In bound!

Just received an e-mail this a.m. to let me know this is on the way.  Very cool.

On the way

This piece is in the works and should be on the way pretty soon.  I presented the theme for the carving and I think Rick & Rudy Lala (Korth Cutlery) are executing it quite well.  can't wait to see the finished knife.

Wrinkled Wrinkle

Here is a really cool knife I picked up recently, a Ken Onion Wrinkled Wrinkle.  All Onion custom knives are hard to come by, this one even more so.

The handles are textured and anodized.  The texturing actually does make it feel as though the surface is wrinkled.

Work of Art

I like all types of knives; folders, tactical, fixed blades, engraved knives, etc... However, I would have to say that my favorite knives are those that are engraved.  I especially enjoy having a knife made and then working with the engraver, having some of my ideas incorporated into the knife and the engraving.  Here is a new piece I just received, the work is from two of my favorite artists; Warren Osborne and Brian Hochstrat.

Josh Smith Private Knife Show and Hammer-In Continued.............

Well, my last post about the Hammer-in was basically about how much fun it was not about the knives.  Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of the knives [the other pictures were all from my BlackBerry] but they were quite nice.  One knife I came home with was a pre-ordered delivery and it is spectacular so I wanted to share it.  This is a push dagger from Master Smith Larry Fuegen.  I really enjoyed the process as Larry shared concept drawings with me and there was extensive discussion regarding the Ivory used for the handle.  Here is the end result;

                           

Larry makes his own sheaths, this one is Alligator;

I wasn't as lucky as I would have liked, however, I did order three new knives from various makers at the show (Harvey Dean, Bill Ruple & Ken Steigerwalt).

OK, one more fun shot, curtesy of Eric Eggerly (Point Seven), me shooting a Sharps 45-90 Buffalo Rifle with Shane Taylor observing.  No Buffalo's were harmed during this event, paper targets.

Josh Smith Knife show & hammer In

Attended the 3rd Annual Josh Smith Knife Show and Hammer In which takes place in beautiful Missoula Montana.  There was a great lineup of knife makers; Harvey Dean, Larry Fuegen, Josh Smith, Tim Hancock, Larry Feugen, Juergen Steinau, Ken Steigerwalt, Matt Lerch, Owen Wood,  Wade Colter, Rick Dunkerley, Bill Ruple and John Young.  The event started on Friday with an open house at Josh's place in neighboring Frenchtown, MT.  Fun hanging around and talking with everyone, some knife forging, cigar smoking, refreshments, fun with small arms and some heavier artillery.  A highlight of the event was the firing of the homemade cannon shooting bowling balls at the nearby mountain!  Here are some pictures of the cannon and "ammunition";

Looking downrange

 Here, for your entertainment is a link to a video on YouTube of the actual firing of the cannon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8e1rRFgf04
If you listen carefully you can hear a whistling as the bowling ball rotates and the air plays against the finger holes in the bowling ball.

Several of the attendees either arrived early or stayed late to enjoy the fishing.  Here is one of the wonderful streams I visited in the area;

Here is Ken Steigerwalt showing off his casting skills;

Besides the knife show/sale there were several demonstrations of technical skills involved in the knife making process, very interesting.  Anyway, a great time was had by all.  I hope to continue attending this great event.

A knife project comes together.

I enjoy working with various custom knife makers and engravers on projects, it is in fact one of my greatest enjoyments within the hobby of knife collecting.   The fruits of a recent labor have now all come together in a project I present for your enjoyment.  But first some background.

John Young is a very talented, in demand, knifemaker. John's wait list on orders is around five years and at shows a drawing is held for the privilege of buying one of his knives.  Over the years John and I have spent much time talking knives and as a result of many conversations we decided to do a project together.  John and I agreed that one of his knife models, in particular, was a prime candidate for engraving, his push dagger.  Together we discussed handle materials and engraving themes and engravers.  The result of our first project together was this beautiful push dagger engraved by Lee Griffiths.

After completion this piece was presented by John at the 2009 Blade Show in Atlanta.  John and I decided we enjoyed working together on the project and wanted to do more.

For our new project I came up with a theme; game animals with horns that are used for handle material.  Use the horn for the handles and have the animals engraved on the bolsters.  Next John and I came up with a knife design, a new  model, a Modified Chute.  Ray Cover Jr. was brought into the project before the knives were designed for his input on space requirements for engraving.  I also had a custom case made by Huey Gun Cases known for their work building custom cases for high end guns.  I am very excited about this project, three knives with handle materials made from the horns of animals depicted in the engraving.  The set will be on display for the first time at the 2010 Blade Show.

Here is the set in the custom Huey Case;

Close ups of the engraving;

Hope you have enjoyed this blog.