Kohai999
Second Degree Cutter
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2003
- Messages
- 12,554
Hit the road to Costa Mesa on Friday around 2:30 pm, and made it in a little over an hour, only meeting the "mystery" traffic stoppage around the Oso Parkway. Valet parked the Dakota, and checked into the Hilton Orange County. Am VERY familiar with this hotel, a number of regional events I attend are held there. Got a functional, clean and comfortable room with a king size bed, and made ready for the Evening of the Cutlery Arts which opened at 5:00 pm. This is, in my estimation, the second best show on the left coast, numero uno being the Art Knife Invitational
The show was held in the Catalina Ballroom, ample size for the crowd. Actually, this room is VASTLY superior to the ballroom at the previous show, which made one feel quite claustrophobic, and the lighting was more than adequate. Ice water and coffee were available for most of the duration of the show at no cost, which was a nice touch. There is an attached patio area to the showroom, making it easy to get a breath of fresh air/nicotine, depending on your preference, without having to trudge through the entire hotel. There was a buffet meal served of roast beast, and pastas, with a selection of sauces...it was certainly adequate, but they ran out of beast rather early, which is a bit of a surprise, as it was rather tough. Alcohol was on a cash and carry basis, with the usual hotel upcharge...around $7.00.
First killer hit of the evening for me is a Bill Ruple 4" Copperhead 2 blade wharncliffe trapper with wonderful amber stag, and filework on the back only, not the blades....ordered it 3 years ago, and Bill delivered. What expert craftsmanship!
Makers in attendance were; Bill Ankrom, Todd Begg, Bailey Bradshaw, Joel Chamblin, Pat Crawford, Allen Elishewitz, Ernest Emerson, Tom Ferry, Dennis Friedly, Stan Fujisaka, Tim Galyean, Wally Hayes, Rick Hinderer, Ryuichi Kawamura, Matt Lerch, Greg Lightfoot, Tom Mayo, Don Maxwell, Ron Newton, Mel Nishiuchi, Ken Onion, Warren Osborne, W. D. Pease, Alfred Pendray, Darrel Ralph, Chris Reeve Knives, Richard Rogers, Bill Ruple, Scott Sawby, Eugene Shadley, Ken Steigerwalt, Strider Knives, C. Gray Taylor, Robert Terzuola, Brian Tighe, Butch/Rainy Vallotton and John Young. Mike Lovett was unable to make it, but sent two knives for show promoter Dan Delavan to sell. Our own Win Heger drew the winning tickets on BOTH the Lovett knives....as Mike was not on the premises, I know that no physical improprieties occurred, but still, HMMMMMMM.
Bill Ankrom-has a great style in both folders and Loveless style fixed blades. He flat grinds them, and hand-satin finishes them to 2000 grit. This is a good thing. The bad thing is that he does not want to leave much room for the aftermarket, so the prices are high. He is an older gentleman and does not feel compelled to change his prices, or work any harder than suits him....this means the astute collector really needs to watch the aftermarket...that said, there was not much left on Bill's table at the end of Friday night. I did not personally converse with Bill during the course of the show.
Todd Begg-had two knives for the show, an all damascus Glimpse, and a bolstered damascus version of the Frontline. My good friend Dan Favano got the Glimpse and reports that he cannot put it down, a study in "fun" and gadget factor....the Frontline was very, very smooth. Interest in Todd's work is high, but U.S.military contract orders have him backed up. Todd is bro, we got a lot of time to fling poo at each other, smoke cigars, mess around in the hotel's version of The Pit, and canoodle with strippers(ok, that last one is a joke, ok, Tanya?)
ABS Mastersmith Bailey Bradshaw-had TWO knives for sale, a gorgeous damascus ladies' style dagger with gold background inlaid handle and deep relief engraving and an ivory handled bowie. I was worried that the dagger was too ambitious for this show, and predicted that it was going to go to a lady, in the company of a male collector, and happily was wrong with the first concern, and correct with the second. Bailey and I hung out for much of the show, talking about design, martial arts, and life. We had dinner with ThorIAm of BladeForums at a Persian restaurant on Saturday, and the food was quite good.
Joel Chamblin-didn't really look too hard to be honest, perhaps someone else can chime in...he certainly makes excellent slipjoints, Just met my quota with Ruple.
Pat Crawford-is a fella that knows his business....what was on his table was a lot of blued damascus liner locks with fossil ivory scales, nicely done, in the tactical patterns, large, with filework and the other usual bells and whistles at reasonable(for the work) prices....that said, there was nothing that left me speechless.
Allen Elishewitz-I counted three on the table on Friday night, there may have been more....couldn't tell you what patterns, but they were mostly, if not all, damascus, with exceptional handle treatments, materials and locking mechanisms...Allen is a very gifted and skilled maker.
Ernest Emerson-International Man of Mystery..Didn't Doc Savage have white hair too? Have Ernest Emerson and Doc Savage ever been seen at a party at the same time?......he has has created and shown great endurance as a brand within the cutlery industry. There were many tactical knives on the table, well crafted full customs that seemed to bring in very respectable figures....but nothing really stands out to me...those slotted screws are an unbearable distraction.
Was really happy to see Tom Ferry, MS at the show...with his addition there are currently 5 of 40 makers at the Plaza show that specialize in full custom, hand forged knives. Tom had six knives on Friday, and sold 4 of them drawings from a box, I got one of them. Remember the subhilt, the fighter(the one I got), and two folding knives. The fixed blades were made from an insanely complex and visually pleasing pattern that is compelling, sculpted blackwood scales, pins, and maker engraved stainless steel frames and collars. The folders of a similarly insane damascus, with fine figural engraving, sculpted fossil ivory handles, with innovative details, construction and basic design...At roughly 3 -3 1/4" blades, one in 4" sized blade, and similar slimness would be welcome.
Tom represented what an ABS Mastersmith is about very well during his first Plaza show. I have known Tom for about 4 years now, and have had an opportunity to watch his work improve by significant leaps.
Dennis Friedly is well known for deep hollow grinds, excellent balance and feel, fit and finish and superb mirror polishes on his knives. Didn't really get a chance to look at much of his work, but had a brief conversation with him, and he seemed like a super maker, and nice guy.
Stan Fujisaka is a well-known Hawaiian knifemaker. He has been actively making knives since 1984, and been extremely influential, regionally and abroad, getting some fairly well known makers started(Ken Onion, and Scott Mitsuoka, for starters) and puts together very slick and attractive folders. Didn't see much of his on Friday night, and should perhaps explain the holes in my observations....
{Shows of this type require serious interest in knives, and solid knowledge and finances to play. You generally cannot afford everything that you draw for, always found it a bit impolite to drop in the box, and not take it if you get drawn, or at least check with the maker, and humbly pass on it.....I haven't passed on any, when I get drawn, btw....so I am looking at stuff that I want to buy, and basically shopping for great knives to keep or make a profit on}
Can say that I will be looking for a Fujisaka pocketknife when they have the next show we are both at. Stan had a little recurve flipper with G10 scales that is sort of burned into my memory.
Tim Galyean had 3 knives....dang the kid is talented. That handmade Lahar that he does is absolutely stunning, looks awesome, flips smartly...nice heft in the hand. He had the Mega Moab or whatever he calls it, had the precision of a well engineered German semiautomatic firearm, a not unpleasant heft, and a strange looking blade..a Junkyard Dog...and for show and tell...the funky Digital knife. It looked cool in the pictures, looks better in the hand, feels pretty comfortable. and a great design platform to persue, but I just didn't like this one. Tim is one of the makers whose work I have been wanting for some time....and there is one on the horizon for me. Thomas from Kershaw introduced me to Tim at SHOT a few years back, and Tim came down to the AKI last year, we had some time to jawbone at the show.
Wally Hayes made one of his tactical Japanesey damascus san mai tanto for me in March of 2007, after I saw his work at the 2006 Evening of the Cutlery Arts. I have cut 1 1/2" +bamboo(green and yellow) and traditional Japanese wara with it, for only having a 8 1/4" blade, that is amazing performance, it looks really cool too. Wally had a nice wakizashi with leather ito that a buddy of mine got, and it was really sweet....Wally had some chisel grind defensive pieces on his table on Saturday, I noticed before Dan threw me out of the room for being in there early, but I had business to take care of with him concerning some awesome changes to the tanto. Hard to do with a crowd around, and his table seemed pretty crowded the whole show. He has a great personality and makes some pretty fine ABS Mastersmith forged bladeware.
What a crazy show! Rick Hinderer had these FULLY titanium handles on his xM-24's. There were six of them for sale at the show, four of them sold on Friday night. It is rumored that there are models with 4" blades, but the one I got has a 4/12" blade. Rick had a fair amount of knives on the table, his neck knives seemed like they didn't get as much love from the fans as the folders, but by any stretch of the imagination, Rick had a great time.
Ryuichi Kawamura- is a slipjoint maker from Tokyo, Japan. This was his first Plaza show. His english is adequate, but required a slowing down of normal speech pattern. He had 3 knives on Friday night, and they all sold....one of them was a fine clip point whittler, I did not pick it up, but finish looked top notch.
Matt Lerch-didn't see him at the show, assuming that he was not there. Ken Steigerwalt had some at his table.
Greg Lightfoot had some clean tactical styles on his table. When I saw him on Saturday morning, I think he had two knives left, one was a folder with damascus made by my good friend David Mirabile.
Tom Mayo-is a knife bud from a ways back. First time I ever met Tom is BladeWest at this very same hotel , when he introduced the TNT knife around 1997. I thought it was a bit expensive back then, but if I had purchased I would have cost a bit less than they do now, lol. Anyway, I have been telling Tom about this Plaza show since the first one that I went to in 2004. He had four knives on Friday night, A large grooved Moran style, a small Moran Style, an open bid Dr. Death with Timascus, and I couldn't tell you what the other one was. I got selected for the Large Grooved Moran. It has a handrubbed Stellite 4 5/16" blade and is 9 13/`6" overall. This Groovy Moran is hefty, and of massive build....and extraordinarily cool. Tom really seemed to be mending well from his catastrophic motorcycle accident earlier this year, where he munched a hand, and broke his collarbone.
Don Maxwell ALWAYS makes a superb liner lock....and I saw some as I passed by, but did not stop, first time for Don, pretty sure it won't be his last.
ABS Mastersmith Ron Newton is no stranger to the upscale show scene, he has been participating in the Reno Knife Exposition since the beginning, and a Mastersmith since 2000. When you think ABS, you don't necessarily think knock-it-out of the park Loveless style knives, but Ron had two fighters on his table with mortise tang handles, hand-rubbed stainless steel blades, one with ironwood, one with stag that were stunning. I ordered one on the spot. My friend Adam got drawn to win Ron's boot knife, with amber stag and damascus that is just drop-dead gorgeous. A nice, unexpected bonus was when Ron signed up for the CKCA on the spot. Welcome, Ron!
Mel Nishiuchi-makes really nice folding liner locks, and the ones that I saw STILL have unfavorable blade-to-handle ratio....I will be looking really carefully next time, and if he has got this under control, will be looking to purchase a knife from him. Extremely nice guy, as well.
I first met Ken Onion at the OKCA before Ken sold the Speedsafe to Kershaw, and became a VERY well known knifemaker...He was a cool guy with a unique approach to knives back then, and he still is. His "Dead Sexy" is just that, a stunner! Ken isn't afraid to experiment, he had about 6 knives on the table each day and the crowd went wild. One of the coolest things that Ken has done since the beginning is price his knives low enough for most initial purchasers to find affordable...also leaves room for the aftermarket.
Warren Osborne-makes as fine a knife as any man I have ever seen. Grinds are sublime, fit and finish is unmatched....designs CAN be a little on the BTDT side, but the interpretations are always fresh. He had a two bladed Duster, cowboy trapper style knife in 2006 at Plaza that I kick myself a bit for not getting, but that is always the risk with a lottery. He had a folding dirk that caught my eye this year, as well as a single bladed Wharncliffe. All the knives were exceptional.
The Reverend W. D. Pease had his usual fantastic folders and a small boot knife that was very finely done. Seemed like he had a good show, but I only had a chance to quickly shake his hand on Saturday morning, and that was it.
CONTINUED BELOW
The show was held in the Catalina Ballroom, ample size for the crowd. Actually, this room is VASTLY superior to the ballroom at the previous show, which made one feel quite claustrophobic, and the lighting was more than adequate. Ice water and coffee were available for most of the duration of the show at no cost, which was a nice touch. There is an attached patio area to the showroom, making it easy to get a breath of fresh air/nicotine, depending on your preference, without having to trudge through the entire hotel. There was a buffet meal served of roast beast, and pastas, with a selection of sauces...it was certainly adequate, but they ran out of beast rather early, which is a bit of a surprise, as it was rather tough. Alcohol was on a cash and carry basis, with the usual hotel upcharge...around $7.00.
First killer hit of the evening for me is a Bill Ruple 4" Copperhead 2 blade wharncliffe trapper with wonderful amber stag, and filework on the back only, not the blades....ordered it 3 years ago, and Bill delivered. What expert craftsmanship!
Makers in attendance were; Bill Ankrom, Todd Begg, Bailey Bradshaw, Joel Chamblin, Pat Crawford, Allen Elishewitz, Ernest Emerson, Tom Ferry, Dennis Friedly, Stan Fujisaka, Tim Galyean, Wally Hayes, Rick Hinderer, Ryuichi Kawamura, Matt Lerch, Greg Lightfoot, Tom Mayo, Don Maxwell, Ron Newton, Mel Nishiuchi, Ken Onion, Warren Osborne, W. D. Pease, Alfred Pendray, Darrel Ralph, Chris Reeve Knives, Richard Rogers, Bill Ruple, Scott Sawby, Eugene Shadley, Ken Steigerwalt, Strider Knives, C. Gray Taylor, Robert Terzuola, Brian Tighe, Butch/Rainy Vallotton and John Young. Mike Lovett was unable to make it, but sent two knives for show promoter Dan Delavan to sell. Our own Win Heger drew the winning tickets on BOTH the Lovett knives....as Mike was not on the premises, I know that no physical improprieties occurred, but still, HMMMMMMM.
Bill Ankrom-has a great style in both folders and Loveless style fixed blades. He flat grinds them, and hand-satin finishes them to 2000 grit. This is a good thing. The bad thing is that he does not want to leave much room for the aftermarket, so the prices are high. He is an older gentleman and does not feel compelled to change his prices, or work any harder than suits him....this means the astute collector really needs to watch the aftermarket...that said, there was not much left on Bill's table at the end of Friday night. I did not personally converse with Bill during the course of the show.
Todd Begg-had two knives for the show, an all damascus Glimpse, and a bolstered damascus version of the Frontline. My good friend Dan Favano got the Glimpse and reports that he cannot put it down, a study in "fun" and gadget factor....the Frontline was very, very smooth. Interest in Todd's work is high, but U.S.military contract orders have him backed up. Todd is bro, we got a lot of time to fling poo at each other, smoke cigars, mess around in the hotel's version of The Pit, and canoodle with strippers(ok, that last one is a joke, ok, Tanya?)
ABS Mastersmith Bailey Bradshaw-had TWO knives for sale, a gorgeous damascus ladies' style dagger with gold background inlaid handle and deep relief engraving and an ivory handled bowie. I was worried that the dagger was too ambitious for this show, and predicted that it was going to go to a lady, in the company of a male collector, and happily was wrong with the first concern, and correct with the second. Bailey and I hung out for much of the show, talking about design, martial arts, and life. We had dinner with ThorIAm of BladeForums at a Persian restaurant on Saturday, and the food was quite good.
Joel Chamblin-didn't really look too hard to be honest, perhaps someone else can chime in...he certainly makes excellent slipjoints, Just met my quota with Ruple.
Pat Crawford-is a fella that knows his business....what was on his table was a lot of blued damascus liner locks with fossil ivory scales, nicely done, in the tactical patterns, large, with filework and the other usual bells and whistles at reasonable(for the work) prices....that said, there was nothing that left me speechless.
Allen Elishewitz-I counted three on the table on Friday night, there may have been more....couldn't tell you what patterns, but they were mostly, if not all, damascus, with exceptional handle treatments, materials and locking mechanisms...Allen is a very gifted and skilled maker.
Ernest Emerson-International Man of Mystery..Didn't Doc Savage have white hair too? Have Ernest Emerson and Doc Savage ever been seen at a party at the same time?......he has has created and shown great endurance as a brand within the cutlery industry. There were many tactical knives on the table, well crafted full customs that seemed to bring in very respectable figures....but nothing really stands out to me...those slotted screws are an unbearable distraction.
Was really happy to see Tom Ferry, MS at the show...with his addition there are currently 5 of 40 makers at the Plaza show that specialize in full custom, hand forged knives. Tom had six knives on Friday, and sold 4 of them drawings from a box, I got one of them. Remember the subhilt, the fighter(the one I got), and two folding knives. The fixed blades were made from an insanely complex and visually pleasing pattern that is compelling, sculpted blackwood scales, pins, and maker engraved stainless steel frames and collars. The folders of a similarly insane damascus, with fine figural engraving, sculpted fossil ivory handles, with innovative details, construction and basic design...At roughly 3 -3 1/4" blades, one in 4" sized blade, and similar slimness would be welcome.
Tom represented what an ABS Mastersmith is about very well during his first Plaza show. I have known Tom for about 4 years now, and have had an opportunity to watch his work improve by significant leaps.
Dennis Friedly is well known for deep hollow grinds, excellent balance and feel, fit and finish and superb mirror polishes on his knives. Didn't really get a chance to look at much of his work, but had a brief conversation with him, and he seemed like a super maker, and nice guy.
Stan Fujisaka is a well-known Hawaiian knifemaker. He has been actively making knives since 1984, and been extremely influential, regionally and abroad, getting some fairly well known makers started(Ken Onion, and Scott Mitsuoka, for starters) and puts together very slick and attractive folders. Didn't see much of his on Friday night, and should perhaps explain the holes in my observations....
{Shows of this type require serious interest in knives, and solid knowledge and finances to play. You generally cannot afford everything that you draw for, always found it a bit impolite to drop in the box, and not take it if you get drawn, or at least check with the maker, and humbly pass on it.....I haven't passed on any, when I get drawn, btw....so I am looking at stuff that I want to buy, and basically shopping for great knives to keep or make a profit on}
Can say that I will be looking for a Fujisaka pocketknife when they have the next show we are both at. Stan had a little recurve flipper with G10 scales that is sort of burned into my memory.
Tim Galyean had 3 knives....dang the kid is talented. That handmade Lahar that he does is absolutely stunning, looks awesome, flips smartly...nice heft in the hand. He had the Mega Moab or whatever he calls it, had the precision of a well engineered German semiautomatic firearm, a not unpleasant heft, and a strange looking blade..a Junkyard Dog...and for show and tell...the funky Digital knife. It looked cool in the pictures, looks better in the hand, feels pretty comfortable. and a great design platform to persue, but I just didn't like this one. Tim is one of the makers whose work I have been wanting for some time....and there is one on the horizon for me. Thomas from Kershaw introduced me to Tim at SHOT a few years back, and Tim came down to the AKI last year, we had some time to jawbone at the show.
Wally Hayes made one of his tactical Japanesey damascus san mai tanto for me in March of 2007, after I saw his work at the 2006 Evening of the Cutlery Arts. I have cut 1 1/2" +bamboo(green and yellow) and traditional Japanese wara with it, for only having a 8 1/4" blade, that is amazing performance, it looks really cool too. Wally had a nice wakizashi with leather ito that a buddy of mine got, and it was really sweet....Wally had some chisel grind defensive pieces on his table on Saturday, I noticed before Dan threw me out of the room for being in there early, but I had business to take care of with him concerning some awesome changes to the tanto. Hard to do with a crowd around, and his table seemed pretty crowded the whole show. He has a great personality and makes some pretty fine ABS Mastersmith forged bladeware.
What a crazy show! Rick Hinderer had these FULLY titanium handles on his xM-24's. There were six of them for sale at the show, four of them sold on Friday night. It is rumored that there are models with 4" blades, but the one I got has a 4/12" blade. Rick had a fair amount of knives on the table, his neck knives seemed like they didn't get as much love from the fans as the folders, but by any stretch of the imagination, Rick had a great time.
Ryuichi Kawamura- is a slipjoint maker from Tokyo, Japan. This was his first Plaza show. His english is adequate, but required a slowing down of normal speech pattern. He had 3 knives on Friday night, and they all sold....one of them was a fine clip point whittler, I did not pick it up, but finish looked top notch.
Matt Lerch-didn't see him at the show, assuming that he was not there. Ken Steigerwalt had some at his table.
Greg Lightfoot had some clean tactical styles on his table. When I saw him on Saturday morning, I think he had two knives left, one was a folder with damascus made by my good friend David Mirabile.
Tom Mayo-is a knife bud from a ways back. First time I ever met Tom is BladeWest at this very same hotel , when he introduced the TNT knife around 1997. I thought it was a bit expensive back then, but if I had purchased I would have cost a bit less than they do now, lol. Anyway, I have been telling Tom about this Plaza show since the first one that I went to in 2004. He had four knives on Friday night, A large grooved Moran style, a small Moran Style, an open bid Dr. Death with Timascus, and I couldn't tell you what the other one was. I got selected for the Large Grooved Moran. It has a handrubbed Stellite 4 5/16" blade and is 9 13/`6" overall. This Groovy Moran is hefty, and of massive build....and extraordinarily cool. Tom really seemed to be mending well from his catastrophic motorcycle accident earlier this year, where he munched a hand, and broke his collarbone.
Don Maxwell ALWAYS makes a superb liner lock....and I saw some as I passed by, but did not stop, first time for Don, pretty sure it won't be his last.
ABS Mastersmith Ron Newton is no stranger to the upscale show scene, he has been participating in the Reno Knife Exposition since the beginning, and a Mastersmith since 2000. When you think ABS, you don't necessarily think knock-it-out of the park Loveless style knives, but Ron had two fighters on his table with mortise tang handles, hand-rubbed stainless steel blades, one with ironwood, one with stag that were stunning. I ordered one on the spot. My friend Adam got drawn to win Ron's boot knife, with amber stag and damascus that is just drop-dead gorgeous. A nice, unexpected bonus was when Ron signed up for the CKCA on the spot. Welcome, Ron!
Mel Nishiuchi-makes really nice folding liner locks, and the ones that I saw STILL have unfavorable blade-to-handle ratio....I will be looking really carefully next time, and if he has got this under control, will be looking to purchase a knife from him. Extremely nice guy, as well.
I first met Ken Onion at the OKCA before Ken sold the Speedsafe to Kershaw, and became a VERY well known knifemaker...He was a cool guy with a unique approach to knives back then, and he still is. His "Dead Sexy" is just that, a stunner! Ken isn't afraid to experiment, he had about 6 knives on the table each day and the crowd went wild. One of the coolest things that Ken has done since the beginning is price his knives low enough for most initial purchasers to find affordable...also leaves room for the aftermarket.
Warren Osborne-makes as fine a knife as any man I have ever seen. Grinds are sublime, fit and finish is unmatched....designs CAN be a little on the BTDT side, but the interpretations are always fresh. He had a two bladed Duster, cowboy trapper style knife in 2006 at Plaza that I kick myself a bit for not getting, but that is always the risk with a lottery. He had a folding dirk that caught my eye this year, as well as a single bladed Wharncliffe. All the knives were exceptional.
The Reverend W. D. Pease had his usual fantastic folders and a small boot knife that was very finely done. Seemed like he had a good show, but I only had a chance to quickly shake his hand on Saturday morning, and that was it.
CONTINUED BELOW
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