3/1/2009
This year’s Arkansas Knifemakers Show in Little Rock was very good. Attendance by the public on both days of the event was as good as I have ever seen it. The AKA hosted a reception for knifemakers and collectors on Friday night. The reception included a meal and a live band and was well received by all who attended.
I only had a couple of knives on my table that were available to sell. I didn’t make any sales, but took two orders based off of one of the knives that I displayed. So, I was pleased with how the show went for me.
One of the knives that I made for the Mastersmith Test has been embellished with the work of Linda Karst-Stone. The owner of the knife had Linda scrim a Mountain Man scene on the mammoth ivory handle of the knife. Linda’s work, as always, is magnificent. The left side of the knife handle has a scene of three mountain men that appear to be riding horses towards the viewer. The right side of the handle has some of a mountain man’s personal items displayed and also a banner indicating that the knife was submitted by me for the Mastersmith Test. I had Chuck Ward photograph the knife. Photos of the knife with the scrim work are posted on the “Gallery” page of this site.
Some of the work that I have done in the shop lately has been on knives that I have sold in the past. The owners of the knives asked me to do some additional work on them. One of the owners had me make a sheath for his knife. The knife has “Old West Frontier” styling and the sheath that I made for it was designed to match that look. The sheath includes fringe and a new dying technique that I tried for the purpose of giving it an aged look. Photos of the sheath are on the “Sheaths” page of this site.
Another knife that I worked on for the owner is a Persian styled fighter that I made about a year ago. The owner wished for me to add a butt cap to the knife. This was a particularly difficult job as the handle of the knife was not typical of the type that includes a butt cap. I originally built the walrus ivory handle with a highly sculptured butt that resembles an “S” curve in profile. The owner wanted me to retain the curvature of the original handle, but add a damascus butt cap to it. To do so, I forged a damascus plate to match the curvature of the original handle. I patterned the plate in a radial design to mimic the pattern in the knife’s blade. Because of the drop in the handle at the transition from the top into the butt area, it was not possible to simply attach the plate to the end of the handle. I had to cut the ivory to lower the plate into the top of the handle and then fit it to the curved butt of the knife. This was extremely difficult and time consuming work. I then added a stud made from twist pattern damascus to the center of the butt cap. Photos of the knife are on the “Gallery” page.
Work on the knife for the ABS auction is finally moving again. I was able to find some mammoth ivory at the AKA show that I can use for the handle. I am in the final stages of making the handle and should have the knife finished soon. I need to get the knife finished so that it can be photographed for the auction’s advertizing, so it is priority in my shop at this time.
The Kansas Custom Knifemakers Association continues to grow, with new members signing up almost daily. We have scheduled an event at my shop to be held on April 11th. This is to be mainly a “Meet and Greet” gathering. Hours will be from 10am to around 4pm.
There will be few, if any demonstrations planned, though the shop will be open if anyone wants to use a grinder or fire up the forge. We are planning to put on a cutting demonstration, based on the cutting competition events. Anyone who would like to participate in the demonstration is encouraged to bring a suitable knife and test your skills.
Lunch will be served around noon. The menu will consist of hamburgers, hot-dogs, baked beans, potato salad and probably some chips. Please R.S.V.P. to let us know that you are attending and how many is in your party so we can plan for food. You can phone your R.S.V.P. to 1-800-505-0146.
We would like those who attend to bring examples of their work so we can all get to know what each of us makes. We encourage everyone to bring their spouse, or significant other. You may also want to bring a lawn chair for each of your party.
We will attempt to get some local media coverage of the event to further our goal of informing the public of our existence and art form.
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