Denver Custom Knife Show ~ The Knives

HTMD

HTMD

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Feb 15, 2002
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The Denver Custom Knife Show features work by members of the Professional Knifemakers Association (PKA). The show is held during the third weekend in August and this year was the 17th annual - quite an accomplishment. It was also my third year as the show photographer, an experience that has taught me a lot about what it takes to put on a knife show. I have great respect for the PKA officers, their spouses and helpers as well as all the makers and vendors who make this show possible. Being really too busy shooting knives to take in the whole show, I will not attempt a review per se. The knives speak for themselves. First, some of the show winners:

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A quick comment about the picture above... Never again will I ask the winners to get down on their knees for a group shot like this. It was painful to watch and more than a little grumbling was heard. I fully expect to hear from the officers that it was a bad idea! So... why so many smiles? Fortunately for me, one of the winners decided to help out by telling a joke. May the gods bless him! :thumbup:

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Here is one of my favorites. Ty Montell really knows how to make miniatures. This little trapper has an OAL of only 2 1/8 in. and 1 1/8 in. closed. But what sets this tiny slip-joint apart is its smooth, positive action - just like the big boys! Not a toy - it's the real thing, only small.

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Note the Cape Buffalo horn bolsters on this next one:

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Wow! Buddy.
Beautiful photos and knives.
That Todd Kopp Dagger is out of this world.
I got a chance to inspect his knives at AG's Show and
was very impressed. He's won a lot of awards over
his 20+ year career.
 
Of course there were many fine knives not submitted for judging, brought in to be photographed by their proud makers. These brief exchanges between photographer and maker are always illuminating for me. It's natural to think that when knowledgeable people look at a knife, they see essentially the same things. Well it ain't so. I count on the maker to help me see what they see so that I may (hopefully) better represent their knife.

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On this next one, note the 'squawking bird' filework on the spine. Dare to be different! I love it.

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The above knife is a Hans Weinmueller prototype. Hans was excited because he had just gotten a message that somebody at BLADE Magazine was trying to reach him. He said, "I haven't had a chance to call them back yet but I think it might be about the knifemaker contest." Sure enough, as most now know, Hans won the BLADE Magazine 2009 Sharp Focus Competition. :thumbup: In addition to the recognition ("Babies cry for it, grown men die for it.") Hans will receive a free table at the 2010 BLADE Show.
 
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HTMD said:
The above knife is a Hans Weinmueller prototype. Hans was excited because he had just gotten a message that somebody at BLADE Magazine was trying to reach him. He said, "I haven't had a chance to call them back yet but I think it might be about the knifemaker contest." Sure enough, as most now know, Hans won the BLADE Magazine 2009 Sharp Focus Competition. :thumbup: In addition to the recognition ("Babies cry for it, grown men die for it.") Hans will receive a free table at the 2010 BLADE Show.
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That's awesome. I love Hans's work and my chats with him are some of the high points of the ACKA shows I have attended. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, IMHO! :thumbup:

Thanks for the report-out and the awesome pics, Buddy.
 
Lovely pics, thanks!

I have to wonder though... Fourteen show winners, some for 2 awards.... How big is the show? What should be the ratio? I can't believe there were many fillet knives.
 
Joss said:
How big is the show?
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Thanks Joss. I can't answer your other questions with any authority but I was given a map of the show for running knives back and forth from the photography room - and there were 71 table holders. As far as fillet knives and such are concerned - this show seems to always have a fair amount of 'culinary cutlery' for sale. That's a good for business in general, I think.

I've been fortunate to have done some judging at various knife shows and hammer-ins and in my limited experience it's not uncommon to see a category with one or just a few entries. At a show back in the spring I was part of the judges pannel and I remember asking our senior mastersmith consultant if we were allowed to decline to name a winner if there were too few entries or if the submitted group was not really up to snuff. The answer was "No, you must agree on one." That's fine for laid back local and regional shows, but for those shows who want to really advance the craft, effort will be required to establish processes that help guarantee the top knives in the room get entered to be judged. That in turn will elevate the value of receiving an award.
 
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Hi Buddy,

Thanks for taking the time to share. I love an early morning knife show on a thursday.... ;)

Group shot: They can grumble all they want, but the first impression I got when viewing this was how clear and well-displayed this came out. Without question the 'joke' made for relaxed smiles, but the layout (prescribed by the doctor ;)) gave it a great foundation. Do it again, creaky joints and all.

I am VERY impressed at your willingness and ability to go for a different look for each of the images. This variety shows your skills and gives us a broad range of enjoyments. I see elements of many photographic styles throughout. That's not a slight. That's hard work to accomplish. How well I know.

I love the shot of Mike Mooney's hunter/utility. A textbook example of being able to use a busy background with a 'simple' or plain knife. By contrast, the very ornate knives by Fred Ott display themselves nicely with a 'plain' background. You understand this. It all works. :thumbup:

I really enjoyed the 'squawking bird' filework. My wife, however, has NO sense of humor to see the creativity, and let me know. :eek: She's not the target market on that one. ;)

Thanks again!

Coop
 
Great pictures Buddy! It is much appreciated, as without them, I would not have had the opportunity to see this great, diverse group of knives.

Thanks again,
Peter
 
Love that Hans Weinmueller prototype - really very nice and I'm not normally a big folder person. I was lucky enough to win a damascus/stag folder that Hans donated for the AKCA show last year - really beautiful piece, happy to hear about his Blade contest win!
 
Thanks all, for your interest and comments.
Coop - Thanks also for your observations and encouragement. In fairness, I don't have to deal with the kind of volume you experience so I have time to fool around with different backgrounds, treatments and effects. Plus, with the show right here where I live, I can bring a lot more stuff in from my studio at home and that makes things easier for me. Your consistency and ability to produce a quality product, on location with all the stress that entails and with all that volume to boot... well now, that's what's impressive!

Here are a few more more from the show. Around here there's probably no such thing as "too many knife pictures." ;)

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This one was shown above but sometimes, if I can get the maker to bring their award winning knife in with the plaque, it's nice to shoot them together:

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I'm enjoying this as well. Nice work Buddy. Thanks for showing! I also love the different styles and variations in backgrounds/props.
 
Great images Buddy, thanks for sharing. :thumbup:
Great looking Kopp dagger and glad you posted the last set as I really like the Lynn fighter.
It reminds me of Kevin Cashen's work, maybe it's the damascus pattern and dropped handle.

Doug
 
Great stuff Buddy!!!

I was sorry to hear you wouldn't be able to attend the San Antonio show.... but glad to see you got to do such a service for the PKA show and display your talents! :thumbup: :cool:

Fred Ott is sure doing some cool stuff (he is Michael Vagnino's brother-in-law BTW) :)

Lots of great images Buddy! THANK YOU for sharing!!! :) :cool:
 
Buddy,

Great pictures of some fine knives, thanks for sharing!:thumbup: Would have liked to have been there!
 
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