BLADE‘s Halloween pumpkin-carving contest is in the books. Here are the winners. They’ll be contacted separately for their prizes. Thanks to everyone who entered.
Reader’s Choice
Editor’s Choice
Runners-Up
Midweek Maker Forged-Style: David McConnell
David McConnell is a stamping press repairman who hopes to convert to full-time bladesmithing soon. His first knife, was a cheap Wal-Mart special. Over the years he got frustrated with the lack of quality in such knives and began thinking about making his own. He knew he could make a better knife for himself, and he did. Only his buddy loved it so much that he bought it from him, David said, laughing.
The self-taught bladesmith has been making knives for 11 now, including tomahawks and axes. “I like to make hunting knives and more traditional stuff,” David noted.
He is an avid grouse and deer hunter, as well as and ice and fly fisherman. He lives in Kalkaska, Michigan, with his wife and 15-year-old son.
- Best-selling knife patterns: 3 ½- to 4-inch-bladed bird-and-trout, 4- to 7-inch-bladed straight-back hunter, classic bowie
- Favorite blade steels: W2 for hamon, toughness, ease of forging and grinding; 1075 for ease of forging and heat-treating
- Blade grinds: flat ground, sometimes with appleseed edge
- How he tests his knives: “If it can cut a nail and have no deformation or chipping and still stay shaving-sharp, I would have to say that’s a pretty good blade,” David commented.
- Favorite handle materials: bone, wood, antler. “I just like the feel and warmth you get from natural materials.”
- Price range: $85-$600
- Knife shows he attends: local gun-and-knife shows and blacksmithing events
- Member of: American Bladesmith Society
- Forums he participates in: ABS
- His website: www.northwoodsforge.com
Contact David McConnell at 989-858-6344, [email protected] or on Facebook at North Woods Forge.
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6 Knife Handles That Glow In The Dark
There are four categories of “glow.” Bioluminescence is, say, a firefly. There’s chemiluminescence, caused by a chemical reaction—think glow stick. Radioluminescence is most frequently used in clock or watch paints and on instrument panels. Then there’s phosphorescence, frequently used in toys, or toys for grown-ups: knives, or more specifically knife handles. The old-school invisible type of glow-in-the-dark scales show white-ish in daylight. The handle might have tinges of color, but it’s essentially white. If it has been exposed to enough sunlight, it will glow in blues, purples or greens in the dark. New-school daylight glow is visible day or night and comes in variety of colors. Here are six knife handles that glow in the dark, three of each variety, perfect options for Halloween or the everyday kid in all of us.
1. A son makes glow-in-the-dark-handled knife for his dad
Randy Madan of Patriot Horde Knives made this Pig Poker for his dad, Randy, who uses it on his farm in Kentucky. This type of old-school glow will appear creamy or pasty by day and either blue-violet or green by night, provided it has absorbed some UV light, explained scalemaker, Rob Carper of Rob Carper Innovations (RCI).
2. This GITD friction folder is pinned by a grenade pull
A rescue knife has a blunt point for two reasons, explained Denny Furey of Furey’s Urban Combat Knives – Unlimited. One, it can be used to pry with, and two, if you needed to cut someone’s seatbelt, for example, you don’t want to run the risk of sticking them with a sharp point.
The grenade pull locks the blade in the open position for secure cutting. The pin can then be stored in the attached slot on the sheath, similar to how a ferro rod might be stowed.
3. New-school daytime glow is visible day or night
Jason Batdorf of Delaney Knives makes his own glow mix, using raw materials, but one would need to be a chemist with a laboratory to actually make the glow powder.
4. Knife named for a customer’s departed sister
Brent Vacarro of Black Widow Knifeworks & Tactical Gear designed this blade for a customer as a custom order. When Brent began receiving interest in the knife, he wanted to introduce it into his lineup. But there were two problems. “First, I had to get permission from the customer, and second, I needed a name for it,” Brent explained. He contacted the customer and asked if it would be OK if he made more of this knife model. The customer was fine with that. “Then I asked him to name the blade,” Brent continued. “This is where it becomes very special very fast. He had told me about his sister passing away when they were younger, so he had asked if we can name the blade after her. My immediate response was ‘Of course!’ So that’s where H.E.R.L comes from, her initials.”
5. Glow-in-the-dark honeycomb pattern is echoed in leather sheath
6. Old-school Glow Hex emits violet shade in the dark
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Bag Hot Big Blades ‘n Edges
Big Blades ‘n Edges, including reviews of the newest factory hatchets, some of today’s top custom bowies and four top turkey carving sets, highlight the latest BLADE®, on newsstands NOW!
The latest BLADE leads off with “Big Bad Blades,” Daniel Jackson’s assessment of some of today’s hottest bowies and their makers, including Mike Quesenberry, James Huse II, Jason Fry and Robert Burns. Each has an approach to “America’s Knife” sure to stir your bowie blood. Speaking of which, if Daniel’s story makes you want to “take the next step,” check out part one of “How To Make a Bowie” by Chris Amos.
In “Chop Shop,” join Abe Elias as he takes four contemporary hatchets—the Tomahatchet cover piece, Condor Tool & Knife Greenland, Browning Outdoorsman and Fremont Knives Farson—and subjects them to a round of hacking and cutting exercises. And in “Turkey Cuts,” James Morgan Ayres not only tests a quartet of the latest factory turkey carving sets from Victorinox, Santa Fe Stoneworks, KAI Shun and Boker Arbolito, but he shows you how to prepare your bird for Thanksgiving, too!
Kim Breed tests two custom straight knives with wharncliffe blades by Ryan Sprinkle and Michael Jarvis in “Little Knives, Stout Cutters. In the latest installment of the Knives That Changed Knife History, Mike Haskew outlines how BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© members Blackie Collins and Ken Onion spearheaded the revolution in assisted-opening knives.
Speaking of history, Pat Covert examines the over six decades of making Rambo and Star Trek knives, reproducing Paul Ehlers‘ fantasy knife designs, terms as president of The Knifemakers’ Guild, holding a private audience with Elvis Presley and much more of the fascinating life of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Gil Hibben.
There’s more, including a new breed of modern slip joints, the very first story of the very first issue of BLADE (then the American Blade), Liam Hoffman‘s compact kukri and scintillating scads of sharp stuff, all in the latest issue of BLADE.
Great Knives Have “Face”
Great knives have face. I’m not talking about a face like on a Halloween mask, but a knife with a design or style that’s recognizable by a large number of knife enthusiasts as having been made first by one knifemaker and one knifemaker only.
The face, in this instance, is the unmistakable knife design or style of the maker in question.
How the term came about I’m not exactly sure but I’ve heard it from or read it written about by long-time observers of the knife scene, including BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© members Bernard Levine, Bruce Voyles and others. One explanation of face that applies here is that I may not know or remember a person’s name, but if I know his or her face I almost always instantly recognize it. The difference in the instance of knives with face is that I recognize both the knife design or style and the maker’s name.
There are at least two provisos: 1. To fully qualify as a knife with face the knife must be recognizable by a large number of knife enthusiasts. Now, there no doubt are great knives made by makers that one or a few enthusiasts may recognize as being the knives of specific makers, but the ones that really fill the bill are the ones many enthusiasts can look at and say, “Yep, that’s so-and-so’s knife.” It’s effective in terms of a conversation starter among knife enthusiasts who are friends, or as a conversation icebreaker among those who have just met. They don’t know each other but they do know great knives with face.
2. Some of the makers of knives with face have had their designs with face emulated by many others. Even so, if the knife has face those who recognize it will say that it’s in the style of the maker who originated it.
Following is a selection of great knives with face and why they qualify. Enjoy!
- The Bob Loveless dropped or drop-point hunter. The Loveless drop-point hunter is one of the great knives with face on this list that meets Proviso 2 above. While it may not appear to be all that unusual, the drop-point style of the blade—where the blade tip falls below the plane of the spine—is something Loveless popularized in the 1970s and ’80s, and it remains his signature style to this day.
- The Bill Moran style. Actually, as with Loveless, any number of Moran knives have face, though I’ve chosen one of my favorites: the ST-24. The flowing blade with a long clip point and ergonomically contoured dropped handle with silver wire inlay is unmistakably a Moran.
- The Michael Walker style. Walker’s linerlock folder changed knives forever but he also makes models unlike anyone else. Outfitted with any number of his clever and innovative locks, each of which gives the handle a notably different look at the pivot, Walker’s knives use the latest and most exotic materials, are embellished in any number of creative and ornate ways, and usually have some of the most interesting blade shapes you’ll ever see.
- The Jurgen Steinau style. When I first saw one of Jurgen Steinau’s knives, at first I wasn’t even sure I was looking at a knife. The designs, angles and materials of his knives are like something from a book on intergalactic architecture. Suffice it to say, Steinau’s great knives have face—and then some!
- Jim Schmidt’s Goblin Folder. Schmidt’s Goblin Folders have face in more ways than one. Not only do they have the face of a goblin on the handle’s stag butt, but that face makes the knife unmistakable as the style originally made by Mr. Schmidt. A number of his other models have face as well.
There are others who make great knives with face. Which ones make your list?
Midweek Maker Forged-Style: Tyrell Johnson
Tyrell Johnson has always been interested in knives and firearms, and two-plus years ago he decided to take a knifemaking class at Montgomery Community College in North Carolina. “As my wife can attest, I’ve had many hobbies in my life, but knifemaking immediately struck a chord with me,” he commented. “I knew right away that this was what I was meant to do, and I’ve been making knives ever since. I eat, drink and sleep knives.” Travis Daniels, of TED Knives, has been a helpful mentor to him. Tyrell does both stock removal and forging, and especially enjoys forging brut de forges.
Tyrell currently works full time as a waste treatment plant operator, but in five years he expect to retire and focus fully on knifemaking.
• Best-selling knife patterns: drop-point hunters, kitchen and filet knives
• Preferred blade steels: W2, 1084, 1095. “I love carbon steel. It has a great history and the keeness of the edge is hard to beat,” Tyrell noted.
• Blade grinds: hollow for slicing, flat for durability
• How he tests his knives: cutting paper, shaving hair, chopping wood
• Favorite handle materials: Micarta, exotic woods, burl wood, resins—“I love working with the scales produced by J Hue Customs by Tim Kipps,” Tyrell added.
• Price range: $150-$350
• Knife shows he attends: BLADE Show
• Member of: North Carolina Custom Knifemakers Guild, American Bladesmith Society
Tyrell hand-makes all his sheaths from premium 8-ounce leather or Kydex.
Contacts listed at the bottom of this article.
Tyrell made a combat knife for the North Carolina Custom Knifemakers Guild’s cutting competition last spring. The knife could not be longer than 15.5 inches overall with a maximum blade length of 10 inches. At least one visible pin had to pass through the handle, a tang was required and the knife had to have a lanyard hole with wrist lanyard and be accompanied by a sheath and zippered pouch.
Contact Tyrell Johnson, 252-341-4791, [email protected], on Facebook at Tyrell Johnson and on Instagram @Tyrell_Johnson_Knives
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If piling-up issues of magazines seems like a waste to you… If you feel like you don’t have time to read a magazine… If you like the stories we offer in BLADE, but want a more economical option, then a digital subscription is the answer. An annual subscription to BLADE is $17.98, $4 off the print price.
10 Pumpkin-Spiced Custom Knives Herald Halloween
It makes sense that pumpkin spice marketers would want to find ways to push a product that only got used once or twice a year in one or two pumpkin pies. Now, of course, it’s a running joke that there’s pumpkin spice in everything from dog treats to breakfast cereals. Some long for the days when only pumpkin-spiced candles and lattes accosted their sensibilities, others look forward to seasonal yogurts, beers and Oreos. While we’re in the full swing of fall, deer season and stocking up on pumpkin spice M&Ms for Halloween, why shouldn’t we celebrate pumpkin-spiced custom knives?
- The pumpkin in this knife’s G10 handle is tempered with black, but you’ll still be able to find it if you drop it in the leaves while dressing a deer.
2. Go bold! There’s no need to hide your love of spicy pumpkin with this mini skinner or everyday carry knife.
3. The pumpkin in this handle is subdued by the black in scales made by 8th Dimension Concepts.
4. The striking contrast in this pumpkin and maple handle was created by Tim Kipps of J. Hue Customs. He calls it Magma color. By whatever name, it’s smashing.
5. A pop of pumpkin is all that’s needed on this handle scale made by Voodoo Resins.
6. Pumpkin is just one of the orangey colors in Beyond Wood Products’ Firey Labyrinth scales.
7. Buckeye burl was used by the maker to create this natural-shaded pumpkin, green and maroon handle.
8. It’s a spice; not a whole meal!
9. Pumpkin is an ideal accent for black in this combined G10 handle.
10. Who says a spice can’t be the whole meal?
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