2014 Solvang Knife Show • People, Nordic Knives Shop, Incredible Knives

Yep, Coop, some of the hills are a lovely green, from the very, very little rain we received on the Central Cal Coast a few weeks ago, breaking a hellish dry streak. Flowers even popped for awhile. Luckily, the sunsets in our general vicinity haven't changed. So it will, indeed, be beautiful in and around Solvang.

And for those flying into Santa Barbara airport, just a lovely view of a wonderful little city, one of the many such seaside beauties here on the Central Coast.

And as I post this from my balcony (water, water everywhere, but......), I relish that same lush green (I hope) 75 mile drive for tomorrow morning, to that same Nordic slice of the Central Valley called Solvang. See you all there tomorrow morning. And good luck to all on your "drops"!

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Beautiful photo Bob!!!

Y'all have fun! I'll be headed to Reelfoot Lake tomorrow for 5 days of the best Bluegill, Crappie & Catfishing in the country...:D
 
^^^ Harbeer: it was GREAT chatting with you. Nice company!

Well, I have rarely experienced a knife show with as much positive energy as this one. It was astounding. There were 34 makers, a minimum of three knives each, and from all accounts I talked to, appeared to be a sellout.

This was a different crowd. It's an upscale event to be sure, and those who showed up appear to be just that. There was BIG money flowing. However, there was enough knives of value for anyone. (Tim Wright had $350 kitchen knives.)

Me? I stayed busy before, during the show shooting people, and after, shooting remaining knives. It was well-worth my time to be there. Met Ken, Bob, Scott, Harbeen, Martin, and a ton of others I'll bungle and miss giving a shoutout to. ;)

Had a visit to Nordic Knives on friday morning...! Wow! Dave Harvey and Dan Combs run the cleanest and nicest business in Handmade knives I've ever seen. Dave is so highly regarded in this community (of knives) that the success of this show is testament to this.

Dave hosted a followup banquet and BBQ at the Gainey Winery, which was outstanding. One award given for Best of Show, and I`m happy to report that Dave called up one of my favorite makers for this award: Ken Steigerwalt. ( He brought it to me for a photo. When you see his folder your will also say Wow!)

Im off to a Vintage motorcycle museum, then to LA to visit the Peterson Car museum, THEN, as a surprise invite, I've been invited to stop in to the Loveless shop to meet Jim Merritt and view and chat. (I'm in process of helping with a pending website and imagery)

I cant post anything for a while, as I'm staying in SoCal for three more days, and only have show images on a card.

What a super show this Solvang show is. PLEASE post your thoughts and scores.

Coop
 
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Coop, look forward to your imaging of the show and the pieces. I think your words have captured the essence of the show, attendees and makers. Everything that happens at this invitational is exceptional. And it is so SUPER that you're going to the Loveless shop, way to go!

I'll leave it for others to report further on the show, but my greatest enjoyment in going is for the people. Great to see you again, Coop. Hope you will attend all future Solvangs!

Bob
 
Show was fun, I scored this beautiful Barry Davis folder carved by Daniel Stephan.
Dave
Sorry we did not see each other Coop.
 

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Show was fun, I scored this beautiful Barry Davis folder carved by Daniel Stephan.
Dave
Sorry we did not see each other Coop.
 
Jim, it was good seeing you again. Harbeer, It was a pleasure meeting you, enjoyed talking with you. Really enjoyed the show although it all happens so fast it's hard to get to visit with everyone that you want to, but it was good to see those that I did see.
Joel
 
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Coop, I didn't know you were going to be around in SoCal...where are you staying? you must come by for a pint!

This was my first Solvang show, I have been to a USN gathering, Plaza Cutlery show, and Pasadena show, each one time over the last year. I gained an invitation as I'm a customer of Nordic Knives. If you haven't purchased something from them, know they are a pleasure to do business with.

I was hesitant to attend Solvang as I thought it might be a bit out of my league...but my employer offered to pay for the ticket so that's al the coaxing I needed. And I knew that Terzuola was going to be there so who knows, I might get lucky.

It's a small and intimate show. Of note to me was Matthew Lerch, Steigerwalt, Koji Hara and several others. There were a few Italian makers and one with a real nifty sliding pivot lock, I think it was Antonio Fogarizzu? Tom Ferry was wandering around as an onlooker and we chatted a bit.

Many knives were my reach but I did put in my name for a few. I struck out and didn't score anything. However I had arranged for Michael Donato to bring a Pease and a Howard Hitchmough for me to look at. Howard Hitchmough was also at the show. I ended up buying the Hitchmough and then of course got a a picture with the maker. (pic attached) BTW, Michael Donato is a friendly professional purveyor and also a real pleasure to do business with.

Towards the end of the show I chatted with Timothy Wright, who I had never heard of before. I immediately noticed how sharp his knife edge is. He likes to talk and did so for about 20 mins, from that he offered to teach me sharpening at his place in Sedona, next time I'm out there :-). Check out his website, I enjoyed reading his ABOUT section.

At 1 PM when the makers drew the winners name was where it got interesting and fun. I saw a check being written for $12,600 for a knife and another buyer writing out $11,500 and they both seemed happy! Yes there was big money being spent here. Anyway I was happy with my little $2,000 purchase, lol

I couldn't stay long after the show was over as I was meeting my family close by. It was fun and I enjoyed myself for a few hours.

Coop, where is that pic I took of you? :-)


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Harbeer: GREAT post, you are fortunate indeed. Yes, Tim Wright is a character with a maniacal passion for getting it 'just right'. I also spent time chatting with Tom Ferry. He's found new venues for his talents here. I hope to see MORE from him.

I'm stuck with no card reader and a ton of images on a CF card. Might be a smart thing to purchase for today, as I'm not leaving until the redeye on tues night.

I'm in Cypress, CA in a hotel. I'm going to Riverside to the Loveless shop later this morning (Traffic willing....?)

Dave: I saw you out my 'studio' window but held off on banging on the glass. :D
 
And I am back at the airport again tomorrow morning for a trip to New Mexico for client meetings until Friday. Of course today I am swamped. So a full review (with pictures) will have to wait until next weekend.

But I want to say how nice it was to spend some time with Jim, Martin, Bob, and so many of the makers such as Matt, Ken, Jay, Joel, Emmanuel, Elizabeth, the brothers Fogarizzu, Salvatore Puddu, Moro Corrado, Larry Fuegen, Steve Johnson, Anders Hedlund, Curt and Julie . . . too many to name them all (sorry for any I left out - I am on no sleep and my brain is even more fried than usual). . . and many of their charming and lovely spouses - and I do not want to leave out purveyors such as Michael, Mark and Paul Shindler.

Just time for a few quick impressions . . . on my next post.
 
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Coop was right - the show was hopping with energy and a tremendous success. There were about 180 knives there and I understand that almost everything sold.

Dave Harvey really did a terrific job in putting this all together and thanks and congratulations to him are in order. The **only** thing I would change is that I think the lighting in that room was . . . inadequate. Too dark at too many tables.

For some reason, this website keeps making me break this post into teeny tiny little morsels. They must be using 1980s technology here. {Sigh}

To Be Continued . . .
 
I've gotten a card reader, resized them, and have added these to my Fototime album. I'll post them and edit in names later today.

I took these with my Canon 5D DSLR at 5000 ISO. Ken is correct, it's not that bright. Stay posted....

Harvey's: Jeff, Leslia, Dave, and Dan Combs
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Showroom
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Elizabeth Loerchner
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Dennis Friedly
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Kai Embretsen
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Curt Erickson & Julie Warenski Erickson
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Antonio Fogarizzu
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Dennis Friedly
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Owen Wood
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Tim Wright
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Ricardo Velarde
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Ken Steigerwalt
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Gene Shadley and his wife.
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Mary Jo Lerch
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Koji Hara
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Anders Hedlund and his wife
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Jay & Nancy Hendrickson
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World class knife photographer Hiro Soga (Doing a report for Japan's 'Knife' magazine. Very courteous and supportive to me.)
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Collector
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Mamoru Shigeno
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Zaza Revishvilli
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Barry Davis
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Steve Johnson
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Joe Kious (I had a lot of time chatting with Joe and Warren Osborne at our little hotel. Great guys!)
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Marian & Scott Sawby
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Elizabeth Loerchner
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Collectors
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? & Tom Ferry
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Tore Foggarizzu (He and Antonio F. are cousins)
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A well-known BF presence... :)
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Dan Favano & collectors
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Joel Chamblin
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Bob Terzuola
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Collector
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Charles Bennica and his wife.
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Lunch and resting area...
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European makers all on the right
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Steve Hoel
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Linda & Larry Fuegen
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Don Guild, Carlos Lopez
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Sandee Lobred, Shelley Berman (noted TV entertainer), and his wife.
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Dennis Friedly
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Howard Hitchmough & Virginia Lee
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Emmanuel Esposito
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Collector
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Salvatore Puddu
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Table views
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Tim Wright
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John & Jennifer Young
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Another notable BF member
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Thanks to Harbeer for taking a shot of ME at my working station out in the hallway. I tell you it was exhausting for the intense period I worked, but very worthwhile.
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I'm sorry for not recalling all the wive's and significant other's names. Harbeer has invited me out for dinner tonight. We'll hoist a few!

I have other shots of the Nordic Knives store, but they are on my phone. I'll figure out how to get to them, too.

Keep your comments coming.
 
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