You FUNNY, Joe, to quote a certain movie. Good point. I actually started out stock removal some 25 odd years ago, then I started seeing these knives made by BIll Moran in Knives Annual and then seeing more and more forged knives. Something about the way they looked and of course the mental image of the old blacksmith got me going. So finally I got a forge and anvil and attended the Intro class with Jim Crowell and Bert Gaston. That is where the "Two Tall" came in. Since then it has been learning as much as possible and trying to make my knives better. The majority of my knives do fall into the standard "so called" ABS patterns. Why? because I like the way they look. I do some that are not standard just because I want to. As someone who has already posted in this thread told me at my first Blade show, make what the judges would like to see and then when you get your stamp you can make what ever you want. I have never forgotten that, thank you Dan.
Being a member of the ABS and thinking outside the box are not like oil and water in my opinion. I am not constrained to make a certain type or style of knife, quite the opposite in fact with people telling me to go forth and experiment, ABS people in fact. Yes I do now have my MS. One of the most stressful times I have experienced. So what am I going to do? Have fun, make what intrigues me and what pays the bills, and pass on what I have learned. I have had nothing but good experiences in the ABS. Dang! that was long winded for me, I think my fingers hurt. So there you are Joe, my story such as it is.
The rest, as they say, is history.
