Hi guys,
Here's some highlights of the hammer-in. This is Friday's. I'll post the other days later.
Sally and I drove up to Montana for Josh and Jodi Smith's Big Sky Hammer-In last week.
http://www.joshsmithknives.com/big-sky-conference/
We had a great time. I'm breaking up the recap into several parts so all the pictures won't bog down slow internet connections.
Friday was a meet and greet, sit around and talk knives. Here are some pics of the facilities (aka Josh's shop and house). It was really pretty there, especially to me since we haven't had any rain in ages. I was warned about hordes of ravenous mosquitoes, but they only put in an appearance right around sundown. The weather was good, and though it got hot a couple of days, there was ample shade for everyone.
Tim Hancock watching Harvey Dean finish up a sheath.
Makers and collectors were showing off knives:
A really nice piece by Tom Ferry
A fancy bowie by Bruce Bump
The highlight of the day, a gorgeous "cut 'n shoot" by Ron Newton
Wade Colter and his lovely assistant Shane Taylor loading it
The owner firing the pistol. They shot it several times. I don't know if they hit the target, but it made a helluva bang.
After the pistol, the grand finale to the day at Josh's was firing the bowling ball cannon. This thing was impressive. I don't know exactly how far the ball went, but it was a looooooooong way. This was way cool. Even Sally thought it was neat. I tried to talk Bill Ruple into parking his rental car in the pasture so we could see what the cannon would do to it. He has insurance, but couldn't think of a way to explain what happened.
Here's a pic of Josh using a specialized tool to load it:
Josh sauntering away in a manly fashion after lighting the fuse.
At 4:30 on Friday, everybody took off to get ready for the knife show. Josh puts on a small knife show at a gallery in Missoula. This is a first class, invitation only event. There were some of the best knifemakers in the world there. Makers attending included: Tim Hancock, Shane Taylor, Bill Ruple, John Young, Larry Fuegen, Dwight Towell, Owen Wood, Rick Dunkerley, Harvey Dean, Josh Smith, and I. Edmund Davidson was scheduled to be there but couldn't make it. Makers could bring up to 6 knives, but most brought 2 to 3. Knives were sold by drawing or open bid. The event was catered and the food was excellent. It's nice to be able to walk around and visit and look at all the knives without having to stay and watch your table.
John Young and Dwight Towell
Owen Wood, Shane Taylor, and Wade Colter
Ice cold beer was conveniently located. Beer is always important. "Moose Drool" seemed to be the favorite.
Owen Wood and Travis Wuertz
Harvey Dean enjoying himself
Everyone had a great time and a great show.
No pics, but we did notice a few elk grazing on a nearby hill. Being knifemakers, we did manage to track down some binoculars so we could get a closer look.
After the show, most adjourned to Josh's place to visit some more. Bill Ruple and his brother broke out guitars and serenaded everyone. At one point, Josh tossed a huge firecracker behind Bill and scared the crap out of him.
That was about it for Friday. Pretty eventful considering the hammer-in doesn't start until Saturday.
