Blade Show 2017 - Who Is Going?

Great pics and scores everyone. Thanks for sharing for those of us that couldn't make it. Love that bear cub and the lanyard tube!
 
Kal-El said:
Alright, I'll get this train moving.
Let me first begin by saying how great it was to meet up with all of the old, familiar faces this year as well as getting to know some new forum friends too. And yes, I owe Bob a dollar!
This year was a last minute trip to Bladeshow for me. In order to make it, I really had to hustle up to the last minute to finish a project I was working on. This equated to a seemingly out-of-body experience for me walking around at the show. It didn't help that a couple of good 'ole friends, (Peter, Phil) and I decided to get in line at the wee early hours of Friday morning with all of the other Bladeshow maniacs. :eek: BTW, what is this Lucky 13 thing?

In all, I had a great time. I have to admit that I got in a little trouble early with a surprising blade score that virtually slashed my Bladeshow budget. Unfortunately from there on out, I had to be very frugal with my remaining show funds. I missed out on a stellar Fiddleback that I sincerely regret passing on. Andy and Phillip, you know the one! I did however, score an elusive Fiddleback design that I've pictured below :thumbsup:. I'm really diggin' this thing.

Now, just a quick shout out to all of the guys and gals I had the pleasure of hanging out or talking with this year. Phil, Peter, Justen, Bob, Rob, Carl, Whitty and those whom I've forgot to mention. And as always, thanks to the crew of Andy, Phillip, Kyle, Dylan, Allen and Chris for all that you do.
Sorry I missed the get together on Saturday night. The Mrs. had different plans for the evening :(. That was the cost of going to the show at the very last minute. Next year though!

Here are my fixed blade scores from the show. I went home with 2 folders as well. One on order, the other not pictured.

From Left to Right: Liam Hoffman Chef knife!!! :eek: (Aka, Budget Killer!), Jeremy Spake Puukko, Nathan Carothers EDC and... BOOM! a Fiddleback Forge Hidden Tang Sylvrfalcn!

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Very nice haul Kal-El Kal-El !!! Great to see a Jeremy Spake Puukko going to a good home. He does very nice work indeed!!
 
Warrior108 said:
White accouterments (lanyard tube and pins) ?? This is closer to the definition of "tuxedo" for me :):thumbsup:

Very nice scores Phil and thanks for sharing!
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You got it right Jerry. This is the first and only white bullseye tube (so far.) I had the same thought as you when I first saw this color combo. I call it "Formal Tuxedo."

There is a little back story that gives this knife special meaning to me. A couple of years ago back when Ken still worked at the shop, we got into a PM discussion about available colors for pins and tubes. I asked Ken if white pins and tubes were available. He said "yes" to white pins and "no" to white tubes. He explained to me that the natural micarta and black carbon fiber tube materials we see on all our Fiddlebacks are made by a large manufacturing company who wraps or winds the material around long mandrels to form long tube stock. This manufacturer only offers natural and black tubes - no white.

I was not ready to give up on this idea, so I told Ken that I would find a way to get some white tubes machined for them to try. I thought this would be an easy project since I work for an aerospace machining & grinding job shop. The problem I faced there was that we machine high hardness steel parts and changing out a machine to run plastic type material would require two expensive complete tear down and clean-out operations to do a little prototype run. This didn't make good business sense, so the project went dormant for two years.

In April of this year, I noticed a manual lathe in our maintenance department that was used occasionally for replacement parts or short runs of tooling. I asked one of the maintenance guys to show me how to run the lathe so I could come in on a day off and try to make the white tubes myself. I cut the 1/2" diameter material into 2" lengths to have some tailstock to chuck on. I drilled and reamed the ID to size, then single-point turned the OD. Next was cutting the tube portion off the tailstock and performing a final deburr.





I ended up with 24 prototypes to send to Andy to play around with.



In the end this was a fun project that allowed me to learn how to run a machine. I felt good finally fulfilling a two year old promise to Ken even though he no longer works at Fiddleback. Andy thanked me for the surprise package with the tubes and we discussed how I made them. Andy told me that he would make them a different way that would be better suited to their production processes if they decided to do something similar in the future. I am not sure if any more of the white tube prototypes will ever be used in production. That is why this Bourbon Street Skinner will always be special to me.

Speaking of Ken, I was very happy that Ken made it to Blade this year. I told him this story to close the loop on our old conversation. He is doing very well.

(L to R: Andy, my wife Melissa, Dylan, me, Ken)



Thanks again Andy!

Phil
 
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Warrior108 said:
White accouterments (lanyard tube and pins) ?? This is closer to the definition of "tuxedo" for me :):thumbsup:

Very nice scores Phil and thanks for sharing!
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I've often wondered where the hell I got tuxedo out of a brown and black handle scale set.
 
Kal-El said:
Very cool! I just saw his IG post about it. Yes, super nice guy and makes a heck of a blade! Here's my Bladeshow score from Jeremy:
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i remember it.
sweet knife for sure

he brought some knives by today. i tried like heck to get him to take an order for a knife. (It was a little tiny thing with a groove down the middle of the handle for a pinch grip.) No Luck:(
 
VANCE said:
i remember it.
sweet knife for sure

he brought some knives by today. i tried like heck to get him to take an order for a knife. (It was a little tiny thing with a groove down the middle of the handle for a pinch grip.) No Luck:(
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Yeah, he's closed his books for a while to catch up. Next year at Blade though :thumbsup:
That's a cool little knife BTW
 
While Blade Show 2017 is now history, the excitement & memories do live on. It's hard to put into words what it was like to spend 9 hours waiting in the VIP line with Phil & Sergio. All I can say is that getting up at 2:30 AM to hit the VIP line at Blade Show is a true male bonding experience. Looking back, it gave us plenty of opportunity to refine our individual first strike strategies, and solve most of the world's challenges to boot. Coffee never tasted so good !

I'd like to take this opportunity to express my personal appreciation to Andy & the entire Fiddleback Crew, along with Chris & Dylan for putting together one hell of a good show along with their good humor & southern hospitality. Special props to Phillip for taking the time to dig through the numbered dog tags to find that special "52" tag ,and for Andy offering up his chair to give my wife a chance to rest her weary legs.

Unfortunately my wife & I both picked up a nasty cold at some point during the show & we've been under the weather for the past 5 days. Last night was the first night we were able to sleep without experiencing rib busting coughing fits. A very special thanks to Phil & his lovely wife Melissa for taking such good care of us during our extended cabin stay here in the North Georgia mountains. While our shared experience wasn't filled with rugged adventure, my hope is that it offered a welcome opportunity to kick back & relax in a beautiful environment.

I'm going to wait till I get home next week before posting individual photos. For now, here is a group shot of my personal Blade Show haul, and yes, the brightly colored OTF Microtech's were my wife's idea. That's what happens when you spend time in the VIP ticket line with the head attorney from Microtech. I'd have to say that along with his legal counsel, he was a pretty good salesman:

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prom52 said:
While Blade Show 2017 is now history, the excitement & memories do live on. It's hard to put into words what it was like to spend 9 hours waiting in the VIP line with Phil & Sergio. All I can say is that getting up at 2:30 AM to hit the VIP line at Blade Show is a true male bonding experience. Looking back, it gave us plenty of opportunity to refine our individual first strike strategies, and solve most of the world's challenges to boot. Coffee never tasted so good !

I'd like to take this opportunity to express my personal appreciation to Andy & the entire Fiddleback Crew, along with Chris & Dylan for putting together one hell of a good show along with their good humor & southern hospitality. Special props to Phillip for taking the time to dig through the numbered dog tags to find that special "52" tag ,and for Andy offering up his chair to give my wife a chance to rest her weary legs.

Unfortunately my wife & I both picked up a nasty cold at some point during the show & we've been under the weather for the past 5 days. Last night was the first night we were able to sleep without experiencing rib busting coughing fits. A very special thanks to Phil & his lovely wife Melissa for taking such good care of us during our extended cabin stay here in the North Georgia mountains. While our shared experience wasn't filled with rugged adventure, my hope is that it offered a welcome opportunity to kick back & relax in a beautiful environment.

I'm going to wait till I get home next week before posting individual photos. For now, here is a group shot of my personal Blade Show haul, and yes, the brightly colored OTF Microtech's were my wife's idea. That's what happens when you spend time in the VIP ticket line with the head attorney from Microtech. I'd have to say that along with his legal counsel, he was a pretty good salesman:

DSC01336_zpskfoyg5ht.jpg
Click to expand...
Peter,
I'm sorry to hear that you and Susan were under the weather. That surely put a wrinkle in your cabin plans, but glad you're feeling better. Phil told me that next year the plan is to situate ourselves in line a bit earlier. Around 1:00am! Hope this won't interfere with any hairstyling techniques :p Just kidding. He said no such thing.
All I can say is WOW! I hadn't realized the sum of your haul until now. Where do I begin? Well, lets just start with the rare Fiddleback. Not too many custom productions coming around anymore. Nice score.
Why didn't I think of having you or Phil grab a light chopper for me at Nathan's table? :(
Is that a Warthog with the white pins? Nice blade!
I see we both couldn't resist the new Insigno blade on the Chris Reeve. I'll have to wait a short while for mine though.
And ohhhh, the Shirogorov :thumbsup: Thanks for letting me handle that one. So smooth.

Again Peter, what an impressive Bladeshow haul. Glad we got some time to spend together and I'm already looking forward to next year. 1:00am right? ;)

Take care,
Sergio
 
Kal-El said:
Very cool! I just saw his IG post about it. Yes, super nice guy and makes a heck of a blade! Here's my Bladeshow score from Jeremy:
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Wow Sergio, your Jeremy Spake Puukko is absolutely gorgeous. Between that and the stunning Liam Hoffman chef knife shown on the previous page, you scored two of the nicest knives I saw at the whole show. Superb quality, not quantity, has always been your theme.

It was a privilege to hang out with you before and during the show. You bring sophistication to our little rag-tag group of friends.

Well done Amigo! :thumbsup:

Phil
 
Here is a solo shot of the custom production Kephart w/ regrind that I found hiding out in the batch of Fiddleback's at the Fiddleback Outpost table. I must have handled this knife 4 times on various rotations through the show. I kept coming back to it based on the way the handle melted into my hand. With the custom regrind, I have a feeling this knife is going to function like a laser in the field:

DSC01452_zpsruqyw35f.jpg
 
Kal-El said:
Peter,
I'm sorry to hear that you and Susan were under the weather. That surely put a wrinkle in your cabin plans, but glad you're feeling better. Phil told me that next year the plan is to situate ourselves in line a bit earlier. Around 1:00am! Hope this won't interfere with any hairstyling techniques :p Just kidding. He said no such thing.
All I can say is WOW! I hadn't realized the sum of your haul until now. Where do I begin? Well, lets just start with the rare Fiddleback. Not too many custom productions coming around anymore. Nice score.
Why didn't I think of having you or Phil grab a light chopper for me at Nathan's table? :(
Is that a Warthog with the white pins? Nice blade!
I see we both couldn't resist the new Insigno blade on the Chris Reeve. I'll have to wait a short while for mine though.
And ohhhh, the Shirogorov :thumbsup: Thanks for letting me handle that one. So smooth.

Again Peter, what an impressive Bladeshow haul. Glad we got some time to spend together and I'm already looking forward to next year. 1:00am right? ;)

Take care,
Sergio
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Sergio:

I'm beginning to think that Phil spiked the coffee with some type of knife aphrodisiac based on how heavy my pack began to get by late Friday.
As for next year, if we do shoot for a 1:00 am start time I suggest we all shave our heads the night before to avoid any early morning hair styling challenges. What the heck, if Phillip can do it & Chris can do it we should be able to pull it off.......yikes !

The OK&T with the white pins is a Trail Hand. Aside from the white pins chris also added a violet liner w/ white pin stripes. It certainly caught my wife's attention. Speaking of wives, how many new purses did your wife purchase while you were cruising the show floor ?

You are so right about the Shiro. The action on that flipper is the smoothest I've ever felt. It's also cool that it was made with Florida Gator colors.

I'm glad that you, Phil & I all own the new natural micarta Insigno CRK's........how fitting, brothers in arms !

Peter
 
prom52 said:
Sergio:

I'm beginning to think that Phil spiked the coffee with some type of knife aphrodisiac based on how heavy my pack began to get by late Friday.
As for next year, if we do shoot for a 1:00 am start time I suggest we all shave our heads the night before to avoid any early morning hair styling challenges. What the heck, if Phillip can do it & Chris can do it we should be able to pull it off.......yikes !

The OK&T with the white pins is a Trail Hand. Aside from the white pins chris also added a violet liner w/ white pin stripes. It certainly caught my wife's attention. Speaking of wives, how many new purses did your wife purchase while you were cruising the show floor ?

You are so right about the Shiro. The action on that flipper is the smoothest I've ever felt. It's also cool that it was made with Florida Gator colors.

I'm glad that you, Phil & I all own the new natural micarta Insigno CRK's........how fitting, brothers in arms !

Peter
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Why do you think I only drank one cup? :p
And, shave our heads? Hmm, I think I'll get by with a little bed head instead.

As far as the wife goes, it wasn't purses this year, it was JEWELRY!! She spotted a grail necklace of hers at a very evil place called Chanel :( Her response was.. "Uh, and how much was that Chefs knife?" All I could do at that point was shake my head.

I wasn't sure if you mentioned which color you guys went with on the Inkosi's. Cool deal. I liked the natural better as well :thumbsup:

Sergio
 
The VIP passes get you in two hours before the actual doors open. But people start lining up way before that happens. Obviously way way before!
 
prom52 said:
Here is a solo shot of the custom production Kephart w/ regrind that I found hiding out in the batch of Fiddleback's at the Fiddleback Outpost table. I must have handled this knife 4 times on various rotations through the show. I kept coming back to it based on the way the handle melted into my hand. With the custom regrind, I have a feeling this knife is going to function like a laser in the field:

DSC01452_zpsruqyw35f.jpg
Click to expand...

Pretty sweet. Who did the regrind?
 
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