Page 227 – BLADE Magazine

New BLADE® Hits Newsstands Today!

Steve Shackleford

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November 5, 2013

The new BLADE® is on newsstands now! Get the latest on knives for Veterans Day, the coolest factory assisted-opening knives, knife tests, knifemaker profiles and much more with newest edition of the World’s No. 1 Knife Publication.

Sporting the Condor Tool & Knife (CTK) Tactical Rescue Tomahawk (TRT) on the cover—the first time ever that an edged tool from CTK has appeared on the cover of BLADE®—the latest issue includes the TRT among four hawks tested by writer James Ayres.

It was almost 10 years ago this month that knifemaker Rob Simonich was killed in a vehicle accident. Join Dexter Ewing as he interviews those who knew and loved Rob—including Mrs. Christine Simonich, knifemaker Jerry Hossom, Mike Fuller of TOPS Knives, knifemaker Tom Mayo and others. Those who remember Rob will relish the story, and those who don’t get the chance to acquaint themselves with a man who touched the lives of many—and continues to to this day.

We often get letters from readers who want more on sheaths, and this issue ABS master smith Ed Fowler begins a multi-part story on how he makes the sheaths for his knives. Known far and wide for his sheep-handle knives with 52100 blades, Ed also makes one of the best pouch sheaths going. He shows you how he does it in part one of “Sheath How-To Step-By-Step.”

Part two of the story on the top makers in the 40 years of BLADE® focuses on the cream of the cutlery crop from 1989-2000. It was yet another golden age of knifemaking. Check out the top makers over that span as identified by our panel of edged experts. Tell us who we left out—because it’s impossible to do such a list and not leave someone out.

There’s much more in the issue—but the best way we know to tell you about it is to tell you to go get the latest issue on newsstands. Or, if you want it faster, subscribe to BLADE® digitally by visiting http://www.shopblade.com/blade-1-yr-digital-subscription

American Bladesmith Society Announces 2014 Hammer-In Schedule

Joe Kertzman

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November 1, 2013

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American Bladesmith Society Announces 2014 Hammer-In Schedule

One of the things that makes the knife industry such a pleasure to be involved with is artisans, bladesmiths and knifemakers in general sharing their knowledge, teaching people their craft and passing down the handcraft from generation to generation.

Some of the best at this are the members of the American Bladesmith Society, as well, of course, as those in the Knifemakers’ Guild and countless other knife clubs and organizations. The ABS claims to have had record attendance at its hammer-ins across the country in 2013, and has already announced its 2014 Hammer-In Schedule. Click here for a Complete Knifemaking Collection of books and digital downloads to get you started in your knifemaking endeavors. And without further ado:

ABS Hammer In Schedule for 2014

March 7, 8, and 9, 2014
Spring Great Smoky Mountain Hammer-In
Haywood Community College, Clyde, North Carolina
ABS Contact – Bill Wiggins (828) 226-2551 or Email [email protected]

April 26 and 27, 2014
Spring Piney Woods Hammer In
Texarkana College – Moran School of Bladesmithing, Washington, Arkansas
ABS Contact – BR Hughes (903) 838-0134 or Email [email protected]

June 2014
ABS Youth Hammer-In
Smoky Mountain Knife Works, Sevierville, Tennessee
ABS Contact – Houston Price (865) 397-0053 or Email [email protected]

July 11, 12, and 13, 2014
New England Hammer-In
New England School of Metalwork, Auburn, Maine
ABS Contact – Mace Vitale (203) 457-5591 or Email [email protected]

August 22, 23, and 24, 2014
Mid America Hammer-In
Miami County Fairgrounds, Troy, Ohio
ABS Contact – Butch Sheely (419) 832-5801 or Email [email protected]

September 13 and 14, 2014
Fall Piney Woods Hammer-In
Texarkana College – Moran School of Bladesmithing, Washington, Arkansas
ABS Contact – BR Hughes (903) 838-0134 or Email [email protected]

October 4 and 5, 2014
Heartland Hammer-In
Washburn Institute of Technology, Topeka, Kansas
ABS Contact – Steve Culver (785) 484-0146 or Email [email protected]

October 2014
California Hammer-In
College of the Sequoias, Tulare, California
ABS Contact – Mike Vagnino (559) 636-0501 or Email [email protected]

October 18 and 19, 2014
Smoky Mountain Fall Hammer-In
Haywood Community College, Clyde, North Carolina
ABS Contact – Bill Wiggins (828) 226-2551 or Email [email protected]

Distal Taper: Why Knives Have It

Knife Collecting

Steve Shackleford

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October 30, 2013

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Distal taper is a concept long used by knifemakers in different parts of the world. Characterized by a reduction in thickness of the blade from guard to tip and spine to edge, distal taper results in a knife that is both lightweight and exhibits excellent edge geometry. The concept is also employed on knife tangs, whereby the tang is tapered in thickness from the guard to the butt.

Since knives with distal taper are both lighter in weight and have super edge geometry, they are easier to handle and cut better—all other things being equal. Who can argue with those kinds of results?

As far as we know, exactly who first used distal taper is undetermined. Some Sheffield-made kitchen knives from the 19th century exhibit the trait, and the concept no doubt was used long before that. A number of custom knifemakers apply distal taper to their knives today, following in the footsteps of such makers as Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© members William Scagel, Bob Loveless (http://www.shopblade.com/loveless-legend-w5287) and Bill Moran, as well as Ted Dowell and others.

What about you? Do you own any knives with distal taper? If so, tell us about them—what styles they are, who made them, etc. Or do you use the concept on the knives you make? Tell us about it/them. Why do you like knives with distal taper? Why, in your opinion, is the concept important? If you apply the concept to your knives, how do you go about doing it?

By the same token, if you don’t think distal taper is all that important, tell us why. Is it overrated as a concept or what exactly? Don’t hold back. And don’t worry, you won’t hurt our feelings.

For the latest knives, knife news and more, stay tuned to www.blademag.com.

Video: How to Grind a Forged Blade

Knifemaking

BLADE Staff

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October 29, 2013

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American Bladesmith Society (ABS) master smith Jerry Fisk explains how to profile a forged blade on a grinder in this video.

Pay special attention to Fisk’s tip at the beginning of the video. Wear earplugs while running a grinder for best results. That way, you’ll be relaxed throughout the entire process.

“If you’re tense, you’re not going to get smooth operating,” Fisk says in the video.

Fisk also recommends wearing a face mask while grinding if a ventilation system is not present in the shop. Not doing so will turn your lungs into “canteens,” as Fisk says.

Learn More About Knife Grinding

How to Grind a Knife Blade — Learn how to grind a knife blade in this PDF download from BLADE.

For even more great information about grinding knife blades, don’t miss BLADE‘s Knife Grinding Secrets PDF download. It’s packed with helpful instruction in these knifemaking areas:

Profiling a Chisel-Ground Blade
Grinding the Bevel of the Kwaiken Model
The Finesse of Grinding
The Feared Flat Grind
Shaping the Tip
Two-hand pass
Tapering the Blade Tang

How Did You Use Your Knife This Weekend?

Knife Collecting

Steve Shackleford

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October 28, 2013

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How did you use your knife this weekend? Did you cut open a box or two, prepare meals, cut loose thread from an item of clothing, peel an apple or just whittle to pass the time? Maybe you performed some survival or bushcraft tasks, such as carving a drinking cup, practice building a makeshift shelter or some baton work to split small kindling. Whatever it was, tell us about it—the circumstances, what job you put the knife to, what knife you used, and how the operation came out. Did the knife do the job or did you have to go to your knife array for a smaller/bigger/different type of knife to complete the task?

I had the opportunity to use my carry knife of the day, a Spyderco Native5 in a G-10 handle and 3-inch blade of CPM S35VN stainless steel, yesterday while with my great nephew Carter at the annual Cherokee Pow-Wow at Red Clay State Park just south of here on the Tennessee side of the Georgia border. Carter and I were watching the American Indians perform a traditional dance when Carter spied a young girl holding a toy bow with rubber-tipped arrows. We asked where she got it, made a beeline for the exhibitor tent that sold them and bought one.

Carter wanted to test the bow, of course, so we proceeded to an open field in the scenic park, where we inspected the bow and arrows. The arrows were taped tightly to the bow with masking tape, so I pulled out the Native5, cut the multiple winds of tape and Carter proceeded to launch arrow after arrow into the cool October sky. “It’s a good thing you brought that knife,” Carter said.

How about you? How did you use your knife?

For the latest knives and knife news, stay tuned to www.blademag.com (www.blademag.com)

Embrace the Skull-Cutter Craze

Knife Collecting

Steve Shackleford

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October 24, 2013

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If you like knives, swords, cleavers and other edgeware embellished with skulls, the knife industry’s skull-cutter craze is for you. And it’s ideal for Halloween, too!

Knives with skull motifs are nothing new. Knifemakers long have offered knives embellished with skulls, along with other ghoulish characters such as goblins, gargoyles, dragons, witches and warlocks, ghosts, the Grim Reaper—the current issue of BLADE® (www.blademag.com), on newsstands now, has such a knife made by D.B. Fraley and owned by Jon Ukman on the cover—and others. However, the veritable explosion of the motif in recent years seems to have sprinkled skull shards worldwide on the knife scene.

"Butch the Cleaver" is Anders Hogstrom's answer to the skull-cutter craze. (SharpByCoop photo) — Anders Hogstrom’s “Butch the Cleaver” is one of several models addressing the skull-cutter craze. (SharpByCoop photo)

Meanwhile, the skull motif has engendered a knife cottage industry of sorts. Ernest Emerson, one of the world’s leading makers and author of the legendary CQC-6, has an apparel line through his Emerson Knives, Inc., that features skulls on any number of clothing items. Companies such as Schmuckatelli sell small skulls that serve a dual purpose of both adorning knives and anchoring knife lanyards. There are others.

Of course there will be those who slam the knife industry for introducing morbid themes on what they are utterly convinced are gruesome tools of death. But we’ve heard all that balderdash and even the most irrational of anti-knife fanatics know better by now.

What about you? Do you subscribe to the skull theme, even just a little bit? If not, don’t worry. There apparently are scores of knife enthusiasts who can’t get enough of it. And with Halloween just around the corner, many knifemakers and those in the knife/skull cottage industries are loving every minute of it.

For the latest knives, knife news and much more, keep it edgy with www.blademag.com (www.blademag.com).

Ohio Classic Knife Show Starts at 1 p.m. Today

Steve Shackleford

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October 18, 2013

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Ohio Classic Knife Show Starts at 1 p.m. Today

The Ohio Classic Knife Show hopes to build on the momentum of recent knife shows as it holds its annual event today and tomorrow.

Both the California Custom Knife Show held this past weekend and the Knifemakers’ Guild Show held last month were successes by a number of accounts, and the Ohio Classic hopes to build off their momentum as well as some of its own.

For instance, purveyor/collect Jon Ukman noted of the Cal show, “It was outstanding! I bought about 70 knives—and that is a good show.” Purveyor Dave Stark of Steel Addiction Custom Knives also had words of praise for the Cal show. Meanwhile, ABS bladesmith Johnny Perry, who helped display a collection of Bill Moran knives for the Moran Foundation at the Knifemakers’ Guild Show last month, said the Guild Show was a good one as well.

Held at the Pritchard-Laughlin Civic Center in Cambridge, Ohio, the Ohio Classic runs from 1 o’clock this afternoon until 7 tonight, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow. In addition to some of the custom industry’s top makers, the show will include some leading factory knife exhibitors and also a cutting competition tomorrow. In addition, Jeff Fournier from Mule Team Canvas will give a demo on canvas dying.

Exhibiting knifemakers include Tom Downing, Blind Horse Knives, Ryan Daniels of Queen Cutlery, Phillip Booth, Wayne Hensley, Pete Crowl, Andrew Demko, George Trout, Mickey Yurco, Greg Gottschalk, W.C. Johnson, James Downs, Thad Yeater, Gary Wheeler, BLADE® field editor Kim Breed, Lon Humphrey, Craig Steketee, Mark Carey of Spartan Blades, Bill Behnke and many others. Also exhibiting will be Charles Turnage of Turnage Productions, photographer Terrill Hoffman, purveyor Jerry Schroeder, Pop’s Knives and Supplies, Brad Vice of Alabama Damascus, Brad Stallsmith of Peters Heat Treat and many others.

For more information visit www.ohioknifeshow.com.

For the latest knives, knife news and more, keep an edge on it with www.blademag.com (www.blademag.com).

BLADE Magazine

New BLADE® Hits Newsstands Today!

American Bladesmith Society Announces 2014 Hammer-In Schedule

Distal Taper: Why Knives Have It

Video: How to Grind a Forged Blade

Learn More About Knife Grinding

How Did You Use Your Knife This Weekend?

Embrace the Skull-Cutter Craze

Ohio Classic Knife Show Starts at 1 p.m. Today

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