08 Fisk Micro Show & The Small Show Format in General

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Well it's that time of the year again and Jerry's Micro Show is upon us.
Yes, next Friday, Saturday and Sunday a couple dozen or so custom knife enthusiast will invade tiny Nashville Arkansas. This will be the forth year for the show and will be attended by featured makers Craig Camerer, Daniel Winkler and Karen Shook.

It's a fun filled few days of tours of local maker's shops, visiting the old James Black Shop (really recommend taking the tour if ever in the area), partaking of good old down home food, observing various knife making processes, taking part in seminars, handling and buying some great knives and most importantly just enjoying one another's company and having a great time. I'm proud to say, I have met a few of my best friends as a result of attending this show.

This year Bruce Voyles will attend and speak. I'm really looking forward to it as I have never meet him. The idea of the CKCA was actually conceived out of Steve Shankleford's seminar last year.

Past speakers have included AG Russell, Bob Neal, Les Robertson and Steve Shackleford.

Looks like these small format shows are really catching on. Josh Smith was successful in putting one on this past June and there's the Wickenburg Caballero Roundup http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=577468 coming up the first weekend in December in Arizona featuring Larry Fuegen, Harvey Dean, Rick Dunkerley and Tim Hancock.

How do you feel about these small specialty shows?

Do you see yourself ever attending one?

Do you feel these shows will continue to pop up or are here to stay?

Will they have an affect on the more conventional large format shows?

OK, let's see some show knives:

Fisk Forresters Short Cutless, photo by Chuck Ward:
Fisk2008MicroShow.jpg
 
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Kevin,

I think that the small shows are great. They really give you a chance to interact with makers, experts and other collectors in a way that you just don't have at a big show.

I have only attended Jerry's Microshow, but from all reports Josh Smith's show was also a great time. He certainly had some world class makers there.

Because of the relaxed atmosphere and three day format there is plenty of time to meet and talk at length with people who might be too busy at a regular show. You can learn alot from the makers and expert speakers who attend. Attending is something that I look forward to each year.

I agree with you that I have made some of my best friends after attending Jerry's show.

Jerry has made all three of his shows interesting with great makers and speakers as well as tours of the ABS School and the James Black shop. The food is also excellent.

One thing that you didn't mention is that there is an excellent chance of coming home with a great knife from makers who might have lengthy waiting lists.

I don't think that the small shows pose a threat to larger shows, they are just another format. I think that they should and will continue in the future.

Jim Treacy
 
How do you feel about these small specialty shows?

I think the concept is great, and from what I've read of Jerry's past shows and Josh's recent event, the execution has been first rate.

Do you see yourself ever attending one?

Yep - likely some time in '09.

Do you feel these shows will continue to pop up or are here to stay?

It's still a fairly recent phenomenon and as you have correctly observed, they are catching on. I think they are here to stay, but how many more we will see is anybody's guess. The maker / makers involved have to have enough "pull" to attract a critical mass of buyers to make it a successful event for both sides.

Will they have an affect on the more conventional large format shows?

Possibly - particularly since there are arguably too many knife shows as things stand now. However, the fairly low numbers involved at these micro-shows lead me to believe that the impact on attandance at regular shows will be minimal.

Looking forward to seeing some pics from this gathering. Jerry's line-up of knives is quite drool-worthy, and I know tht Craig and Dan will have terrific offerings as well.

Roger
 
Kevin, have fun at the show. What is the thing sticking out from the side of that knife? Don't know if I've ever seen that before.
 
Some questions:

1. How do you feel about these small specialty shows?

2. Do you see yourself ever attending one?

3. Do you feel these shows will continue to pop up or are here to stay?

4. Will they have an affect on the more conventional large format shows?

While I am VERY small time as a collector, some answers:

1. I think they're an excellent idea. I'm hoping they allow for more intimate and extended contact between collectors and makers. That is what I would enjoy.

2. Absolutely. Despite my advancing age, my career continues to consume me ... and that limits my free time rather drastically. :(

3. I can only hope so. I'm not enough of an insider to have a useful opinion.

4. Again, I can only hope so. I do enjoy the larger shows I've been to, especially Blade, but the crush there is pretty bad. I also feel guilty when I monopolize a maker for more than 5 or 10 minutes ... there's always someone else around who'd like to chat.
 
Kevin, have fun at the show. What is the thing sticking out from the side of that knife? Don't know if I've ever seen that before.

Hi Jon.
This knife was designed after a short hunting sword where from a practical standpoint the rounded tab acted as sort of a lower guard to keep the main guard from bottoming out in the boar or whatever game was being trusted into. However as these pieces were very popular with gentlemen hunters, they probably actually served as additional embellishment as much as anything.

Typically, these hunting swords had a little longer blade than the one pictured above.

He's another one Jerry made for the 2005 Blade Show.
orig-3.jpg
 
So these are considered as hunting swords? I always assumed a bowie was for knife fighting and that no one would ever use one these days..
 
Jon,

The tab on the side of the guard served to keep and protect the small knife and fork set that accompanied hunting swords...or hangers as they are known int he old country. When in the sheath, the shell covered the ends of the knife/fork handles keeping the brush from hanging on them and such. It is also where family crests were frequently engraved.

I LOVE the micro show concept.........hint hint.....sometime 09;)
 
Jerry Fisk said at one of the meetings at Al's that the gamesmen that used the short sword would actualy hang them on a branch by that part of the guard when they were taking breaks and such, there is a name for it but I cant recall what they said it was.
 
I think the "micro show" concept is a great one. Im sure we will be seeing more in the future. In my view its a win/win for both maker and customer.
 
Jon,

The tab on the side of the guard served to keep and protect the small knife and fork set that accompanied hunting swords...or hangers as they are known int he old country. When in the sheath, the shell covered the ends of the knife/fork handles keeping the brush from hanging on them and such. It is also where family crests were frequently engraved.

I LOVE the micro show concept.........hint hint.....sometime 09;)

Rusty, the accepted name of the tab was a "knuckle guard", at least that's what I have read.

Here's four 18th century hunting swords. The third sword from the left is an example where the guard is enlarged to cover a very clever knife & folk set lodged into the top of the scabbard as Bailey stated.
As you can see these swords were very ornate and were carried during festivities leading up to hunts as well as on the hunts.

plate-13H-14H-15H-16H_-1.jpg
 
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From his website here are some of the knives that Jerry Fisk will have at his Microshow in addition to the Forrester's Cutlass that Kevin showed.

This is a Bandolero

Micro-08-bandolerofini2.jpg


Next is a Sendero with what Jerry calls a Fireworks pattern

Micro-08-fireworksengbutt.jpg


This is a sporting Bowie

Micro-08-sport-finish.jpg


A Southwest Bowie

micro-08-SWcomplete.jpg


This is a Bushman set

micro-08-fieldset.jpg


Jerry calls this spearpoint Monkey Chatter

micro-08-monkeychattereng.jpg


This is a long Wedgie
micro-08-longwedgiefini.jpg
 
thank you for the post kevin, great pictures and an upbeat topic showcasing some fine knives by a legendary maker.
 
Just for the record, a few of the above knives were not complected at the time of the photos.

I actually appreciate both type of shows as they offer a totally different experience.
I do however think there can be too much of a good thing. There are an awful lot of shows these days. To date all participating makers have sold out at each of Jerry's three shows.
 
Thanks to all of the above who posted the Fisk pics. Man, that Fisk fella sure can make a knife! My dream is to one day be rich enough, idle enough and lucky enough to wrangle an invite to a Fisk Micro show. Till then, I'll just dream about it.
 
You know what I think is the best thing about Jerry Fisk? He's just plain and simple a good ole boy. I consider him a good friend. The fact that he's one of the best knifemakers in the World, to me, is simply icing on the cake. :thumbup:

Problem is, I can't afford anything he makes anymore(not that I really ever could).
 
Having been to the mini-show held by Josh Smith, I can say without any hesitation that there is definitely a place for these shows. Josh's show was incredubly succesful. I think they are here to stay, and that they are a good thing. I doubt they will have any effect on the large shows at all.
 
As it's typical for these mini-shows to only have 15-25 collectors in attendance, I doubt they will seriously hurt the larger show's attendance, however I do believe the larger shows could see their sale of higher end knives decline significantly if these smaller shows continue to thrive.
 
I think the concept has potential, I would have come to Josh's if I had still been in Seattle.
 
Rusty, the accepted name of the tab was a "knuckle guard", at least that's what I have read.

Howdy Kevin - a bit OT but.......
amongst historians and collectors of the originals that particular style of knuckleguard is properly called a "shell" guard - note the shape of #2 and #4 in your pic of originals and the three original sword/gun combos below and you'll see why...
pg-99.jpg


pg-95.jpg


Jerry has done a VERY nice take on the design in those two pieces shown.......:thumbup:

Back on topic - I like the idea of small shows, I've personally never enjoyed hordes of folks all in one place (but then I've long been a misanthropic curmudgeon ;) ) - just wish there would be one or two closer to home....
 
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