Page 233 – BLADE Magazine

Guild Show: Granddaddy Custom Knife Event

Steve Shackleford

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September 17, 2013

Guild Show: Granddaddy Custom Knife Event

The Knifemakers’ Guild Show will hold its 44th annual rendition—the granddaddy of all custom knife shows—this weekend at the Seelbach Hilton Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. Knifemakers, knifemaking suppliers, purveyors and more from all over the world will convene in Derby Town, where some of the best custom knives will be shown and sold.

The Guild got its start in February 1970 when the Guild’s “founding father,” BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member A.G. Russell, rented tables at the Sahara Gun Show in Las Vegas and invited several knifemakers to display knives there. Later that year, 11 makers met in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to form the Guild. The makers were John Applebaugh, Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Blackie Collins, John Nelson Cooper, Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Dan Dennehy, Ted Dowell, Chubby Hueske, John Kirk, Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Bob Loveless, John Owens, Jim Pugh and G.W. Stone. Loveless was elected secretary—the Guild office title today is president—and A.G. Russell was made honorary president.

The purposes of the Guild are to:

1) Promote custom knives and knifemakers

2) Assist the knifemaker technically;

3) Encourage ethical and professional business conduct;

4) Sponsor an annual business meeting and knife show.

The show has been held in assorted venues over the years, including Kansas City, Dallas, Orlando, New Orleans, Las Vegas and now Louisville. Some of the earliest Kansas City shows were held at the old Muehlebach Hotel, where, in addition to Loveless and Dennehy, such Guild legends as Cutlery Hall-Of-Famers Buster Warenski, Bill Moran, Ron Lake, George Herron, D’ Holder, Frank Centofante, Gil Hibben and many others displayed their knives and kick-started an organization that continues to be recognized worldwide today. Hibben, in fact, remains active in the Guild today, and is in his seventh and final year as Guild president. He will step down this year.

Make plans now to attend the show this weekend. There will be a special President’s Gala Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Seelbach, and should be a great place to see Gil and Linda Hibben in their final show as the Guild’s first family, as well as all the other makers and their great knives show Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

For the latest in knives and knife news, keep it here at www.blademag.com.

Do’s & Don’ts of Knives

Steve Shackleford

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September 12, 2013

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The do’s and don’ts of knives are many. Knowing them will make your knife experience much more rewarding and satisfying. Here are but a few:

DO use a sharpener to touch up the edge of your knife after each use or at the end of each day of use.

DON’T use your knife as a pry bar (unless it has a pry tip and is designed for such use).

DO rinse off and dry your non-stainless carbon steel knife after each extended use or at the end of day of each use (it’s probably not a bad idea to do the same no matter what the blade material is).

DON’T store your knife in a leather sheath for extended periods.

DO cut away from other people/your body when cutting rope, cardboard boxes open, etc.

DON’T show off flipping your folding knife open and closed at knife shows in crowds of people or around any area crowded with people, for that matter.

DO ask a maker’s permission to pick up a knife from his table at a knife show.

DON’T open more than one blade at a time on a multi-blade folder (it puts unnecessary pressure on the backsprings; besides, it’s a good way to get accidentally cut).

DO carry a knife whenever possible where it is legal to do so (and when the knife meets local legal requirements).

DON’T pull out a loupe/magnifying glass to closely inspect a new custom or handmade knife at a knife show (it’s just not considered good form; besides, unless you’re legally blind, if you can’t see what’s right or wrong with a knife with the naked eye, then it’s not worth worrying about).

DO attend as many knife shows as you can and view knives up close and personal and meet the makers who build them.

DON’T interrupt a conversation between a maker and someone he or she is talking to at his or her table at a knife show. It’s rude.

DO read as much as you can about knives, their history and their makers.

DON’T take everything you read about knives as gospel. Always look for at least one additional opinion on the subject.

One final DO is to check out these knife deals BLADE‘s lined up for you at ShopBlade.com.

New BLADE® Salutes Military On 9/11

Steve Shackleford

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September 10, 2013

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Military heroes past and present and their favorite knives are the focus of the new BLADE® (www.blademag.com) on the 12th anniversary of 9/11—on many newsstands NOW!

Featuring a Bob Dozier Freedom Fighter on the cover that stopped a bullet and likely saved U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Josh Clysdale’s life, the latest issue of BLADE (www.blademag.com) is our 4th annual military issue, and it covers the subject of military knives like no other.

The issue kicks off with a heart-rending story about Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, all save one of whom—Lance Corporal Travis Williams—were killed by an enemy IED in Iraq. Williams eventually returned home and began making knives part time under the tutelage of knifemaker James Behring Jr. Williams made a knife in honor of Lima Company that was auctioned to raise money to support the work of an artist who was painting life-size portraits of the Lima Company Marines killed by the IED. It’s must reading for military and knife aficionados alike.

There’s much more, including stories on the aforementioned Lance Corporal Clysdale and his “bullet-proof” knife; one on if a soldier had just one knife in a military emergency, what that knife would be; a knife collaboration between Andy Sharpe and Chuck Richards to honor the American GIs who fought off a furious Japanese Banzai attack in a little-known battle on Attu Island in Alaska during World War II; a ground-breaking new program to not only teach returning vets how to make knives but also to help equip them with the tools and equipment they need to do the job; a new “Arkansas Veterans” knife from A.G. Russell Knives, with $10 of the sales of each knife going toward an emergency fund for vets who are students at the University of Arkansas; a one-of-a-kind Bob Loveless Lawndale boot knife made specially for Pat R. Dailey, thought to have been a CIA operative; and much more.

For your copy, check your newsstands. To subscribe to the digital version of BLADE, click on

www.shopblade.com/blade-1-yr-digital-subscription?lid=ssfbbl091013

What’s Your Favorite Knife Design?

Joe Kertzman

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September 6, 2013

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With over 100 knife designs to choose from—101 to be exact—there’s plenty to mull over in coming up with an ultimate favorite blade design or pattern. Renowned knifemaker and heckuva nice guy, Murray Carter, known to stand behind his table at knife shows, including the BLADE Show, honing knife blades and demonstrating to attendees how to sharpen their own edges, reveals his favorite 101 Knife Designs.

In his book, 101 Knife Designs, Carter displays not only gorgeous knife photography by none other than famed photographer Hiro Soga, but drawings, patterns, scaled designs and supportive text, allow aspiring bladesmiths to create their own knives using Carter’s popular, time-honored designs. Dazzling, full-color images of the completed knives provide inspiration and direction. 101 Knife Designs will show the reader why certain distinct blade designs have stood the test of time and remain popular even to this day. Practical blade patterns follow several rules of thumb. When these rules are applied to new knife designs, there is a greater chance the design will stand the test of time and use.

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About the Author: Murray Carter (cartercutlery.com), one of the most popular custom knifemakers at the annual BLADE Show, regularly conducts wildly popular seminars on shaving with a machete, and is known for standing at his booth sharpening knives while teaching the techniques to interested attendees.

James Black Descendant Gets a Bowie

Steve Shackleford

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September 4, 2013

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While there is still no definitive proof that James Black made a knife for Jim Bowie, one thing is certain: a descendant of Black’s received a “recreation of a James Black knife” during the Natchez Antique Bowie Knife Show last month.

ABS master smith James L. “Jim” Batson made the reproduction of the knife and presented it to Mrs. Celia Johnson, who claims to be a descendant of Black. She says she is descended from Gradison DeRorysten Black, the son of James Black. Celia and her husband, Jerry, traveled from Baytown, Texas, to accept the silver-mounted knife and sheath fashioned by Batson and based on what is believed to be a Black knife in the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Johnsons stayed at the Dunleift Hall, owned by Mike Worley, during the show. Worley sponsored the show, which was held in Natchez, Mississippi.

The Johnsons brought a scrapbook full of old family pictures and a handwritten list of ancestors and originally showed it to Batson during the American Bladesmith Society’s 2012 All-Forged Knife Expo in San Antonio, Texas (see page 44, July 2012 BLADE® www.blademag.com). Batson is one of the world’s foremost authorities on Jim Bowie and James Black. He has conducted extensive research on Bowie and bowie knives, written any number of stories on the subject for BLADE, a book on Bowie’s famous Sandbar Fight, coordinated Bowie Symposiums at the BLADE Show (www.bladeshow.com), and much more. He also coordinates the Batson Bladesmithing Symposium each spring in McCalla, Alabama, and is a past multi-term chairman of the ABS.

Batson pored over the Johnsons’ documents and pictures at the 2012 San Antonio show. Among the topics of their discussion was the famous 19^th-century daguerreotype that reportedly shows James Black and Judge Jacob Buzzard, the physical resemblance of the man some believe is Black in the daguerreotype to that of some of Celia’s ancestors, and Black family history in general.

For the latest on knives, knife news and more, stay honed at www.blademag.com (www.blademag.com).

What’s Your “Comeback” Knife?

Steve Shackleford

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September 3, 2013

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Is there a specific knife model, a knife style or some other knife feature, gizmo or what have you that you don’t see anymore but would like to see make a comeback?

It can be just about anything—custom or factory, combat or kitchen, utility or fantasy—you name it and you discuss it. A picture of it sure would help matters.

Here’s an example.

I’d like to see Spyderco bring back the Maddox one-hand utility knife. Designed by Joe Maddox for a friend who had a broken arm, the Maddox is tailor-made for use by those who can use only one hand. However, my wife Susan—who has two healthy hands, by the way—uses it on a regular basis in the kitchen for any number of chopping/dicing chores. The ulu-style blade and handy wood handle combine to make a great tool for exerting downward pressure and a rocking-type cutting motion on a cutting board.

By the way, I got the idea for this short story from Spyderco’s Joyce Laituri, winner of the BLADE Magazine 2013 Publisher’s Award for her stellar career as Spyderco marketing manager and public relations guru.

What about you? What knife would you like to see make a comeback, or what knife or knives made long ago but are no longer would you like to see offered today? Or, is there a style or type of knife that’s rarely made that you’d like to see more of? It can be most anything—a special kind of folder, multi-blade, folding bowie, etc. Or, it can be a knife made from a vintage blade steel or handle material, an old style of embellishment no longer or rarely used, etc.

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

Do You Have Your Hunting Knife?

Joe Kertzman

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August 29, 2013

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There is no single profile that fits all hunters, and there isn’t a specific hunting knife that fulfills all needs. That’s a good thing for the knife industry. Some guys like a standard fixed-blade, drop-point hunter that comes in a leather belt sheath, maybe even with a slight hump near the tip of the blade where they can rest their finger and choke up on the blade. One of custom knifemaker Russ Kommer’s favorite packages is the 2-Shot. He has used it daily in the field as a hunting guide in Alaska and around the world. Russ says, “I’ve always preferred a smaller semi-skinner, even for the biggest of game. You just use the hump near the end of the blade to locate your index finger. And the blade is short enough that you can work inside the animal and feel where you are at all times.” The CRKT Kommer 2-Shot Skinner Knife has a 3.15-inch full-tang 12C27 Sandvik stainless steel blade, stainless bolsters, orange G10 handle scales and stainless steel pins.

Some ever-prepared hunters aiming for big game opt for a hatchet/skinner combination pack such as the Timberline Hatchet/Bush Guide Skinner Combo. It includes Kommer’s Alaskan Bush Pilot Ha tchet and Alaskan Skinner. Expertly crafted from polished 440 stainless steel, the Alaskan Bush Pilot Hatchet boasts a 4-inch, full-tang head, while the Alaskan Skinner sports a 3.625-inch 440A stainless steel skinner blade. Each handle is precision machined Zytel for a non-slip grip and ease of use. The Alaskan Combo includes a ballistic nylon sheath with belt loop, and weighs 2.28 lbs.

Gut hooks come in handy for skinning game animals, and a Realtree-pattern handle is a plus. The Kutmaster Team Realtree Guthook Knife dons a 420 stainless steel blade with sharp gut hook on the spine, a Realtree camo handle pattern, and a nylon belt-loop sheath.

For many more quality options, visit ShopBlade.com, and stock up for the hunt!

BLADE Magazine

Guild Show: Granddaddy Custom Knife Event

Do’s & Don’ts of Knives

New BLADE® Salutes Military On 9/11

What’s Your Favorite Knife Design?

James Black Descendant Gets a Bowie

What’s Your “Comeback” Knife?

Do You Have Your Hunting Knife?

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