Okay guys 'n gals, we are now closed to additional entries - let the selection of finalists begin!
Once again, a BIG THANK YOU for all the nominations. And a special thanks to those makers who posted up their work - more than last year and that is great to see.
The fun continues with what I think will be the hardest and most interesting part - narrowing it down to five finalists. The procedure will be the same as last year:
1) Each member may submit
up to 7 suggested finalists. You don't have to submit as many as 7, but don't submit any more than 7. Please take your time to carefully review all the knives - a bumber crop of fine blades were added over the last few pages.
2) Please
include the post number where your selected knife can be found, and the number within that post if more than one knife is presented therein - this will help clear up any uncertainty in the case where there are multiple knives by a given maker among the initial entries. For example - a say post number 30 has 4 knives. You want the third. Put "Post 30, #3".
AND DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE THE NAME OF THE MAKER!
3) A number individual knives appear in more than one post. If you are voting for such a knife, it would be real helpful if you made reference to the post where is appears first.
4) Please feel free to include a few words about what appeals to you about any given selection. THIS is what makes the selection process most interesting.
5) When all votes are in, we add up the numbers (each time a knife is put forward by someone as a finalist, that effectively counts as one vote for that knife) and
the top 5 will be voted on by polll in a new thread.
Roger
PS - If anything is unclear, please ask early.
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Here are my votes:
1)
Post 1, #1 - John White Stag Bowie. This is one of the knives that really jumped out at me this past Blade. Just terrific flow to this piece, along with exceptional fit and finish and an exceptional piece of stag.
2)
Post 1, #4 Don Hanson III - Crazy Hamon Bowie - Don deserved mention for consistently having the most entries of any maker. And no wonder - he makes so many freakin' gorgeous bowies! I nearly went for the subhilts Joe posted up, but the outrageous hamon, long sleek lines and killer ivory combined to make this one my favourite.
3)
Post 1, #7 - Russ Andrews - Stag Subhilt. Probably the only thing that separates this one from Keith's superb entry is that I actually got to hold the stag knife. It made a lasting impression. Superb finish (d'uh, it's and Andrews) tells only part of the tale. Great balance and quickness for what is a really big honkin' blade. And those ferrules - each individually contoured to accept a specific cross-section of stag - reflect the kind of attention to detail for which Russ is justifiably famous.
4)
Post 5, #1 - Josh Smith Damascus Dogbone - Not merely one of my favourite bowies, but one of my favourite knives of 2008. Such complexity perfectly rendered. Such a beautiful combination of materials. Man, I love this knife! Josh's Searles bowie alse deserves honourable mention, but my vote goes to the dogbone.
5)
Post 20, #3 - D'Holder Engraved Ironwood Bowie - Ever since I received the CKCA calendar - which is chock full of ourstanding knives - this one has jumped into my head and won't leave. I don't have much information on it (and I am only guessing at the ironwood) but the overall combination of terrific lines, girgeous engraving and a firt rate sheath / scabbard make for a compelling package.
6)
Post 34, #5 - Dave Lisch Pirate's Choice. Two outstanding bowies in one - what's not to love? The idea of including two very different guards in a take-down bowie tsrikes me as brilliant, but it would amount to little more than a footnote but for the brilliant execution. The differing guards compleletly change the look of the knife, and each look stands on its own as a gorgeous bowie. Wow.
7)
Post 60, #1 Harvey Dean Damascus El Diablo Fighter - I saw the first El Diablo Harvey ever did at the SOS show several years back. It was a much more plain stag and carbon steel version, but the lines positively screamed that he had hit one out of the park design-wise. Since then, we have seen some much more elaborate pieces - such as the one posted here by STeven. But again, the lines speak. Plus, since the world stops turning for a second or two on those rare occasions STeven posts up one of his own knives, that staggering event deserves to be acknowledged.
It was tough getting down to "only" 7 - good luck to you all!
Roger
:thumbup:
