- Joined
- Oct 9, 2002
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- 1,419
Gday, GDay to all, I know the Blade Show is coming up, so all eyes will be on that big one. We just had the Australian Knifemakers Guild Show here in Melbourne this last weekend 28-29th May 2005 and it was my 4th knife show.
Show patrons were down in numbers. Folks like Shawn McIntyre, Doug Timbs, David Brodziak are on their way to the Blade show in Atlanta, as were I'm sure, a number of hardcore collectors and purveyors who would otherwise have attended. Nonetheless, sales were on par with some other years. The Show Committee has rescheduled next years show to give plenty of time between the Melbourne knife show and the Blade Show as some makers would still want to attend both shows.
Personally, I had a ball, despite not selling as many knives as previous years. Adam and Terri Parker did a fantastic job in organising the show. I had the privilege of being positioned between 2 top notch makers - folder specialist Bob Wilhelm on one side with his very cool tactically-oriented folders, and the very talented Barry Gunston on the other side. You'll see a couple of Barry's knives in the pictures. He's a retired car designer and has only been making knives for 3 years. Despite his "newcomer" status, his knives have fit and finish to compete with the very best !! He achieves a spectacular mirro finish on his ATS34 and D2 blades. Check out also the pictures of some amazing knives by Maurie McCarthy (1 award), John Jones (1 award) and Alistair Bastain (3 awards).
I was rewarded this year with my first award - Best Forged (Non-Damascus) Knife for a Sheffield style Bowie I forged just 3 days before the show. I almost didn't do it, for fear of aggravating an existing injury, but I'm now glad I did it !! Cynically, I think I won also because folks like Shawn McIntyre wasn't there to put in something more spectacular, and Alistair Bastain entered his knives in a different category.
But frankly, I'll take any award I can get !! 
Here are the pictures I took, which only encompass a small number of knifemakers and their knives. It was busy enough to keep me from getting around to meet and greet everyone. I'm hoping some of the other makers also got busy with cameras and will have more photos to show.
Hold the cursor over the picture to see the name of the knifemaker. Enjoy, and best wishes to all for the Blade Show. Cheers. Jason.
http://www.fototime.com/inv/B7AA505B4882ED1
Show patrons were down in numbers. Folks like Shawn McIntyre, Doug Timbs, David Brodziak are on their way to the Blade show in Atlanta, as were I'm sure, a number of hardcore collectors and purveyors who would otherwise have attended. Nonetheless, sales were on par with some other years. The Show Committee has rescheduled next years show to give plenty of time between the Melbourne knife show and the Blade Show as some makers would still want to attend both shows.
Personally, I had a ball, despite not selling as many knives as previous years. Adam and Terri Parker did a fantastic job in organising the show. I had the privilege of being positioned between 2 top notch makers - folder specialist Bob Wilhelm on one side with his very cool tactically-oriented folders, and the very talented Barry Gunston on the other side. You'll see a couple of Barry's knives in the pictures. He's a retired car designer and has only been making knives for 3 years. Despite his "newcomer" status, his knives have fit and finish to compete with the very best !! He achieves a spectacular mirro finish on his ATS34 and D2 blades. Check out also the pictures of some amazing knives by Maurie McCarthy (1 award), John Jones (1 award) and Alistair Bastain (3 awards).
I was rewarded this year with my first award - Best Forged (Non-Damascus) Knife for a Sheffield style Bowie I forged just 3 days before the show. I almost didn't do it, for fear of aggravating an existing injury, but I'm now glad I did it !! Cynically, I think I won also because folks like Shawn McIntyre wasn't there to put in something more spectacular, and Alistair Bastain entered his knives in a different category.
But frankly, I'll take any award I can get !! Here are the pictures I took, which only encompass a small number of knifemakers and their knives. It was busy enough to keep me from getting around to meet and greet everyone. I'm hoping some of the other makers also got busy with cameras and will have more photos to show.
Hold the cursor over the picture to see the name of the knifemaker. Enjoy, and best wishes to all for the Blade Show. Cheers. Jason.
http://www.fototime.com/inv/B7AA505B4882ED1
