Ken Steigerwalt is a friend as well as being one of the best knifemakers in the business.  Ken's knives show great creativity and outstanding fit and finish.  This is the most recent knife I have gotten from Ken;

You can see some more of Ken's wonderful Art Deco Style knives on the Custom Knives Community Page on FaceBook.

Michael Quesenberry rising talent

I was having a conversation with Tim Hancock and the name of an ABS JS with whom he was working came up; Michael Quesenberry.  Tim said to watch this guy as he was a talent and would surely become a name within the knife world.  I looked at some pictures of Michaels work online and liked what I saw so I contacted him and based on our conversations I decided to commission a knife.  Here is the result;

I am quite pleased with the outcome.  Michael maintained great communication through the process.  He asked about trying some new techniques and I said go for it. Specs: 10" Damascus blade of 1084 & 15N20, three piece spacer of twist Damascus that's been grooved, a 23k gold plated nickel silver accent liners, Mammoth ivory scales with domed nickel silver pins and the frame and guard are parkerized O-1.

Master Smith Kyle Royer

Kyle Royer earned his MS (Master Smith) rating at this years Blade Show.  His order book extends about 5 years or so and for good reason.  This is my first piece from Kyle and it's a beauty.

It has a 9 1/2 inch blade and it’s forged from 1080 and 15N20 in a Tight Mosaic, four bar Twist Damascus Pattern. The handle is premium blue/cream colored Mammoth Ivory which I supplied to Kyle. The fittings are of the same damascus pattern as the blade and they have 18 karat green gold inlays. The fittings have also been gun blued. The liners are made of German Silver and have been coined with forty lines per inch. The guard is oval with coining and round grooves around its profile. Kyle made the sheath too and it has a Diamondback Rattlesnake skin overlay.

Pirate Knife......One for my collection

I like Jack Busfield's knives.  Jack is basically retired now but he made a lot of knives and whenever I find a nice one at a reasonable price I pick it up.  His knives make a great canvas for engraving.  I acquired this little Trailing Point with Apple Green Jade Inlays a couple years ago and finally got around to having it engraved.  I am quite pleased with how it came out and it will be going into my collection.

Tim Hancock the Western Bladesmith

Tim Hancock is one of my favorite ABS Bladesmiths.  Tim is also one of the AKI (Art Knife Invitational) makers, he has a multi-year waiting list and has a great book out about him Tim Hancock the Western Bladesmith which features his work plus he is a great guy and makes very cool knives.  Here is a folder that has been in the works for close to two years.  Tim is known for the Spanish Notch that he uses in many of his fixed blade knives and I asked him to incorporate one into this folder.  I also had some input into the size of the gold lock.  Tim and I had many conversations about this knife and it is pretty cool to see the ideas we discussed come to be in this knife.    Love the way this turned out.

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.