A Personal Thank You to the ABS & Instructors!

bobbywett

bobbywett

Joined
Jul 23, 2006
Messages
1,231
:)I would like to extend a heartfelt "Thank You" to the leadership within the ABS and their instructional faculty, for providing another option for learning the craft of bladesmithing. I am a recent attendee of the 2nd ever "Introduction to Bladesmithing" course, which took place this past March 9-20 at Haywood Community College in NC. The venue is superb! Its location, smack in the middle of the Great Smoky Mountains is breathtaking. The facilities are perfect for the burgeoning knife forger. And the southern hospitality is infectious. I don't believe it was an accident that the 2nd Annual "Great Smoky Mountain Hammer-Inn" took place the weekend before the class began. It provided the perfect primer, salivating every knife forging gland in my body!

The hammer-inn, was like a "who's who" in bladesmithing. with a demonstrators list that read something like this:

Greg Neely
James Batson
Joe Kesslar
Burt Foster
Kevin Cashen
B R Hughes and so on.....

Part of the southern hospitality, was the personal invitation during the course, to visit with Bill Wiggins, ABS JS (key in coordinating the venue) at his personal knife shop. They make you feel like you might actually be part of the knife making community. At any given moment, a JS or MS might just drop by. When I was there, Dicke Robinson, Bill Wiggins, and Fuad Accawi were all giving me pointers as I personally forged a blade. I also watched intently, as each of these craftsman forged one of their own blades and ground it too a work of art.

My instructors during the course were Kevin Cashen, MS for the first week and Dicke Robinson, MS for the second. Once again, I don't feel that these 2 instructors were selected half-heatedly. Kevin is an extremely thorough fellow, providing an in-depth exploration into the inner working of moving a hot piece of steel, brilliant heat treat advice with plenty-o-PowerPoint slides. Dicke, on the other hand is a bare bones, lets get to pounding some steel kinda guy. I forged 10 or so blades under his tutelage.

This combination between theory and practice, is just what the "knife Dr." ordered for the newer smith. My knife forging skills went from a 2 or 3 to a 6 or 7 virtually overnight. And it is all thanks to the ABS and their coordination with a beautiful college community near Asheville NC.

Truly an Opportunity!
 
Sound like a great time and learning experience. I want to go take the course sometime next year. I hope it is as well put together as the one you went to.

-frank
 
It should be a great time for you Frank. The college has both coal and gas forges and a mess of anvils in the forging room. The grinding room has 6 Bader III grinders, all tricked out with tons of various grit belts. There is a nice quiet classroom at the other end of the building, perfect for taking notes and watching presentations. If you go ask Bill Wiggins to set up an appointment with Kane & Sons, Blacksmith Depot. They have a tremendous selection of tools for Bladesmiths. I picked up 3 Hammers & a pair of tongs for about $60.

The people are just wonderful down there. And there is a lot to see and do...The Biltmoore Estate, Indian reservation & Casino, & Blue Mt. Parkway are all close by.

I didn't head to any of those destinations however.....my head was actually hurting with all of the information I was trying to adsorb. When I was over at Bill Wiggins shop, they "tricks of the trade" were coming at me from every angle all day long. I had to take time to remember to breathe.
 
Which hammers and tongs did you get at the blacksmith depot. I am currently looking to order those tools pretty soon. Thanks.

-frank
 
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I picked up a german 1200 gram, german 300, gram, and a french 1200gram. I also picked up a pair of square tongs.
 
That blade turned out beautiful Fuad. What material is the guard made from? What are the over all specs?

Here are a couple more pics from the 2nd Annual Great Smoky Mountain Hammer-Inn. And Your blade in the rough, at Bill Wiggins shop.

I'm working on a Big-ole-Chopper right now....pricing out grinding belts....I'll post a picture of the forged out blade soon.

Bob

Hershey, PA

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Hi Bob,

The guard is bronze that I treated to look like copper. The blade is 7" and the knife is 11.75" overall. Clay hardened, Kingwood (Rosewood) handle with a tung oil finish,O-1 pin domed and polished. It started off as an upswept full tang, and ended up a drop point stick tang. I just thought it looked better that way. It'll be one of the knives on my table at Blade Atlanta.

Cheers,
Fuad
 
Hi Bob,

Just saw this thread. Thanks for posting it !!! I enjoyed getting to meet you and spend a couple weeks with you. Are you going to make it to Atlanta? Did you notice how much better looking I am than Fuad?

Bill
 
It's amazing Bill, you've got the same problem I do....too good looking to be any damn good at all! Ha Ha! Really though, it was a blast down in your neck of the woods and I'll recommend it till the cows come home. You were a gracious host and as I've told you before, quite an ambassador for the ABS and there new initiatives in NC.

I'm sorry to say that I'll not be able to make the Blade Show in Atlanta this year (love too...money is tight). I'm thinking that as I am laid off through July, that I'll be making a mess-o-knives for my first show in February, 2010. Off the top of my head, I think its the Keystone Show in Lewissburg, PA ($30.00 a table). Just about the right amount of $$$ for a newbie like me.

Let me know how the show goes for you guys, and maybe I'll make it there in a year or so.
 
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