Blade 2011 Experience

Ban

Ban

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Trip was a blast. Got to see some old friends and met some new ones. Spent most of my time talking to various material vendors. Feel bad that I did not get a chance to stop by all the booths. For example I did not even make it to the ABS side to meet some of the makers :( But I did have the pleasure of meeting Rick Marchand from Wildertools during the evening outside the hotel.

Some highlights of my trip in no particular order.

Seeing old friends from the Busse group and meeting a few more new ones. Got to hang out a bit with Jeremy Horton at his table.

Hanging out with Andy Roy (Fiddleback),Dylan Fletcher (Fletcher Knives) and their crew. You guys are cool as phuck to hang out with. Got to catch up a bit with Andy who is always a class act. Dylan is a crazy mofo ;) One of their friends were like "Is that a V neck" with his redneck accent :D And I am like yes I believe it is! I guess you folks from GA don't wear V necks ;)

Hanging out with Aldo and Rick Marchand. Aldo is pretty much exactly what I had imagined. Loud, whinny, and obnoxious :p JK! Got a chance to handle some of Ricks knives and they are some quality stuff. The guy knows a thing our two about sharp knives. I am sorry that I didn't get a chance to make it to your booth.

Meeting and hanging out with Tom Krein and Lucas Burnley. Showed them some of my knives and got some constructive criticism. I really value their pointers about grinding and kydex work. These guys are perfectionists. Nuff said! Their work really inspired me to push my knife making to the next level. Special thanks to Lucas for showing me the proper technique of cord wrapping.

It was a long and tiring trip but well worth it. I just wish that I had more time to hang out.
 
Meeting you Ban was one of the highlights of the show for me. It was wonderful to collect my knives directly from you.

Your knifemaking is fantastic and I can see many more Banned knives in my future!
Thanks so much mate!:)

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Steven,

You my friend are one of the nicest and most courteous human beings I have ever met. It was such a great pleasure meeting you in person. I thank you for your support from the bottom of my heart. Michele could not stop talking about how polite and courteous you were to me. You were definitely one of her favorite of all the folks we met at Blade. And believe me... she met quite a few.
 
Sounds like you had a great time, Ban, even if you didn't get to make the complete tour :thumbup: Must be great to meet up with fellow makers and share/learn. Great pictures, Steven :) Did all of those go home with you?

Ban, did any of the pieces you took up as trade fodder make it back with you?
 
Half of the knives came back with me including the Tigress. I did not really get a chance to show my knives to prospective buyers. Only pulled them out a couple of time the whole trip when I met up with Steven and Jeff to drop off their knives. I am too introvert to go out to the pit and show my stuff to strangers. But no worries as I will just go down my List for guys who have been waiting to get their knives.
 
The top Santoku is my personal knife. It was the first ultrathin. I did not get a chance to cryo it when I first made it. I did the cryo afterwards and then re-tempered it. I kinda liked the rainbow tempered look and left it.
 
Ban said:
Half of the knives came back with me including the Tigress. I did not really get a chance to show my knives to prospective buyers. Only pulled them out a couple of time the whole trip when I met up with Steven and Jeff to drop off their knives. I am too introvert to go out to the pit and show my stuff to strangers. But no worries as I will just go down my List for guys who have been waiting to get their knives.
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:eek::eek::eek:

I had no idea! I should have tackled you and forced you to sell me one. I'm still tremendously happy with my BT-4.

You've just got to come out of your shell and be more gregarious. You need lessons from Horton, Fletcher, and maybe MikeH.;)
 
Ban it was great to see you again and meet Michele.:thumbup: You wouldnt have to be an extrovert to sell those knives dude.:eek: Just pull em out and wait for people to ask!!!!!:D
 
Ban said:
Half of the knives came back with me including the Tigress. I did not really get a chance to show my knives to prospective buyers. Only pulled them out a couple of time the whole trip when I met up with Steven and Jeff to drop off their knives. I am too introvert to go out to the pit and show my stuff to strangers. But no worries as I will just go down my List for guys who have been waiting to get their knives.
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chickenplucker said:
Ban it was great to see you again and meet Michele.:thumbup: You wouldnt have to be an extrovert to sell those knives dude.:eek: Just pull em out and wait for people to ask!!!!!:D
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Haha, I agree, you didn't have to give me a sales pitch :D

You need a table next year :)
 
Ban said:
Half of the knives came back with me including the Tigress. I did not really get a chance to show my knives to prospective buyers. Only pulled them out a couple of time the whole trip when I met up with Steven and Jeff to drop off their knives. I am too introvert to go out to the pit and show my stuff to strangers. But no worries as I will just go down my List for guys who have been waiting to get their knives.
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Ban, great meeting you in person!! we all hoped you hung out a little more with the hogs but we understand you were with michele and buying materials.

My santoku came out awesome!! NEVER be too introverted to show off your knives! you got mad skills kid!!

see, Jamie would have bought one if he knew you had them....I should have dimed you out to him lol

the busse guys that saw your knives wouldn't stop talking about the thin and recurved BT4!

can't wait until my box o' knives show up in the mail

Jeff
 
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Thanks Jeff,

It was a pleasure meeting you in person. Wish I had a bit more time to hang out with you guys. I had the intention of doing that on Sat evening but it didn't quite work out the way I had hoped.
 
Ban said:
Steven,

You my friend are one of the nicest and most courteous human beings I have ever met. It was such a great pleasure meeting you in person. I thank you for your support from the bottom of my heart. Michele could not stop talking about how polite and courteous you were to me. You were definitely one of her favorite of all the folks we met at Blade. And believe me... she met quite a few.
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Thank you very much for your and Michele's kind words Ban.........It means a great deal to me;)
I assure you Sir the feeling is mutual........

I am looking so very forward to seeing you both next year at your own table. But before that I will definitely be having a few more Banned Blades..........:)

Ban said:
The top Santoku is my personal knife. It was the first ultrathin. I did not get a chance to cryo it when I first made it. I did the cryo afterwards and then re-tempered it. I kinda liked the rainbow tempered look and left it.
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Folks that knife is just fantastic! It has to be a nightmare to grind but the edge it has is sublime!

Ban is working on a new handle design and he had a proto with him in the form of his personal Bowie. The feel of the handle is absolutely perfect.
I picked up a lot of knives at the show but nothing as super comfortable and ergonomic as this. I am looking very forward to him producing this new model.:thumbup:
 
Ban said:
Steven,

You my friend are one of the nicest and most courteous human beings I have ever met. It was such a great pleasure meeting you in person. I thank you for your support from the bottom of my heart. Michele could not stop talking about how polite and courteous you were to me. You were definitely one of her favorite of all the folks we met at Blade. And believe me... she met quite a few.
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+1 :thumbup:

It was nice to meet both of you, you guys are some of the nicest people around.

And Ban, once again, sorry for mispronouncing your name on several occasions, I'm from the sticks so...you know. And thanks for having a recurve BT4 with you, even though I didn't get the one with you, I can definitely see one in the future :D

It was also a pleasure to handle a Tigress, I'd love to take one of those out in the woods one day :D

Oh, yeah, your knives really are stupid sharp. I don't know how you do it, but you have a gift. A scary awesome gift :D
 
"Oh, yeah, your knives really are stupid sharp. I don't know how you do it, but you have a gift. A scary awesome gift "

Thats's what it's all about. I think he will be a future star in the knifemaker community.
 
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Alfaholic said:
Ban is working on a new handle design and he had a proto with him in the form of his personal Bowie. The feel of the handle is absolutely perfect.
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That's good news! Always liked that bowie handle. What new handle design is this knife going on, Santoku or another Bowie?
 
I am planning on mating the Small Bowie handle with a drop point, clip point, and recurve BT4 blades.
 
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