Larry Fuegen score from the Big Sky Show and Hammer In

Josh Smith's Big Sky Knife Show and Hammer In was fun!  The best part was time spent with good friends, the bowling ball cannon and mortar provided great entertainment and I got a nice knife.  I was drawn to purchase a Bowie by Larry Fuegen; here are pictures of my acquisition.

Big Sky Conference

Pretty jazzed about attending the upcoming Big Sky Conference, Hammer In and Knife Show taking place in Missoula, Montana July 15, 16 & 17.  The way this show works is like this, it begins with a private knife show and sale on Friday evening at an art gallery in downtown Missoula.  Knives are displayed and offered via a lottery format.  There is a great spread of food and drink. The makers offering knives this year will be Tim Hancock, Harvey Dean, Richard Rogers, Bill Ruple, Owen Wood, Edmund Davidson, Larry Fuegen, John Young and Josh Smith the host of the show.  Each year there are some different makers as well as regulars returning each year.  Preceding the Friday evening show attendees are invited out to Josh's spread for some socializing, food and drink, cigars, guns and in general a great time.  Oh yea, there is a fee to attend and attendance is limited, about 40 people.

On Saturday the hammer-in begins.   Beside the group from Friday a large number of knifemakers show up to view demonstrations/lectures on knife making, design, Damascus, etc..  All day there is food, drink, cigars, guns.  Here is a link from last years event when the bowling ball cannon was fired.  Dinner is at a local country club, about 100 or so attend this.  The festivities continue into the evening for all those that are interested and begin again Sunday concluding mid-day.

The show is great fun, a chance to spend time with a wonderful bunch of people.  If you ever get the opportunity I would recommend attending.

There are some great Italian knifemakers.

The Italians are doing some really cool work.  Here are two examples, the first is Emmanuel Esposito's Pike model with mosaic inlay;

Next up is a two blade beauty from Salvatori Puddu with engraving by Valerio Peli of Creative Arts;

Cowboys & Indians

Always liked Westerns and Cowboys and Indians.  Here is a Warren Osborne model called the Breech with engraving by Lisa Tomlin.

 I gave Lisa the basic concept of what I wanted then she came up with the images.  I like the way she incorporated the concho and the feathers with the cowboy and the indian.

Knifemaker Randy Doucette

I have bought/sold quite a few of knifemaker Randy Doucette's knives.  Randy is a full time maker working out of Ontario Province in Canada.  I have always been impressed with the fit and finish of his knives, his actions are as smooth as can be.  Here are pictures of a few of his pieces;

This model is the Fuse

Loveless homage 

A rare double bolstered knife; the Persian

Seeker ltd. ed.

Hard Core Adventure One-Off knife with beautiful Mother-of-Pearl overlay

Icon model

This model is the Wizard

Tony Bose Zulu

Thought I would share some pictures of this beauty, the Pre-ban Elephant Ivory is luscious.

Mosaic Damascus Bolsters

Received two sets of bolsters from Anthony Metsala who creates his own Mosaic Damascus making it available to others and for his own knives.   I can't wait to give them over to a knifemaker for incorporation into the bolsters of a knife, here is a picture of one of the two sets, check them out.