Page 176 – BLADE Magazine

Knife News Wire 1/3/18 – $10 Knife Tops 2017’s Best-Selling Knives at Online Retailer

Knife News Wire

January 3, 2018

Knife News Wire 1/3/18 – $10 Knife Tops 2017’s Best-Selling Knives at Online Retailer

$10 Knife Tops 2017’s Best-Selling Knives at Blade HQ

If you want to know what kind of a year 2017 was for knives, it’s best to start by asking a retailer. Blade HQ put together a nice roundup of its top seven best sellers. Spoiler alert: The number one spot goes to a knife priced at $10.

Prediction: Best-Selling Chef Knife of 2018

Not one to be late to the party, Gadget Review is already calling 2018’s best-selling chef knife as the 10-inch Shun Classic. From the article:

Forged with 33 layers of high-carbon VG10 steel at a 16-degree angle, the Shun Classic is the perfect beginner’s knife for anyone who’s looking to upgrade their cutlery game and want a knife that will last them for the long haul. A Rockwell hardness rating of 61 means you’ll rarely have to re-sharpen it on your own, while its resin-impregnated Pakkawood handle fits comfortably in any size hand.

We here are BLADE will provide all the fainting couches you need to deal with the shock of a Shun knife on a list of best blades for the kitchen. I doubt we’ll be busy.

A Knife Made Out of a Solid Piece of Fish

Katsuobushi is a smoked and dried type of tunafish used in Japanese cuisines. It’s also about as hard a food as you can find. That’s why it’s shaved into flakes and used as a base for soups or sauces.

So why not make it into a knife?

Knives and Political Commemoratives: Pure Americana

Mentioned only in passing in the article here at the Hartford Courant, there apparently exists a switchblade made to commemorate President John F. Kennedy’s run for the White House. It’s now on display at a museum that celebrates the “Kennedy Mystique.”

A switchblade, made during his campaign, has a carved face that bears little resemblance to JFK.

A photo was not attached to the article.

Pairing politics with commemorative knives is an act of undiluted Americana that continues to this day. At the 2016 BLADE Show, in the heat of a summer of politicking, presidential candidates’ faces and slogans adorned many knives and accessories.

This is a good sign for collectors. Wait a while, and that political commemorative – even if it features a face bearing “little resemblance” to a candidate – could fetch a nice price.

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8 Stone- and Fossil-Handled Knives for “Old Rock Day”

Knife Collecting

Steve Shackleford

January 3, 2018

8 Stone- and Fossil-Handled Knives for “Old Rock Day”

Stone handle knife photo — Brilliant red jasper caps off the grip of Bill Duff’s miniature dagger. (Caleb Royer image)

One of the better ways to celebrate Old Rock Day (you do celebrate, don’t you?) is with a custom knife sporting a handle of anything stony or fossilized.

What is Old Rock Day?

Celebrated on Jan. 7, Old Rock Day salutes rocks of all kinds. In some locales, children are encouraged to discover their first “pet rock,” and festivities may include painting and decorating the “faces” of rocks. Some gather attractive pebbles and stones to make original pieces of jewelry. Some build rock gardens, and some towns and villages hold competitions for the best-looking rock garden.

BLADE has You Covered on Old Rock Day

To avoid getting your Old Rock Day off to a rocky start, we recommend you check out some stone-cool knife handles made of rocks and fossilized materials. You may not get your rocks off, but, if you love knives like we do, you will most definitely rock on.

Rare gemstone handle knife — Jerry McClure outfits his Little Mama Folder with a handle of green nephrite jade. (Caleb Royer image)

Ivory handle knife photo — Mastodon ivory comprises the grip of a Tony Hughes bowie in a 9.5-inch blade of Turkish twist damascus. (Caleb Royer image)

Mammoth ivory handle knife — Bruce Bingenheimer’s BingaLor folders have handles of mammoth ivory. (Caleb Royer image)

Example of custom dagger photo — Sodalite stone caps off Bertie Rietveld’s Pinnacle dagger in nebula damascus. (SharpByCoop image)

Titanium knife photo — The Protégé by Johnny Stout boasts mammoth ivory scales and fileworked titanium liners. (Caleb Royer image)

Walrus ivory handle knife photo — Ancient walrus ivory in a forged integral frame rocks the Slim Bad Fighter by David Lisch. (Caleb Royer image)

Custom knife photo — Don Hanson opts for fossil ivory on his clip-point bowie with handsome hamon. (Caleb Royer image)

See More Beautiful Knife Photos

Knives 2018 features full-color photos of the world’s best custom knives. It’s THE book for knife collectors, knifemakers and anyone interested in functional art.

Knife News Wire 1/2/18 – Custom Knives Heating Up Australia

Knife News Wire

BLADE Staff

January 2, 2018

BLADE Show art knife award — David Broadwell knife, Chuck Ward image

Custom Knives Heating Up in Australia

Australian knifemaker Leila Haddad is impressive for many reasons. She’s only 14, but she’s already turning out forged blades that fetch thousands of dollars. This profile from ABC in Australia is worth reading for those reasons, but one quote from the young knifemaker should be highlighted:

“I think there is still a future for knife making, because people are starting to realise again the importance of handmade things,” she said.

Read the full article here.

Buck Knives Makes 1,500,000th Knife

Buck fixed blade knife — The Buck Model 119 Special. (Image via Buck Knives)

Buck Knives announced last month that it reached the 1.5 million mark for total knives produced at its Idaho facility. A Model 119 Special took home the title of the 1,500,000th knife. That’s no accident.

From Buck:

This milestone was achieved due to the increased USA production needs and sales on their 119 Special and 110 Automatic models.

Knife Restrictions Re-Introduced in Kansas

Introduced in the closing days of 2017, a proposal in Kansas is looking to renew some expired knife prohibitions. From Knife Rights:

HB 2442 is ostensibly a “bump stock” ban bill, but it sneakily also would reinstate “dagger, dirk, … dangerous knife, straight-edged razor, stiletto” as prohibited knives.

Video: Heat Treating 154CM Stainless Steel

Nothing beats stepping inside a knifemaker’s shop and watching how the magic happens. Knifemaker Kyle Daily, of KH Daily Knives, generously shared this video showing how he treats 154CM stainless.

BLADE staff found this video on Twitter. Are you following us? You should be.

Gerber & Boy’s Life Team Up to Clean Filthy Pocketknives

Boy’s Life put together a great spread on cleaning pocketknives, with some assistance from Gerber. It’s basic, sure, but it’s full of great tips, such as using toothbrushes to clean serrations.

Read the full piece here.

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Knifemaking Tip: How to Texture a Blade’s Surface

Knifemaking

BLADE Staff

January 2, 2018

Knifemaking Tip: How to Texture a Blade’s Surface

how to make a blade with pound marks in it — The dents create air pockets so food does not stick to the blade.

In his story, How To Make a Sushi Knife, in the August 2015 BLADE®, ABS master smith Wally Hayes explained how he achieved the texturing on the blade’s surface. The reason for the texturing is to create air pockets so food does not stick to the steel.

For blade material, he used 90-thousandths-inch-thick 15N20 carbon steel from New Jersey Steel Baron.

knifemaking hammer — After cutting the blade to shape and heating it in his forge, the author used the hammer with a cross-hatched face to give each side of the blade a textured finish.

“First, I cut the blade to shape, around 7 inches long,” he wrote. “The tang is about 4 inches. I take one of my old hammers and cut a cross hatch into the face using a side grinder with a cut-off wheel. Then I heat up the blade in my forge and hammer a textured finish into the steel. This takes about five heats and is lots of fun! I put dents into both sides of the blade and then make sure it is straight.”

textured sushi knife — The sushi knife the author completed for the story in the August 2015 BLADE® features a blade with the hand-hammered finish and a handle of ebony and walnut.

The Story of the Rambo Knives in 22 Photos

Knife Collecting

BLADE Staff

December 29, 2017

The Story of the Rambo Knives in 22 Photos

Follow the Rambo knives through the first four movies with these photos. If you want to step back in time even further, download the June 1983 issue of BLADE.

First Blood movie knife — Jimmy Lile and Sylvester Stallone at an early ’80s California Custom Knife Show. Stallone holds the First Blood knife.

The serial no. 8 First Blood knife and sheath rest on Jimmy Lile’s record book concerning the making of the knives. At the top of the page it reads “#1-6 Stallone got.” Sylvester Stallone received six of the original 13 First Blood knives.

Knives of Rambo — Jimmy Lile (center) with actors Jack Lucarelli (left) and Jameson Parker (right) at an early ’80s knife show. Lucarelli wrote the book on Lile, “James B. Lile The Arkansas Knifesmith.”

Knife from Rambo — BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Gil Hibben assumed the mantle of Rambo knifemaker for the third installment of the Rambo movie series (Rambo III in 1988) with this robust model in 440C stainless steel, oblong blade hole and modified handle of mascassar ebony.

Sylvester Stallone holds the Rambo III knife while a friend squeezes the Rambo II model.

Unfinished knives — A batch of unfinished Rambo III models awaits completion.

Rambo makes knife — Stallone forges a knife in a scene that was deleted from Rambo III and showed up later on DVD outtakes.

Gil Hibben knives — In a recent image, Gil Hibben holds one of his Rambo III knives.

Rambo 4 knife — Twenty years after Rambo III hit theaters the fourth installment, Rambo, hit theaters in 2008, and Gil Hibben did the honors on the knife once again.

Rambo with knife — Though two decades older from his last appearance as John Rambo, Sylvester Stallone and his knife still had a commanding presence on the big screen in the fourth flick.

Rambo machete — Made to reflect a knife built for the needs of both the jungle environment and its user, the Rambo IV knife was crude in comparison to the earlier Rambo knives, but every bit as effective if not more so as a cutting tool.

Making Rambo knives — Gil Hibben heat treats one of the knives for the fourth movie in his shop.

Rambo 2 knives — Sly with the Rambo IV knife and a friend with the Rambo II.

Will there be a new Rambo movie — After years of being as mythical as its title character, the fifth movie in the Rambo franchise, *Rambo V*, is slated for a fall 2019 release, according to *Deadline.*

Knifemaking Rambo — Gil Hibben’s shop bench top full of Rambo IV knives.

Gil Hibben knife — Gil holds serial no. 87 of the first 100 Rambo IV knives.

Rambo blade — Hammer marks enhanced the rough finish of the Rambo IV blade.

Gil Hibben Rambo — In the 35th anniversary year of Rambo, Gil Hibben holds the Rambo III, his most popular knife ever.

Four Things You Didn’t Know About Rambo

TV and Movie Knives

Steve Shackleford

December 28, 2017

“First Blood” is a Dueling Term

David Morrell, author of the novel First Blood, based the book’s title on an old dueling term.

“I thought of it as a kind of duel between the characters, and there’s a dueling term about drawing first blood,” he explained. “In some duels the person who drew first blood would be the victor, so there was a kind of irony here of who drew first blood and who was going to win in this harrowing conflict.”

Rambo is More Canadian than American

first-blood-forest-knife — Though set in Kentucky in the novel First Blood, the movie’s locale was supposedly in the American Pacific Northwest. Actual filming was done in British Columbia. (image via imdb.com)

Born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, Morrell today is an American citizen.

The setting he chose for the novel, First Blood, was a wilderness area in Kentucky called the Grand Canyon of the East. However, Carolco, the production company that made the First Blood movie, wanted to do the flick in British Columbia, partly for financial reasons.

Meanwhile, for the purposes of the film, the locale would be identified as the American Pacific Northwest.

“It’s ironic that a Canadian created one of the most recognizable American icons,” Morrell noted. “It’s doubly ironic that the movie adaptation of First Blood was filmed in Canada’s British Columbia, even though my novel is set in Kentucky.”

Uncle Sam Makes an Appearance

Rambo Uncle Sam — The First Blood character of Col. Sam Troutman, played by Richard Crenna in the movie, was inspired by an American icon. Can you guess which one? (image via imdb.com)

Morrell gave Col. Sam Troutman, played by Richard Crenna, the name Sam because he represents Uncle Sam. As Morrell noted, “I saw him as the system that had created Rambo.”

You Only Got Half the Story

cover of rambo book first blood — The original cover for “First Blood.”

Originally, First Blood was about 600 pages long. Morrell didn’t like it and so went back and started reading it again. He found a chapter he didn’t like and deleted it. He read the book again and found it moved faster as a result of the deletion.

“I had digressions for one of the deputies, and the man who flew the helicopter and so many different viewpoints in it that I began cutting this chapter and that chapter and found that all I had to do was have the alternating sections between Rambo and the police chief,” he said. “So I probably lost about 300 pages doing this. It was like sculpting, knocking bits of granite off to create a statue. I had written and written so much that I learned that by cutting back I got an intensity that I hadn’t expected. So it was a big lesson for me.”

The Lost Rambo Knife You Never Knew About

TV and Movie Knives

Steve Shackleford

December 28, 2017

The Lost Rambo Knife You Never Knew About

If there’s such a thing as the “lost knife of Rambo” it’s the model known as the “Rescue Mission Knife” from Rambo III.

“I think the Rescue knife is important not only because it was a mistake/blooper, but because it has been a topic among die-hard Rambo knife collectors for almost 30 years,” noted Linda Hibben, wife of the knife’s maker, BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member Gil Hibben. “Even David Morrell [author of the original Rambo book, First Blood] has been intrigued by the appearance and story behind how this knife designed and made by Gil on a moment’s notice ‘accidentally’ appeared in the film.”

Rambo 3 Minefield scene — The minefield scene for Rambo III already had been filmed with Gil Hibben’s Rescue Mission Knife before Stallone decided to go with Hibben’s Rambo III bowie as the movie’s featured knife instead. (©1987 Carolco All Rights Reserved)

Rare Rambo knife — The Rescue Mission Knife had sawteeth on the spine and a hollow handle a la Jimmy Lile’s original Rambo knife from First Blood. (©1987 Carolco All Rights Reserved)

Rambo III was the first Rambo movie for which Gil Hibben made knives, taking over from Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Jimmy Lile, who made the knives for the first two Rambo films. When Stallone contacted Hibben about doing the knife for the third film, Hibben made a prototype hollow-handle survival knife with sawteeth on the spine.

However, Stallone decided he wanted something different and opted for another of Hibben’s designs, the now famous Rambo III bowie. However, the minefield scenes for the third movie already had been filmed with Stallone using the first design, the knife known as the Rescue Mission Knife.

On the 25^th anniversary of Rambo III, Hibben teamed with award-winning knifemaker Vaughn Neeley to fashion a limited edition of 100 specially marked, mirror-polished and serial-numbered 25^th anniversary Rescue Mission knives. Go here for more information.

Gil Hibben Rambo Mission Knife — Instead of the Rescue Mission Knife, Stallone opted for Gil Hibben’s Rambo III bowie (shown here) as the featured knife for the third film. Stallone had more input on the design of the bowie, including the long cutout in the blade. (Kris Kandler image)

Make Your Mark in Knife History

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BLADE Magazine

Knife News Wire 1/3/18 – $10 Knife Tops 2017’s Best-Selling Knives at Online Retailer

$10 Knife Tops 2017’s Best-Selling Knives at Blade HQ

Prediction: Best-Selling Chef Knife of 2018

A Knife Made Out of a Solid Piece of Fish

Knives and Political Commemoratives: Pure Americana

Have a News Tip? Submit it Here

8 Stone- and Fossil-Handled Knives for “Old Rock Day”

What is Old Rock Day?

BLADE has You Covered on Old Rock Day

See More Beautiful Knife Photos

Knife News Wire 1/2/18 – Custom Knives Heating Up Australia

Custom Knives Heating Up in Australia

Buck Knives Makes 1,500,000th Knife

Knife Restrictions Re-Introduced in Kansas

Video: Heat Treating 154CM Stainless Steel

Gerber & Boy’s Life Team Up to Clean Filthy Pocketknives

Have a News Tip? Submit it Here

Knifemaking Tip: How to Texture a Blade’s Surface

The Story of the Rambo Knives in 22 Photos

Four Things You Didn’t Know About Rambo

“First Blood” is a Dueling Term

Rambo is More Canadian than American

Uncle Sam Makes an Appearance

You Only Got Half the Story

The Lost Rambo Knife You Never Knew About

Make Your Mark in Knife History

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