Summer to Thanksgiving recap

I took some time off after Blade to recharge my batteries, work on machines that needed repairs and start refurbishing an Aciera F3 I received in July. That machine is a Swiss made mill considered amongst the finest ever made. The advantage of this machine is the ability to do many different operations in one mill. You can slot, drill, mill vertically, mill horizontally, tilt the table, tilt the head... it is very flexible.

We had not taken a real vacation in several years so we had a nice beach vacation in Aruba with some great friends and had a blast! The beaches were amazing, the snorkeling was great and we trekked all over the island on ATVs to visit the wilder side of it.

Feeling truly refreshed I got back in the shop and worked on some fixed blades I had been wanting to make for a while. Even though I rarely do nowadays, I still enjoy making them.

I also attended several shows: The Gathering (G4) in Las Vegas on Labor Day weekend, the SICAC in Paris in September and the NYCKS in Jersey City in November. For these shows I made knives playing with textures, carvings on the handles and bolsters and new blade materials. I started using a new steel from Takefu in Japan, it has stainless steel layers with a VG10 core. VG10 is similar to BG42, it is a high grade stainless steel. I had been wanting to use since I first saw it in Japan 15 years ago. I have several kitchen knives made with this steel that we use everyday at the house and I can attest of its edge holding ability.

I am now winding down the year, finishing some knives to offer for sale on time for the holidays and taking a little time to relax and go to the range.

Post Blade show report

This year's Blade show was off the hook! It was non stop from the minute we landed on Thursday to the end of the show on Sunday afternoon. The knives were all sold before the show even opened as collectors and dealers tracked me down to get their hands on my knives. I spent the rest of the time at my booth and the Hogue booth talking to customers. It was a great time and we returned home completely exhausted. However there was no rest for the weary because a few days later I was on the plane direction Paso Robles, CA to work at the Hogue plant for a couple of days.
This week has been finally slower paced and I am working on refurbishing a high speed head to go on the new (to me that is) mill. More on a new machine in my next post but for now some pics of the show:

2012 Blade Show

The Blade Show is the largest knife show in the world. It takes place each year in Atlanta in early June and is attended by just about everyone from custom knifemakers, dealers, manufacturers, suppliers and of course lots of collectors. It is a long but fun 3 days! If you haven't done so yet you should consider making the trip to the Blade Show! Come see us at booth #54, right next to Hogue against the back wall!

The location is always the same: Cobb Galleria Center - 2 Galleria Parkway - Atlanta, GA 30339

This year's dates are: June 8-10.

Blade Show website

So what am I bringing you ask?I have made a variety of all my models including the newest one (Gordian Knot) in various configurations like Bolster-Locks, Framelocks with machining, bolsters and a myriad of handle materials. For the blades I used CTS XHP and Chad Nichols' San Mai and Damascus.

Here are a few photos of some of the offerings:

Next week's post will be a review and photos of the show. See you in Atlanta!

2012 Build-Off knife

For this year's Build-Off on the Custom Knives and Guns Forum I decided to design a new model and go fancy. The knife is finished and earned 1st place!
This new design is called the Gordian Knot and will be part of my line up of models. This first one features a Chad Nichols' San Mai blade, a titanium Bolster-Lock with zirconium scales. The titanium frame is guilloché inside and out and anodized. The zirconium scales are machined and heat colored. The spacer material is a honeycomb/resin material.
I'll let the photos do the talking ;-)

Instructional videos

Late last year Chris Crawford spent a few days at my shop filming the making of a couple of knives in order to produce 2 instructional videos: Basic Tactical Folders and Advanced Tactical Folders.

The videos are now available for sale and show in great details all the steps I take to make knives in my shop. I think they are very informative for the aspiring knifemakers but also for the collectors who want to know more about the way their knives are made.

You can find out more about each video and purchase them on Chris Crawford's website:

Basic Tactical Folders

Advanced Tactical Folders

Chris is coming back this summer for more filming..... Stay tuned!

Dang... I am just not good at this blog thing!

I can't believe my last post was in September of last year! I apologize for the long silence and will try to do better.

How about I try and post one time a week? Between knives, machines, martial arts, shooting, eating and all the other stuff I do there should be enough to talk about.
For starter I'll show you my latest Build-Off knife. Like last year's knife, it is a new model. This one is called the Gordian Knot (Google it!). Chad Nichols made me a new San Mai steel with A2 and 420; it is satin finished and blued. The knife is a Bolster-Lock with a titanium frame and machined zirconium scales. I used guilloché to decorate the outside but also the inside of the frame. I think it turned out great! I am planning to keep this new model in my line and make it in a variety of configuration and materials.

 Here are a few pics of the finished knife:

Getting over this summer

I don't know what happened to the summer but last thing I remember was Blade Show! Seriously I took a little time off to recover from the Blade Show, went to the range, trained for a fight (more on that later!) and just relaxed. Then I got busy on my summer projects: I had promised Blade Magazine to write a whole chapter for their upcoming Guide To Making Knives II so I decided to explain how I use my pantograph to make patterns and then the knives. That project took several weeks, between making the actual patterns and knives, taking and editing photos and writing the chapter. I took this opportunity to re-design my Tank model (version 3.0), make new patterns and proof them with a small series of knives. I think they turned out great and so did the guys that were lucky to get their hands on them!

After the book I needed to make a special Tank knife for a very famous movie star who really likes my knives. I swore confidentiality so I can't tell you who it is but I can show you the knife!

Last year I had started making limited runs of some of my very first folder models, the Omega Series. I have already made the M1 and M2 in 2010 and I just finished the Omega M5 series. These knives are based on the original line drawings from my catalogs of way back then but they are made with the methods and processes I use today. The best of old school tacticals!

With the Paris knife show looming in a few weeks; I am busy in the shop making goodies to bring.