ABS Fall Hammer-In 2001 Report

J

jeffj

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This past weekend was the ABS Fall Hammer-In in Old Washington Arkansas. As usual I had a great time and here is my side of the story, no matter what anybody else says!

I met Terry Primos on Friday and we had supper together. The next day we all registered and the fun commenced.

I attended as many workshops as I could, but there were too many to see them all. We had a good crowd of folks show up. The first that I attended was the forging demonstration by Jim Crowell. This is the same demonstration that I attended last Spring, but I still like to see it. Jim is very instructive and I always learn something. He makes it look easier than it is as do all the demonstrators.

Next, I hung around the "Smelting Steel - From Dirt to Dagger" demo. <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/DirtToDagger.jpg>Here is a picture</a> of the forge and Furrer and Harley who put on the demo. That forge got white hot! If you look to the right of the photo, you will see the famous Terry Primos inspecting the progress.

Behind the forging demo was a Grinding demo by J. D. Lambert. He gave the ins-and-outs doing a flat grind. <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/Grinding.jpg>Here is a picture</a>.

At the same time, "Damascus Man" Tim Foster, cranked up a forge and press and made some mosaic with the US flag. Purdy stuff. <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/Damascus.jpg>Here is a picture</a> of him doing his stuff.

Charlie Ochs (OxForge) showed all how to forge a Scagel knife. <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/ScagelKnives.jpg>Here he is</a> pounding out the blade on a power hammer...he doesn't really need that kind of hammer!

I spent a good bit of my time with <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/LeatherSheaths.jpg>Kenny Rowe</a>. He gave me all the tips to do tooling on a sheath. You can tell that he has been doing this for some time and he was great to talk to.

One of my favorites, because I think I just might be able to do this, was the "junkyard" Tomahawk workshop. Joe Keeslar showed us how to cleverly make a tomahawk in about 30 minutes...complete with hardening and tempering...and he did! <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/Tomahawks.jpg>Here he is</a> with the finished head and <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/Hawks.jpg>here is another picture</a> of the finished tomahawk. Note the smaller hawk head he called the "mouse hawk".

<a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/Swords.jpg>Here was a shot of Don Fogg</a> during his demonstration on polishing swords. The finish on those swords was beautiful.

At the end of the day, Mike Bell started working the clay on a large Japanese sword. <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/Clay.jpg>Here he is</a> putting the final touches on the tip of the sword. On Sunday, the clay was dry and he did the hardening and quenching. <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/Heating.jpg>Here is a picture</a> of the sword being heated in the forge and <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/Quenched>here is a picture</a> of the finished product.

Sunday after lunch we had the cutting competition and we had a bunch of "cutophiles". This is a new term coined by the master "cutologist", Jerry Fisk. Here is a picture of the <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/Cutophiles.jpg>cutophiles</a> and the <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/Cutologists.jpg>cutologists</a> preparing for the tournament.

Before the competition began, Bailey Bradshaw put on a sword handling demonstration. <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/SwordHandling.jpg>Here is John Fitch and Jim Crowell helping out</a>. Bailey showed the finer points of cutting with a sword.

<a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/Contest.jpg>Now on to the competition</a>. This competition was an open class event where any blade was legal...as long as it wasn't motor driven. After introducing the contestants and their knives, 5 events were announced.
1) Chopping a hard pine 2x4 in half.
2) Cleaving an aluminum can in two.
3) Cutting the end off of a plastic straw without bending it.
4) Splitting a plastic bottle in two while dangling from a thread.
5) Slicing two 1" dangling ropes with one swing

Here are some results:

<a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/RecordChop.jpg>Here is John Fitch</a> chopping the pine 2x4 in two. He set a record during the competition with a time of 3.14 seconds! That's J.W. Randall on the other end of the bench chopping away.

<a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/BoardChop.jpg>Jim Crowell</a> didn't let that slow him down. He has a deep cut going on his first swing.

The most unusual entry this year was a "horse hawk" named "I'm in Trouble" by David Anders. <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/CanChop.jpg>Here he is</a> going after the aluminum can.

<a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/CanCut.jpg>Here's my favorite shot</a>. Look at the can and the water. This was a great cut. The knife is the "Yankee Possum".

Ray Kirk was the returning champion and put up a heck of a fight. <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/StrawCut.jpg>Here he is</a> going after the soda straw.

<a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/BottleChop.jpg>Here is John Fitch again</a>, getting ready to take on that plastic bottle.

I didn't get a shot of the rope cutting, but I did get <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/FiskChop.jpg>Jerry Fisk</a> doing a little rope cutting while we were setting everything up. Look at those lightning quick hands. You can see the end of the rope falling to the ground...a perfect cut.

And now for the winner of the competition with the knife called the "Arkansas Butterknife", <a href=http://www.araneae.net/images/ContestWinner.jpg>John Fitch</a>. This was some tough competition...congratulations to all.

I had to leave early to get back, but I peeked over B.R. Hughes shoulder and saw the score card. Does anyone know who came in 2nd and 3rd?

Jeff Jenness
 
Thanks Jeff. If things work out I hope to meet you next Spring over there. Great review!
 
Thanks Gus. You've forgotten that you snapped a picture of me and GenO at the BladeShow this summer...I was the other bearded fellow. Of course, it was kinda hard to see around that burly thing GenO has on his chin! :) But, I look forward to chatting this Spring, if you get to come!
 
Dang Jeff
Good coverage.
Ray Kirk came in second by only 5 points. He was sure crowding John. Rays score was 30 with the Purdy Power. Third place was Charlie Smale with the Yankee Possum.
John used 1084 steel, Ray 52100 and Charlie used 1084 steel.
jf
 
Thanks for the report. One question on the chopping, any idea how many chops were performed in the 3.14 (!) seconds?

-Cliff
 
I counted three Cliff. He is simply amazing when it
comes to 2x4's :). Kind of a 1-2-3 deal but a right,
left, right, and it came off. I have only beat him once.
 
It's not fair to go against Big John. Look at the boy. Damn, you could beat on him for a half day, before he even noticed you were hitting him.
 
Ray and John take their cuttin' pretty seriously huh. :)

One of these days one of us is going to get John in a picture where he is smiling. For those of you who have not met him, he and his wife are two of the nicest folks you would want to meet and spend time with.

Here is that pic of Jeff and Geno
 
Fellas if you don't watch yourself John will have it cut before you can get the watch started. Ray, Charlie and the other guys did good too, lest someone misunderstand, it ain't easy.There were some blades dinged up, but that is to be expected. These guys are used to pushing the enveope. Cliff, Johns was either 3 or 4 licks, I was watching but not counting. By the way these were real sappy yellow pine 2x4's, a little harder and coarser grained than in the last couple of years. Every year the cutophiles keep getting better. What was fantastic two or three years ago is laughable now. They cut every thing that Greg, Jerry and I can throw at them, then laugh at us. I am beginning to get some kind of complex out of this deal. The diversity of the objects to be cut varies enormously. It takes an all around blade. The guys who set up for one kind of cut are usually dissapointed. These competitions while very informal, give us all a chance to learn and improve our blades. I would like to thank all the guys that entered the competition. Without their interest, ability, and courage to test their blades in front of a crowd this thing wouldn't work. THANK YOU mike
 
for those of you who do not know him John does crack a smile every once in a while. :D

Here is a pic Ray Kirk caught of John and Jim Crowell.
 

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When it gets that close to Oklahoma, it is called "medium" Rob :).

The temperature was just right though to make a billit.
 
Dang Ray, now I got to mop the coffee I blew out of my nose on the keyboard! :D

Larry, I would have thought a gentleman of your stature and education would have called it the "Phallic Forge" By the way, is that a model of poor little Timmy?
 
Thanks for the cyber tour! Looks like a great time there...

Were there any limits on the size of knives in the competition?

G2
 
No Gary, there were none this time. The next one in the
spring will be a 10" blade maximum, 2" wide, 15 1/2" OAL with a tong hole at the butt of the handle. Bowie or camp I think.
 
If things work out hope to see you guys there in the Spring. Sava and I have plans to be there.
 
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