Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2020 i Blade

The Joy of Knifemaking Hobby: an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation. I am a hobbyist knifemaker. I enjoy making knives but I never sell them. I seldom get stressed. I never have deadlines. I never have accounting, billing, collection, tax and business problems. I don’t have a waiting list. I make knives for the joy of making knives. I make knives for pleasure and relaxation, and to create beautiful things. During my productive years, I worked in public education and as a minister. I never made anything out of steel. I have always loved knives but never contemplated making one with my hands. A few years ago as I prepared to retire, I met a man who made knives. I asked…

Editor’s note: Mike Crenshaw was the impetus for this short modern history of canister steel. He got the ball rolling by gathering information on the early days of canister steel, information that included the contributions of ABS master smith Steve Schwarzer, Daryl Meier, Gary Runyon and others, including ABS master smith Hank Knickmeyer. Firing the forge and melding metals into a cohesive alloy is a methodology that stretches back millennia. Blade steel was one of the methodology’s primary products, even as the process evolved to include the most primitive of mosaic patterns and images emerging from the steel itself. One significant milestone occurred in the 1700s when Frenchman Jean Francois Clouet produced the word “Liberté”— French for Liberty—on the face of a blade. The word was not etched on the…

Former U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Clint Romesha grew up in rural Northern California on his family’s farm, where from an early age he learned the value of a pocketknife. At age 18, he enlisted in the Army in 1999 and began a 12-year military career. He eventually was assigned to an elite cavalry team at Fort Carson in Colorado. With the outset of the war in Afghanistan, it wasn’t long before his unit was called up for active duty. On Oct. 3, 2009, Romesha and Bravo troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade, were engaged in an intense firefight with an estimated 300 enemy fighters in the Battle of Kamdesh, a relentless conflict that spanned a punishing 15 hours. Tragically, eight of Romesha’s Army brothers were killed in the battle. Not too long…

PARDON MY APPENDAGE p. 10 Dave Armour, Dept. BL11, 61 Sugar Creek Hills, Auburn, IL 62615 217-741-0246 armourcutlery. com dave@armourcutlery.com, Instagram/Face-book: @armourcutlery/Dave Armour A BLADE in the CAN p. 12 Rick Dunkerley, Dept. BL11, PO Box 601, Lincoln, MT 59639, Phone: 406-210-4101, dunkerleyknives@gmail.com Web: www.dunkerleyknives. com; Hank Knickmeyer, Dept. BL11, 6300 Crosscreek, Cedar Hill, MO 63016, Phone: 636-285-3210; Daryl Meier, Dept. BL11, 75 Forge Rd, Carbondale, IL 62903, Phone: 618-549-3234, Web: www.meiersteel.com; Steve Schwarzer, Dept. BL11, POB 6, Crescent City, FL 32112, Phone: 904-307-0872, schwarzeranvil@gmail. com; Web: www.steveschwarzer.com FORGED in FIRE EFFECT p. 28 Jason Knight, knightforgestudio@gmail.com, knightforgestudio.com, jasonknightknives.com, Instagram/Facebook: @jasonknightknives/@ jasonknightknives; J.W. Randall, Dept. BL11, 11606 Keith Hall Rd., Dept. BL11, Keithville, LA 71047 318-426-4007 jw@jwrandall.com, jwrandall.com; Josh Smith, Dept. BL11, Box 753, Frenchtown, MT 59834, Phone: 406-626-5775, joshsmithknives@gmail.com;…

SPEC CHART KNIFE NAME: Wolf River Fighter BLADE LENGTH: 5.25” BLADE MATERIAL: A go-maiconstruction w/a core of W2 tool steel w/a 50 layer-damascus of 1095 carbon and 15N20 nickel-alloy steels on each side, and 416 stainless steel cladding BLADE PATTERN: Harpoon HANDLE MATERIAL: 7,500-year-old bog oak KNIFE TO KNOW: Single guard and bird’s-beak handle construction w/ finger groove BOLSTER: Yellow cedar burl SPACERS and LINER: G-10 OVERALL LENGTH: 10.5” MAKER’S LIST PRICE FOR A SIMILAR KNIFE: $1,000 GRIP ‘N RIP: The maker is a military veteran MAKER: Tyler Hackbarth 920-422-3580 wolfriverforge@gmail.com, Instagram: @wolfriverforge (Caleb Royer edited image) SPEC CHART MODEL TYPE: Hexagral chef’s knife BLADE LENGTH: 10” BLADE MATERIAL: Radial-laddered W’s-pattern damascus of 15N20 nickel-alloy steel cladding a 1095 carbon steel core BLADE GRIND: “S” type to aid in food…

Knifemaker David Broadwell and ABS master smith Steve Randall collaborated on a knife once before, so they decided to do it again—and the result is a knockout. Sporting an electric hamon on a 10.5-inch blade of a laminate stainless steel over carbon damascus forged, ground and finished by Steve, the sub-hilt fighter includes a mostly green mammoth ivory handle with yellow/gold highlights built and carved by David. Steve also forged the damascus for the frame and guard, the latter also carved by David, who also sculpted the bronze trim. Topping it all off is a beautiful belt sheath with exotic inlay by Nita Broadwell/NB Designs. For more information contact David Broadwell, Dept. BL11, POB 3373, Wichita Falls, TX 76301 940-782-4442 david@ broadwellstudios.com, broadwellstudios. com, Instagram/Facebook: Broadwell Studios/Broadwell Studios, and/or Steve…

“The customer wanted a Western-themed knife,” ABS master smith Rick Dunkerley said of the special canister-steel edition of his sole-authorship Model 35 folder, “so I made a cowboy riding a bucking horse as the main feature of the damascus.” The cowboy and horse are pure nickel surrounded by 15N20 nickel-alloy steel. Rick created the cactus desert scene separately from nickel, 1084 powder and 4800E powder. Once he forge-welded and drew the elements down, he combined them to create the cowboy riding the bucking horse in the desert. Respective blade and closed lengths: 3 and 7.25 inches. The insets in the picture-frame handle are 18k gold and the rope and barbedwire inlays are 24k gold. The insets have bright cut engraving and the thumb stud holds a diamond set in 18k…

“ I carry my father’s KA-BAR everywhere it is practical and legal to do so. He carried it for years when deer hunting in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York state. I remember frequently asking to see it when I was growing up, and listening to his stories from deer camp. I think it is these fond memories I have and the sentimental attachment that make it my favorite.” Robert Gutknecht, Madison Heights, Virginia My EDC is a Case jigged-bone trapper I’ve had for years. I use it for all the standard stuff—peeling apples, whittling, cleaning my fingernails, cutting open various packages and so on. It’s a trusty tool.” Paul Kocina, a letter via e-mail “I carry one of the new Gerber Asada pocket cleavers. I like the idea…

An influencer, by definition, is a person that can influence potential buyers and possibly add credibility to a product’s brand. In fact, given that there is no singular definition of exactly what a custom knife is, brand may be the perfect word to describe one. The argument can be made that an influencer is more than just the custom knifemaker. Influencers can be new machines, new blade steels, new mechanisms, new handle materials, etc. If you have been following custom knives for more than a few years, you no doubt have seen these influencers in the types of knives you buy and/or collect. However, all of the new machines, materials and techniques are inert without the maker who uses them to create new styles of knives and/or improvements on classics.…

I will discuss guards from a functional aspect in a future article. This time let’s concentrate on how and why I fit them to the blade. I have a finished blade (Image 2). I like her so far. Forged at low temperature from a 6.5-inch round bar, she comes with a rate of reduction of over 99 percent and is more than capable of entering what I call the realm of High Endurance Performance Blades. The first thing I need to do is make her safe from harm while I work on her, as well as make her safe for me to be working around. Many makers, including me, have been seriously cut with finished blades while working on them. I’ve seen and tried many safety devices and methods. The…

The so-called cancel culture that’s plagued our nation for some time now has somehow managed to overlook our beloved knife community—at least so far. Of course, this is not to say that the “woke mob” hasn’t attacked a number of personages revered not only worldwide but in the knife community as well, such as presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, both of whom carried knives of various types, including some really cool pocketknives that have been featured in BLADE®. In fact, some knifemakers, including Ernest Emerson through his Emerson Knives, Inc., and ABS master smith Jerry Fisk, have built and sold knives with handles made of wood taken from the trees on Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. Many other presidents have connections to knives as well, but, for now, their statues…

It’s been said there’s nothing new under the sun. I might add that new ideas in knifemaking are rare. I do not claim the technique I am about to share is new because that could start the story off on the wrong foot. On the other hand, I will say I have not seen it done in the context of making knife parts. Comparisons can be drawn to particular cultural techniques, and I encourage that in the name of inspiration. Speaking of, that will be the purpose of this discussion—inspiration. I have been fortunate to have had several sources of inspiration, not the least of which is my time and training in historic blacksmithing. One of the guiding principles of the early blacksmith was practicality. You will end up being…

High-performance stainless steels—CPM S30V, S35VN, S90V and 20CV, along with CPM 154, M390 and CTS 204P, to name some—rule in many corners of today’s knife market. While such steels exhibit astonishing edge-holding power and the ability to go the distance without much maintenance, the tradeoff is they can be difficult to sharpen. With the ascendance of such “super steels” you might think carbon steels would be gone for good. Nothing could be further from the truth. While carbon steels may not attract the attention they once did, that doesn’t mean they’re no less a viable option for hunting, camping and even tactical knives. Many still prefer carbon steels over the high-performance stainless ones, and the primary reason is ease of sharpening, especially in the field. While carbon steels require a…

Note: Events with an asterisk (*) have knives and knife accessories as the main/sole focus. Events with two asterisks (**) are knifemaking seminars or symposiums, cutting competitions, auctions or other knife-related events. SEPTEMBER SEPT. 19-20 MISSOULA, MT Montana Knifemakers Association Show, Grizzly Harley-Davidson. Contact Rick Wheeler rmw_ artknives@yahoo.com .* OCTOBER CANCELED! OCT. 2-4 PORTLAND, OR The 3rd Annual BLADE Show West, Oregon Convention Center. The latest in custom and factory knives, awards for same, 2nd Annual Chef’s Knife Cutting Championships, demos, seminars and more. New show dates for 2021 will be announced in the fall. For more information visit bladeshowwest.com and/orcontact bladeshow.com.* ** OCT. 16-18 INDIANAPOLIS, IN The Indy 1500 Gun & Knife Show, Indiana State Fairgrounds. Contact World Class Gun Shows 405-340-1333 indy1500.com. CANCELED! OCT. 17 Middletown MD The…

In recent years Spartan Blades has been offering limited-edition versions of the SHF (Spartan Harsey Folder) designed by knifemaker Bill Harsey. The limited editions feature special laser etching or engraving on the handles, and may or may not have damascus blades. The SHF Plague Doctor was conceived to honor the brave men and women who work as medical professionals on the front line of the COVID-19 battle. The handle features a cartoon illustration of “the plague doctor” drawn by AJ LaFell, a craftsman at Spartan. On the clip side of the handle is his rendering of the COVID-19 virus. Only 15 of the knives were built and they all sold very fast. At press time, Spartan was considering doing another run of Plague Doctors at some point in time. For…