Back from Josh's hammer-in

Keith Montgomery

Keith Montgomery

Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
29,205
Well, I'm back. It is going to take me a day or two to go over my notes. I will give as full a report as I can once I've put everything together.
 
It was a pleasure to finally meet ya Keith. Its funny it seems like we've known each other for years. The forums are like that.
 
What Bruce said, Keith. It was great to meet you.
Glad to hear you got home safely.
 
...and that's why we value these events and shows so much. Meeting in person was great. Really looking forward to your review, Keith. You engaged in the seminars. I had a different vantage point on the weekend.

Coop
 
It was great meeting you guys as well. Coop is right. It is important to meet people face to face. You get a whole new aspect on who they are, and what they are like.

To everybody out there that is reading this, please take in at least one of these events. You will gain a great deal of respect for what makers go through in the making of a knife. Over the years there have have been a great many comments posted that custom knives cost more than they should. When the materials that go into a knife only cost X amount of dollars, why should a knife cost more than Y? When you get a chance a chance to see what goes into the making of knives you will no longer think that. If you are like me, you will come away with the exact opposite impression. How in the world can they put all that blood, sweat and tears into every knife and sell them for the prices they do? Taking in one of these events will give you a whole new respect for what makers go through.

By the way, this is the third hammer-in/symposium that I have been to, and I have come way with something more from each one. There are definitely more of these events in my future.
 
...the other night, looked like a blast :thumbup:

Keith, Edna and I are just southeast of Kalispell now, off Hwy 35, half way to Bigfork...next time you're down this way, do stop in, eh? :cool:

Shel
 
Melvin-Purvis said:
...the other night, looked like a blast :thumbup:

Keith, Edna and I are just southeast of Kalispell now, off Hwy 35, half way to Bigfork...next time you're down this way, do stop in, eh? :cool:

Shel
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I'll do that. Kalispell is located in a beautiful part of the state.
 
I've been flipping through these threads, and as I expected, EVERYBODY had a great time!!!

REALLY SORRY I missed 'ya Keith!!!

We got a new boss at work as of June 18, and not only would he not give me Friday off (which I put in for a LONG time ago) he forced me to work over on a break-down until 10pm Friday and then come in Saturday morning.

I'm upset about it, but there wasn't much I could do other than quit. Which I did consider! :grumpy:

I'm glad you made it down and got to experience a hammer-in put on so well as Josh does and with such high caliber makers in attendance!!! :D :thumbup: :cool:
 
Sounds like Josh's hammer in will have to be added to
my anual "Must" list....fantastic learning opportunity.
 
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I am going to need more than one post to present you guys with my mini-knife show/hammer-in experience. Here's part one.

On Thursday evening I packed up the car an started my drive to Frenchtown, Montana (just outside Missoula). I had been excited for quite awhile about attending this event, but wasn't looking forward to the twelve hour drive. My plans on arriving early enough to see Erik Fritz take his JS performance test were dashed when I hit the border at 4:00AM and found out the Carway crossing is closed from 11:00PM to 7:00AM. I got the chance to get three hours sleep, but would have preferred to be able to drive straight through.

Montana highway 89 is a beautifully scenic route through mountains, but the road is so twisty that you can't make very good time. Not only is it twisty, but it also has no shoulders, few if any guards rails, and many places where you would drop hundreds of feet if you went over the edge. The road is also not on very good condition. If you are planning to travel from Alberta to Montana, or vice versa, and you are in a hurry, don't take this route.

The trip took me through Kalispell. Nestled between mountains and surrounded by lakes, it is a beautiful area. If you every get the chance, visit this Kalispell.

The trip took just about fifteen hours. I was beat by the time I got there at 1:00 PM, but was going to use every minute to enjoy my experience, so there was no time to have a nap.

Next post will be my what I got to do and see on Friday, the day of the mini- knife show.
 
I look forward to reading more!! It sounds like everyone who attended this had a great time!! I am sorry you got stuck for 3 hours.
 
Friday at Josh's was basically a chance to meet folks and to get to see a special cannon that shoots bowling balls (ten pin) in operation.

Seeing the cannon was a blast (pun intended). It was fired three times. The first time was with a half pound charge. When the cannon went off there was it was lound and I was able to follow the path of the bowling ball. It went a heck of a lot farther than I had anticipated. The second time the cannon was loaded with a one pound charge and there was much more noise and smoke. This time I followed the ball for awhile, but eventually lost it. Those that did see it said it went quite a bit farther into the hills that were at least a half mile behind Josh's place. The third time had a one and a half pound charge. Even though I new it was coming, when the cannon went off i jumped a bit. The noise was incredible. The cannon jumped off the ground a bit and the steel support at the back was bent quite a bit. This time I see the ball's path at all, but I could hear it. It flew for an incredibly long time and I bet it went right over the hill.

There was also an attempt to send an anvil into the air using a charge, but this didn't work. It probably only went up about six to eight feet.

After the failed attempt with the anvil it was time to get ready and head to the knife show that was being held in Missoula, about fifteen mile away. The location was called LA Design and was an art gallery/studio that also had a lot of antiques. The show was in a room that was on the second floor that had been totally redecorated for this event. It looked great. There was a nice little balcony area that became very popular later on because of how hot things got inside the main room. The makers got particularly hot because they were required to wear jackets.

Dinner was great and was and I would really thank Josh's mom, dad, wife and a young lady, who I am embarrased to say I have forgotten her connection to Josh, for all the work they put into preparing and presenting the dinner, and cleaning up after it was over. A great job was done by all.

The knives for the show were laid out on a small cabinet for all to see. They were from five makers: Harvey Dean, Rick Dunkerly, Larry Fuegen, Tim Hancock and Josh Smith. Harvey had a nice stag handles fighter, an amber stag handled hunter and beautiful slipjoint folder with a mammoth ivory handle. Rick had three beautiful locking folders, and a coffin shaped, wood display box that had wonderful workmanship. Larry had that dragon folder, a beautiful lockback folder and a stunning bowie. Tim's knives were a dogbone handled bowie, an elephant ivory handled hunter and another hunter with an absolutely stunning sheath. Josh had couple of great looking folders, a dogbone handled bowie and an ivory handled takedown hunter that had an ivory handled takedown tool. All the knives were outstanding, with my two favorites being Larry's bowie and Josh's takedown hunter.

How people got a chance to purchase knives was that they would write on small card that they were provided with, which knives they were interested in (one for each knife) and they would put the card into the makers box that was on the table. The collectors could put in cards for as many knives as they wanted to, but of course could only put in one card per knife. Then the cards were drawn from the box with the first one drawn being given the first chance to purchase the knife. The collector who had his name drawn was not required to purchase the knife. This could be because he had already puchased his limit, had decided he would like to take a chance that he would get the opportunity to purchase a knife he was more interested, or for any other reason. If the first person drawn decided not to purchase the knife, the second name drawn would be given the same opportunity, and so on until there were no names left. Most of the knives were taken by the collector whose name was chosen first. I know that most of the knives sold and that there were only two or three that were left at the end of the night. All in all, a very successful event.

After the draw was over everyone stayed for quite and while, talked and got to know each other better. I had an excellent time, but didn't purchase anything. That's just not the way I purchase knives.
 
Hi Keith,

Glad you made it home ok. I just got home myself and feel dog tired. It was a real pleasure to meet you and I really enjoyed our conversations. thank you.
 
Hey Keith,

I just wanted to thank you again for all the forum advice.... It was great getting an honest point of view. I think that was the motivation I needed to get my butt online and participate a bit...

Thanks,

Steve
 
Keith Montgomery said:
After the draw was over everyone stayed for quite and while, talked and got to know each other better. I had an excellent time, but didn't purchase anything. That's just not the way I purchase knives.
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To each their own.:o

Glad you went, and thanks for the writeup!!! Good job.

I plan on going next year.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Thanks for your write up Keith, and it was great to meet you this past weekend!

In the interest of not having too many threads about the show, here is my experience - hope that's ok.

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Josh's first Big Sky Knife Show & Hammer-In this past weekend. On Friday morning I flew out of Phoenix, up to Missoula - which turned out to be a really beautiful part of the country, great scenery. A quick drive from the airport brought me to Josh's shop, where some pre-hammer-in activities were going on. A bunch of makers from the Montana/Washington/Wyoming/Idaho area were there, along with other collectors - spent most the day talking to them and hanging out.

The highlight of the day though was the bowling ball canon, which is exactly what it sounds like - thanks for posting the pics and video Bruce! I can't think of one person who wasn't wearing a huge smile after seeing that. There was some other shooting in the afternoon - various rifles and pistols, including a .50 that I think Michael Rader brought. Bruce Bump had another cut'n'shoot - this one a long fixed blade fighter with a tiny barrel on top. Very cool piece, which I just missed out on shooting due to timing.

Once it got towards 5, we headed out to downtown Missoula for the show. Josh rented a really excellent space in an art gallery for the show. The makers showing were Josh Smith, Rick Dunkerley, Harvey Dean, Larry Fuegen and Tim Hancock. Certainly a bunch of very, very nice knives. My favorites were probably a very clean ivory hunter from Tim Hancock and an excellent bowie from Larry Fuegen. Tim's dogbone bowie had a fantastic blade and fittings on it too, though the dogbone overall isn't a handle style I particularly care for.

The most eye catching knife was Larry Fuegen's 'Ripper' that Blake purchased - and has posted some pics of. I don't even want to know how many hours were put into that - the detailing is incredible. Josh's take down hunter was very cool, though my favorite of Josh's pieces - an amazing Searles bowie - wasn't for sale. It is however a raffle knife for the 2009 ABS Expo and I'll definitely be buying some tickets for that one. Harvey's slipjoint folder was my favorite of his pieces. I'm sure pics will turn up of the knives and will do a much better job illustrating the quality of work that was presented.

The show was a draw format, and everyone had plenty of time to handle the knives, and talk to the makers before deciding which ones to put their names in for.

The small, intimate, unhurried atmosphere made it easy to spend time talking with the makers and other collectors. Josh, his family and friends organized a really great dinner to go with the show. After dinner the knives were drawn for, and the show wrapped up.

While I wasn't fortunate enough to get drawn for anything it was still a very excellent evening. Kudos to Josh for putting on a truely first rate show.

On Saturday it was back to Josh's place for the hammer-in. The hammer-in was also very well put together, with demonstrations from 8am all the way to 6pm, with about an hour in the middle for lunch. Highlights for me included Tim Hancock's forging & grinding demonstrations, Harvey Dean's D-Guard handle tutorial and Larry Fuegen's sessions on knife design and carving.

From 3-5pm, there was a chance for makers attending the hammer-in to show off their work, in an informal mini-show. For something so informal, the quality and quantity of work was hugely impressive. Tom Ferry, Bruce Bump, John Davis, Michael Rader, Jon Christensen, Gary House, Henry Torres, Ed Caffrey and several others had pieces to show - most of them available for sale. Some of my favorites included Bruce Bump's fighter/pistol, a Persian fighter that Tom Ferry had (with a unique guard that was oh-so-cool, along with a beautiful damascus blade and walrus handle), and a collaboration piece Tom & Jon Christensen did, a damascus fighter with maple burl handle and case hardened fittings.

Bill Burke was nice enough to show off a couple of pieces he had that were not for sale. One was a very cool straight razor with a mamoth ivory handle that had been carved from a single piece of ivory instead of using pinned scales.

In the end I settled for placing an order, though I was sorely tempted by Tom's Persian piece.

Got to talk to a bunch of people who I either hadn't met previously or only in passing. Around 6pm everyone headed to the golf club about a mile down the road from Josh's shop for dinner. We had a nice dinner and some good conversation. Keith had a short talk about the value of Internet forums for knife makers to wrap up the dinner. After dinner it was back to Josh's shop where three smiths were doing performance testing for their JS. Unfortuantely I was wiped out by this point and needed to head back to town to get some much needed sleep.

The hammer-in continued Sunday morning, but I needed to be on a plane back to Phoenix and missed Sunday.

Without a doubt Josh put on a wonderful, engaging event; one that I'd definitely attend again. The only thing I'll do different next year is schedule a weeks vacation around the show to be able to enjoy more of the wonderful scenery of Montana, maybe do some hiking & fishing and visit Glacier National Park. Thanks Josh!
 
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