May, 2010 

  Spring weather has finally arrived and the lawn, flowers, and the weeds, are happily growing in our yard.  We have been very busy the last month tidying up the property in preparation for the ABS event, to be held in October.  We are re-staining the house.  The front porch has been power washed and re-sealed.  The old storage shed has been removed from the back yard and replaced with a nice new shed to store our firewood.  And, I have been removing my "yard art", A.K.A. junk, from the premises.  Also, new cabinets have been installed in the shop for better organization.

  The Blade Show is fast approaching, and I have yet to finish a single piece to put on my table.  I just finished a custom order knife and am now working on a damascus dagger for the Blade Show.  The dagger should be very nice once done, but it is a complicated assembly, so I am hoping for the best as I build it.

  I've made a rather significant change to my business; as I am no longer taking knife orders.  This may change in the future, if business dictates it.  But, I feel that I would like to remove myself from the pressure of completing orders to meet delivery timelines.  Several things contributed to this decision.  I am going to be 55 years old in a few weeks, and I have about two years of outstanding orders at this time.  By the time that I complete all of the orders that I have waiting, I do not feel that I will be interested in promising to deliver knives by a certain date.  Also, I have found myself so busy completing knife orders do not have shop time to work on projects that I would like to build.  Although I always include time in my schedule between promised delivery dates for orders, shop time is lost to a variety of life's events and I find myself scrambling to complete knives on the dates that I promised.  As a result, I am left without time to work on expanding my skills on different styles of work, or getting pieces made to display on my table at shows.

  While I am not interested in taking orders for specific delivery dates, I still want to hear from customers about what they would like to see me build, and what they may be interested in purchasing.  I will maintain a list of names, with contact information, and the style of knife that the individual is interested in.  If I have a knife available in that design, I will contact customers beginning with the first person to have requested that style of knife.

  I have no intention of quitting the knifemaking business and expect that I will make knives as long as I am able.  I only wish to free myself from the pressure of delivery timelines and expand my opportunity to create more exciting pieces.  I pray that my current and future customers can support my decision and will be pleased with the knives that I will have to offer.

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