding the craft of forging and knifemaking.
For the latest knives, knife news, trends and more visit blademag.com, BLADE®’s popular Instagram page @blade_ magazine, and on Facebook and Twitter.
BY JAMES MORGAN AYRES
We got snowed in one New Year’s in a rented cabin in the mountains. When I expressed concern about relying on electric heat in a remote cabin, the rental agent assured me that the electricity never went out. In any event, she said, “There was plenty of firewood for the fireplace and an axe. You’re an experienced outdoorsman. I’m sure you can cope.”
Of course, the electricity went out. I found about a cord of unsplit logs, each log 6-to-8 inches in diameter and 3 feet long. No split wood. No kindling. No axe. I batonned my ever-present Randall Model 1 around the edges of the logs to make kindling, and split enough wood to keep the fire going until the electricity came back on. Three days. I coped but every time I went to the wood pile, I wished I had an axe. Any of the axes in this field review would have been welcome.
Almost anything will chop softwood such as pine. For a proper challenge, we spent a day clearing madrone and oak at a friend’s property. Oak is a hardwood. Madrone is more fibrous and even tougher. We also split seasoned oak logs for our friend’s fireplace.
The Fox Trekking Axe is a terrific chopper for the backpacker, hunter or woods wanderer. Reminiscent of a medieval design, it’s light enough to keep in a rucksack and very well made.
The thin blade came sharp enough to cut paper and kept its edge during a day’s work. Its good edge geometry and balance, comfortable and ergonomic handle—well, really, its overall efficient configuration, which I suspect was inspired by an old, well-proven design—enabled painless hours of chopping, limbing and trimming. The long edge worked well for stripping and shaving bark to make bare poles. I have no doubt that the Trekking Axe would serve to quickly erect a shelter against an incoming mountain snowstorm, or dress out and break down an elk carcass. With its long, almost knife-like edge, it could also skin out the elk.
The thin blade, so efficient at taking down saplings and other work, tended to bind when chopped into the center of the seasoned oak logs. That’s a matter of geometry—the blade is not wedge shaped and won’t serve as a splitting maul, which is outside of its design envelope. A change in method overcame that limitation. By working around the edges and splitting off sections an inch or 3 thick, we were able to reduce logs to kindling.
Overall it’s a well-designed, well-made tool that I wouldn’t hesitate to take to the deep woods.
SPECS: FOX TREKKING AXE
CUTTING EDGE: 5.625”
BLADE STEEL: 12C27 Swedish stainless
HEAD WIDTH: 4.7”
HEAD THICKNESS: .22”
HEAD FINISH: Satin
HANDLE MATERIAL: Sassafras (wood)
WEIGHT: 13.8 ozs.
OVERALL LENGTH: 13.8”
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Italy
MSRP: $104.95
I hefted the Cold Steel Trail Boss, chopped through a 3-inch madrone sapling with one swing and paraphrased Crocodile Dundee’s line: “That’s an axe.”
About the size of a traditional cruiser axe, the Trail Boss has a smooth, comfortable haft/handle in-between axe and tomahawk length. The long edge came sharp and stayed sharp. The head has good wedge-shaped geometry that made splitting the seasoned oak logs a breeze. Unlike a splitting axe, it was not too thick for general work. One whack to the center of the log and there were two split sections on the ground. It’s not a splitting maul or splitting axe but almost as efficient. While it has enough heft to split oak, it’s also light enough and balanced so that downing saplings could be done with full control and no danger of cutting through and swinging too far.
When limbing, it was easy to control for precise cuts, even when limbing with one hand. The haft is not as long as that of a full-sized axe, nor is the head as heavy. However, the head’s well-designed geometry, the smooth, comfortable handle and overall good balance enabled it to perform almost as well as one.
This is a good, all-around chopping tool—actually, an excellent all-around chopping tool.
SPECS: COLD STEEL TRAIL BOSS
CUTTING EDGE: 4.5”
BLADE MATERIAL: 1055 spring steel
HEAD WIDTH: 6.5”
FINISH: Black
HANDLE MATERIAL: Hickory
WEIGHT: 2 lbs., 9.5 ozs.
OVERALL LENGTH: 27”
SHEATH: Not Included
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Taiwan
MSRP: $49.99
The CRKT Cimbri is an interesting design that, in my opinion, needs a bit of work to fulfill its potential. Modeled on a classic Frankish axe, with a nicely shaped head and a long handle, it is well balanced.
Unfortunately, the edge wasn’t sharp out of the box and we test all knives, axes, tomahawks, swords, etc., as they come, so there’s a level playing field for all. The lack of a truly sharp edge required more force to chop through the saplings and impeded its penetration when splitting. Also, the thick coating on the carbon steel head caused it to drag in a cut. Even more unfortunate, and for some reason I do not understand, the haft is squared rather than oval or round. The acute edges of the haft/ handle not only were uncomfortable, they dug into our hands, producing blisters—in one instance breaking the skin of one of our testers’ palms.
Tuning up the edge would be a simple job, a matter of 20 or 30 minutes with a good stone. Reprofiling the haft wouldn’t be difficult, but I cannot understand why anyone would put a squared handle on an axe. Historical authenticity, perhaps?
SPECS: CRKT CIMBRI
BLADE LENGTH: 4.09”
BLADE MATERIAL: 1055 spring steel
HEAD THICKNESS: 1.26”
FINISH: Manganese phosphate coating
HANDLE MATERIAL: Tennessee hickory
WEIGHT: 2 lbs., .8 oz.
OVERALL LENGTH: 25.75”
DESIGNER: Elmer Roush
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Taiwan
MSRP: $69.99
Which of the three would I choose if I were again snowed in and had only a stack of logs to burn? If I hiked in, the Trekking Axe would be my choice, no question. I’m too old to hump anything heavier in a rucksack filled with camping gear, food and ammunition. If I arrived by car or truck, the Trail Boss would be it. If I had only the Cimbri, I would use my belt knife as a draw knife to take off the corners of the handle and smooth it. That done, 20 minutes with a sharpening stone and I’d head for the wood pile.
KNIVES 2021, presented by BLADE Magazine showcases blades of every class and style with more than 600 spectacular full-color images, from customs to factory knives.
By Pat Covert
They’re small choppers that go by the names of hatchets, hawks and axes, so for simplicity’s sake let’s lump them into a group and call them hack-its, because that’s what they do for the most part. They hack.
The small choppers separate themselves from their bigger siblings largely because they are much more portable. Let’s take a look at four of the pint-size hack-its—all under a foot long—and explore their usefulness.
I tested each one on a variety of woods both hard and so, including the dreaded 6-inch privet log I use to gauge a chopper’s ability to bite into tough, seasoned materials. I also used the hack-its to cut 3/8-inch synthetic rope because if they will chop it, they’ll also cut the skin of meat and vegetables.
The A.G. Russell Pocket Safety Axe is a Marble’s design from circa the early 20th century. Marble took a small hatchet, 10.6 inches overall, and designed a fold-out metal shield in the handle to cover the bit in lieu of a sheath. Simply ingenious. The A.G. Russell version has a 4.5-inch 1070 spring steel head with a 2.4- inch cutting edge, and a typical old-school hammering base at the rear. The head has a distinctive three-slot mounting system Marble deemed superior to the standard oval style. The 8.8 inch handle is hickory and the whole kit and caboodle weighs 1 pound. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: $79.95.
With much of its overall weight in the head, this is a very top-heavy hatchet—which can work to its advantage. In the bite test on the privet log, the Pocket Safety Axe finished first simply because the business end has a lot more weight (see the side-by-side comparison image on head thicknesses). Consequently, it chopped each test material well.
The fold-out bit shield has pluses and minuses. On the upside, it’s very convenient and there’s no sheath to keep up with. On the other hand, you have to pack it since there’s no belt-sheath option. Also, you’ll want to wear gloves for extended use, as the hinge mechanism in the handle can dig into the inner fingers. All in all, though, the Pocket Safety Axe is a stellar performer.
SPEC CHECK: A.G. RUSSELL POCKET SAFETY AXE
CUTTING EDGE: 2.4”
BLADE MATERIAL: 1070 spring steel
HEAD WIDTH: 4.5”
HEAD THICKNESS: .7” at the thickest
BLADE COATING: None
HANDLE MATERIAL: Hickory
SPECIAL FEATURES: Metal blade cover in handle
CARRY: Pocket or pack
WEIGHT: 16 ozs.
OVERALL LENGTH: 10.6”
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Taiwan
MSRP: $79.95
Designed by Australian knifemaker/ designer Peter Fegan, the Boker Plus Escape Hawk is tactical in design. Hawks are primarily used for breaching and combat but can full other chores as well. Only 9 inches overall, the Escape Hawk has a 4.75-inch head of quarter inch-thick SK5 tool steel and a 2.56- inch cutting edge. The head has enough beard to be used for carving, and the curved 7-inch handle is adorned with nicely sculpted, diagonally grooved FRN ( berglass-reinforced nylon) scales. The butt can be used for hammering. The steel is protected throughout with a powder coat. A dual-strap Kydex sheath covers the head. MSRP: $189.95.
Due to its small size, you won’t be doing much breaching with the Boker Escape Hawk, but the pint-sized hack proved its worth. The SK5 steel had plenty of hack, chopping rope in nice, clean cuts, and knocking out chunks of seasoned cedar for tinder. Though the bearded bit can be used for carving, the inward slant of the handle mounting to the head impedes its effectiveness for the purpose a tad. The handle has full-length scales—a bonus for freedom of grip—and the diagonal grooves afforded it the best purchase of the bunch. The Boker Escape Hawk is a hawk that thinks it’s a hatchet.
SPEC CHECK: BOKER PLUS ESCAPE HAWK
CUTTING EDGE: 2.56”
BLADE MATERIAL: SK5 tool steel
HEAD WIDTH: 4.75”
HEAD THICKNESS: .25”
BLADE FINISH: Powder coating
HANDLE MATERIAL: FRN
SPECIAL FEATURES: Full-length sculpted scales
CARRY: Kydex sheath
WEIGHT: 13.1 ozs.
OVERALL LENGTH: 9”
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: China
MSRP: $189.95
At 11.5 inches, the Western Blackriver Long Hatchet from Camillus is, indeed, the longest of the test hack-its. It sports a 4.5-inch-wide head with a 2.5-inch chopping edge. On the back side of the head is a gimped flat edge for hammering and a sharpened diagonal slot for cutting cord. The 9.5-inch handle has 5.25-inch black checkered rubber scales, and there is a shaving slot midway between the handle and the head. A ballistic nylon sheath with a firesteel pouch—with firesteel—is included. MSRP: $31.98.
The Blackriver has the lightest head of the test group so it didn’t win the chopping wars, but its length and handle design give it a leg up on the others in some functions. The thin head is ideal for batonning, enhanced by the 4 inches of exposed steel below the bit, which can be used as a striking surface. The grip is very comfortable, the rubber scales aiding in impact absorption. The Blackriver will handle many chores around the camp, and the bonus firesteel and pouch on the sheath add value. It’s also by far the most affordable of the group.
SPEC CHECK: CAMILLUS/WESTERN BLACKRIVER LONG HATCHET
CUTTING EDGE: 2.5”
BLADE STEEL: 420 stainless
HEAD WIDTH: 4.5”
HEAD THICKNESS: .2”
BLADE COATING: Titanium bonded
HANDLE MATERIAL: Rubber
SPECIAL FEATURES: Firesteel included
CARRY: Ballistic nylon belt sheath
WEIGHT: 17 ozs.
OVERALL LENGTH: 11.5”
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: China
MSRP: $31.98
At only 9 inches long, the Winkler Hunter Axe LT is a small hack-it, but packs a full 19 ounces of weight—and that’s with a skeletonized handle tang. The Hunter Axe LT has a 3.5-inch-wide, bearded 80CrV2 carbon steel head with 2 inches of cutting edge, and there’s a hammering base out back. The steel thickness is a healthy .25 inch and is coated head to toe in Caswell black oxide. The scales are full-length, highly attractive curly maple. A padded Kydex sheath with nylon belt loops covers the head, and employs a shock-cord retention system for a quick draw. MSRP: $450.
The Hunter Axe LT may be short but at 19 ounces is the heaviest of the test hack-its—a full 2 ounces more than its nearest rival. The LT almost won the bite contest but didn’t due in part to its weight being more equally distributed than the top-heavy Russell Pocket Safety Axe. The 80CrV2 steel chops extremely well and the Caswell finish is very tough. Though not a carving axe per se, the LT was our best candidate for the chore and would have performed even better with a lower grind angle on the lead edge. The price is high but the Winkler is as close to a custom as you’ll get—plus, the sheath is a marvel in itself.
SPEC CHECK: WINKLER HUNTER AXE LT
CUTTING EDGE: 2”
BLADE MATERIAL: 80CrV2 carbon steel
HEAD WIDTH: 3.5”
HEAD THICKNESS: .28”
BLADE COATING: Caswell black oxide
HANDLE MATERIAL: Curly maple
SPECIAL FEATURES: Skeletonized handle
CARRY: Kydex belt sheath w/tension release
WEIGHT: 19 ozs.
OVERALL LENGTH: 9”
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: USA
MSRP: $450
Packable hack-its are limited only by their size. They are capable of building small shelters, chopping and splitting small- sized firewood, cutting rope to size, and a myriad of other small chores around the camp. When buying a small, packable chopper like one of these, first define your intended use for it. As you can see by the test bunch, each has its strong suits, and MSRPs vary widely. Choose wisely and happy hacking!
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