knife world publications, po box 3395, knoxville, tn 37927
TRANSCRIPT
By David A. ClarkThis statement, “the
ugliest looking knife youever saw” was part of theproduct description of aknife offered in Sears,Roebuck & Co.’s 1905 cata-log. It is hard to believe, intoday’s times, that a majorcompany would identify aknife’s rough fit and fin-ished appearance as a sell-ing point. But that was theway it was in those years,1905-1918, when Sears,Roebuck & Co. offered thisknife for sale. Tucked inthe pages of the catalogalongside such brands asWilbert, Wostenholm, andT.T.C. is this knife withthe name “Chris Wolf”stamped deeply into its
one blade, a blade that ishammer forged and a littleover 1/8” thick with halfstops. There is no nail nickto assist in opening theblade. The spring is sostrong, just gripping theblade between thumb andforefinger as hard as youcan, it is nearly impossibleto withdraw it from theframe. It closes with sucha strong snap that it isalmost dangerous. Theknife is 4-5/16” in overalllength with a 3-3/8” blade.The 1907 ad goes on todescribe the knife: “Theblade of this knife is handhammered from a bar ofthe best crucible steel, cor-rectly tempered and care-
Continued on page 5
“The Ugliest Looking Knife You Ever Saw”
PRSRT-STDU.S. POSTAGE
PAIDLOUISIANA,MISSOURI
63353PERMIT 11
$3.50
Knife World Publications, PO Box 3395, Knoxville, TN 37927 Vol. 40 No. 11 November 2014 www.knifeworld.com
Guild and ABS Unite toSponsor Ultimate
Handmade Knife Showby Knife World StaffIn an unprecedented
move, the world’s largestknifemaking organiza-tions – The Knifemakers’Guild and the AmericanBladesmith Society(ABS) – are combiningforces to co-sponsor whatpromises to be a signifi-cant event in the world of
handmade knives.The inaugural
International CustomCutlery Exposition (ICCE)will be held September 18-20, 2015 at the KansasCity Marriott Downtown.The location was by nomeans a random choice,for both organizationshave roots in that city.From 1972 to 1985, all butone of the Guild’s annualshows were held there; theABS was conceived there
and fueled by the happen-ings at those early Guildshows. Now, both organi-zations return to KansasCity to celebrate their his-tory and accomplish-ments – together – in acombined “super show” ofhandmade knives.The Knifemakers’ GuildThe roots of The
Knifemakers Guild goback to February 1970,when cutlery legend A.G.Russell gathered together
several custom knifemak-ers at the Sahara GunShow in Las Vegas. Asdescribed in the Guild’sfirst membership directory(1974), “More than a dozenmen came, showed knivesto the public, and sat downand talked together. We allgot along well, swappedtrade talk and some knivesand just plain had funtogether. By the time theweekend was over, and wewere ready to head for
home, we were ready to doit again.” They met againin June of that year at theTulsa Gun Show, wherethey agreed to form TheKnifemakers’ Guild. The11 founding memberswere: John Applebaugh,Blackie Collins, JohnNelson Cooper, DanDennehy, Ted Dowell,Chubby Hueske, Jon Kirk,John Owens, Jim Pugh,and G.W. Stone; R.W.
ComingHome to
Kansas City
ComingHome to
Kansas City
Continued on page 24
Page 24 Knife World November 2014
Loveless was electedExecutive Secretary andA.G. Russell, the only non-knifemaker, was namedHonorary President.As stated on the current
Knifemakers’ Guild web-site, “the purposes of theGuild were, and continueto be: to promote customknives and knifemakers, toassist the knifemakertechnically, to encourageethical and professionalbusiness conduct, and to
sponsor an annual busi-ness meeting and knifeshow.” That last purpose,established at the time ofthe Guild’s founding, cre-ated the annual GuildShow. In 1971 that gather-ing was held at the gunshow in Houston, Texas,and the Guild’s member-ship almost tripled. In1972, the selected locationwas Kansas City, Missouri,in conjunction with theMissouri Valley ArmsCollectors Association’s
gun show.The 1974 Guild
Directory, edited byLoveless, describes thefirst shows this way:“Houston had been the
seed show, where welearned how many of usthere were. Kansas City [in1972] showed us what finework really was, as newknives and new designsseemed to come out of thewoodwork, and we allbegan to feel a strong senseof pride in what we were
accomplishing.” “With thesecond Kansas City Show[1973], it seemed the Guildhad arrived on the nationalscene permanently.Prominent collectors camefrom throughout the coun-try to acquire new knivesin wonderful variety, andBill Moran’s fine and beau-tiful authentic reproduc-tions of damascus bladeswere the hit of the show.”That 1973 show wouldprove monumental notonly for the Guild, but alsofor the not-yet-foundedABS.The Guild returned to
Kansas City in 1974, andin 1975 the show was con-ducted there as a stand-alone knife show, withoutaffiliation with a gun showfor the very first time.After a single year in
Dallas, the Knifemakers’Guild Show returned toKansas City in 1977 whereit remained each yearthrough 1985. Since thattime, the Guild Show hasbeen held annually in vari-ous other cities includingDallas, Orlando, NewOrleans, and most recently,Louisville.Today the Knifemakers’
Guild boasts an interna-tional membership of over300 knifemakers. The firstlevel of membership forknifemakers isProbationary Membership,which requires the signedrecommendation of fourvoting members of theGuild followed by theapproval of four examplesof the maker’s work by theBoard of Directors at the
Continued from page 1
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History in the making, Kansas City, 1973. On the sale table in front of Bill andMargaret Moran are the first damascus steel knives of the modern era. This photo wastaken by B.R. Hughes, who helped found the ABS with Moran a few years hence.
William F. “Bill” Moran, Jr. and Robert W. “Bob”Loveless, pictured together at the monumental 1973Knifemakers’ Guild Show in Kansas City.
Continued on page 25
November 2014 Knife World Page 25
next annual show. Toachieve Voting Memberstatus, a ProbationaryMember must wait twoyears and then submit fouradditional knives forapproval by the Board ofDirectors; if approval isgranted the voting mem-bership will then vote onwhether or not to grantVoting Membership statusto the ProbationaryMember. All makers ofhandmade knives are eligi-ble for membership includ-ing both stock removalmakers and those whoemploy hand forging tech-niques (“bladesmiths”). Non-knifemakers are
eligible to join the Guild’sother membership cate-gories; AssociateMemberships are availableto those employed in relat-ed trades, and HonoraryMemberships are availableto those who support theGuild in other ways – typi-cally, collectors.Membership is also avail-able to youth knifemaker-members.
The AmericanBladesmith SocietyAs stated above, the
ABS’ origins go back tothose first Guild Shows inKansas City. At the veryfirst show there, in 1972,bladesmith Bill Moran waselected Chairman of theKnifemakers’ Guild, and heshared a conversation withknife writer B.R. Hughesthat would later bear fruit.Hughes relates, “[Bill] andI were chatting and heexplained to me his dreamof creating a group whosesole purpose would be the
preservation and advance-ment of the forged blade.At that time, there wereless than a dozen practic-ing bladesmiths inAmerica, and this numberwas decreasing, notincreasing, although thenumber of stock removalknifemakers was climbingdramatically.”The following year,
Moran returned to theGuild Show in Kansas City,where he unveiled eightknives with blades of ham-mer welded damascussteel. No one there hadever seen damascus steelbefore, on a modern knife,and it created a sensation.“They were the talk of theshow!” relates Hughes.“Few people really under-stood their nature, but Billhanded out mimeographedsheets explaining not onlywhat damascus steel was,but basically how to makeit! There was no charge forthis sheet; Bill gave themaway.”Moran’s damascus steel
caused an immediate surgeof interest in hand forgingfor the simple reason thatthe only way to get thisamazing material was tomake it yourself – and thatmeant learning the art ofthe forged blade. Within afew months, Bill Bagwellhad succeeded in makingdamascus; then DonHastings followed suit.Many more were to achievethat goal in the years tocome.After the 1976 Guild
Show, held in Dallas,Moran, Bagwell, Hastings,and Hughes gatheredtogether at Bagwell’s shop
in north Louisiana wherethey did some forging anddiscussed the need for anorganization to preservethe forged blade. OnDecember 4, 1976, the four
met again in the coffeeshop at the Shreveport,Louisiana airport, andestablished the AmericanBladesmith Society (ABS).Since that time the ABS
has grown to include over1200 international mem-bers in seventeen coun-tries, and has establishedbladesmithing schools at
Continued from page 24
Winter Steel Trade Knife ShowDecember 11-13, 2014
Sevierville Events Center at BridgemontSevierville, Tennessee
Show Hours: Thursday 12 PM to 6 PMFriday 9 AM to 5 PM Saturday 9 AM to 2 PM
Admission: $7.00 for One Day$15 for Three Day Pass $20 for Early Bird Pass
Free Parking for All!See More Details at:
www.bulldogknives.org
James B. Lile, “The Arkansas Knifesmith” served as President of the Knifemakers’Guild and also as a member of the American Bladesmith Society’s Board ofDirectors. He’s pictured here at a later Guild Show. Photo by B.R. Hughes.
Continued on page 26
Page 26 Knife World November 2014
locations in Arkansas,North Carolina, Maine,and Ohio; as well asOstiches, Belgium andBelfast, South Africa. Eachyear several “hammer-ins”(bladesmithing demonstra-tions/classes) are carriedout at locations across thecountry, and since 2003 theABS has hosted an annualknife show in the form ofan All Forged BladeExposition, first in Reno,Nevada and since 2009 inSan Antonio, Texas.
The ABS has three typesof ratings for its knifemak-ing members. ApprenticeSmiths are at the entrylevel; after a two-year peri-od (reduced to one year ifthe maker successfullycompletes the ABS’“Introduction toBladesmithing” course) anApprentice Smith may testfor a Journeyman Smith(JS) rating. This requiresusing a single forged car-bon steel knife of the appli-cant’s make to sever a one
inch free hanging rope in asingle swipe, to twice chopthrough a 2x4 withoutdamage to the edge, to thenshave hair with the knife,and finally to bend theblade to a 90 degree anglewithout breaking.Following this, the appli-cant must submit five addi-tional knives to a judgingpanel for approval, beforereceiving his JourneymanSmith stamp. After twoyears, a JourneymanSmith may apply forMaster Smith (MS) status.The testing requirementsare similar to the JS, butmust instead be performedwith a blade of patternwelded damascus steel ofthe applicant’s make; thefive knives submitted tothe judging panel mustinclude a damascus quillondagger with steel contain-ing over 300 layers, andthe knives are held to ahigher standard appropri-ate for a Master Smith.While ABS members areallowed to also make stockremoval knives if they sochoose, the ratings stampsawarded by the ABS mayonly be used on the mak-ers’ own hand forgedknives – guaranteeing thata knife marked MS or JShas been hand forged by arated member of the organ-ization.Non-knifemakers can
join the ABS asA s s o c i a t e / C o l l e c t o rMembers, and YouthMemberships are availableas well.
Kansas City, Here We Come
Coordinating an eventContinued on page 27
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Knife By Al Longworth
A picturesque Dan Dennehy captured at the KansasCity show. Dennehy, a founding member of the Guild,died in 2011. B.R. Hughes photo.
The inimitable Bob Loveless at Kansas City in 1973, the newly elected ExecutiveSecretary of the Guild – a position now called President. B.R. Hughes photo.
November 2014 Knife World Page 27
of this nature doesn’t comeeasy. It’s been five longyears since discussions of a“super show” were initiat-ed between the two organi-zations, but now that it’ssettled and contracts havebeen signed both organiza-tions are all-in and eagerto see what they canachieve together. TheInternational CustomCutlery Exposition willreplace both theKnifemakers Guild Showand the ABS Expo in 2015,effectively putting bothshows – and more – togeth-er in a single room. Andmake no mistake, theeffect of the combined
efforts will be symbiotic.The initial plans call for
75 tables of GuildMembers and 75 tables ofABS members, with plentyof room to expand thosenumbers if required. It isanticipated that the showwill be laid out in 4-table‘pods’ rather than the tra-ditional rows, and thattable locations will be ran-dom rather than separat-ing members into distinc-tive sections – thus encour-aging more interaction.Around the perimeter ofthe room will be tables forknifemaking suppliers,knife publications, collect-ing organizations, and oth-
ers.Among the featured
events will be a pre-showseries of educational semi-nars on subjects such asknife care, knifemakingtechniques, and knife his-tory. In addition to theawards both organizationshave presented in theirindependent shows, theABS will be presenting aspecial award created inhonor of Moran’s 1973introduction of damascusin Kansas City, tentativelycalled the Bill MoranMemorial Damascus
Award. Also, both organi-zations will likely auctionoff some very specialknives as fundraisers –more on that when detailsbecome available.If you’d like to attend
the inaugural 2015International CustomCutlery Exposition (ICCE),as an attendee or table-holder, here’s what youneed to know:International Custom
Cutlery ExpositionDates: September 18-20,
2015Location: Kansas City
Marriott DowntownHotel contact: 502-585-
3200 (rooms $134)Tables: $300. You must
be a Guild or ABS memberto have a table at the show.Guild members contactCharlie Matthews, 121 Mt.Pisgah Church Rd.,Statesboro, GA 30458,phone 912-682-8103 oremail [email protected]; ABS memberscontact Cindy Sheely,phone 419-832-0400 oremail [email protected]. p
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South Carolina knifemaking legend George Herron and wife Barbara at the very firstKansas City Knifemakers’ Guild Show, 1972. B.R. Hughes photo.
The Kansas City Marriott Downtown, host hotel forthe 2015 International Custom Cutlery Exposition.