Off Topic Gun/knife show madness.

A.McPherson

A.McPherson

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Jan 27, 2012
Messages
2,870
So I’m gonna rant here for a second...

But first some background. Despite what the banner beneath my name says, I’m not much of a knife maker/service provider. I’m an amateur at best, my tools are mostly home made. My heat treats are done in a forge with no real heat control and in a kitchen oven.
My fit and finish is ok. Sometimes I mange to not screw up enough that my grinds are mostly even and the plunge lines line up.

I do not sell my knives. I’ve made 12? Maybe 15 over the course of the last several years.

Ok time for the rant.

What in the HELL are some people thinking!?! I went to a gun and knife show today and looked at some knives. Holy crap.
Literally.
crap.

One guy was telling me proudly that his knives were hand made from plane blades. There were still deep scratches all over the blade, in several different directions with all kinds of crazy facets in the blade and handle. There was a crappy brass guard the had a bunch of gunk in the HUGE gap between the blade and guard. It looked like it was glued with Elmer’s school glue.

There were a couple guys selling decently made knives at the show, don’t get me wrong, but man the level of trash being sold as “quality hand made knives” was so sub par that it made me kind of embarrassed.

I have made better knives, and that is just kind of sad considering my level of experience and ability!

Sigh...

Ok I’m done
 
Two questions.
1. Were they selling and for how much?
2. Where is this show? :p
 
That's about on par with the gun and knife show I went to last year in Harrisonburg Virginia. A self-proclaimed knife maker there made knife-like objects from railroad spikes and claimed he had a special recipe to heat treat them to make them as hard as other knives. He told me, "pick one up and I'll bet you can't put it down." Well, he lost that bet.
 
That is one reason I only do a custom knife show anymore. No guns, very little foreign factory stuff, and with lots of high quality makers … no junk knives made from rebar.

I'll join your rant:
Years back, I did some of the local knife and gun shows. The "knife and gun" shows are a joke. There are only a few knife sellers, and as you say, most sell foreign crap or poorly made knives. The people who come to your table are either scarier than hell, or want to show you their Sebenza and tell you how great it is. I was told up-front that I had to keep a close eye on my table or people would steal things. From what I hear, nowadays, almost everyone who stops by a knife table asks if you have ever heard of the show "Forged in Fire".
These shows are really gun shows to attract all sorts of people (mostly strange people). I think the put in the word "knife" to make it sound more He-Man. Floor length black trench coats, pierced everywhere, tattooed from head to toe ... sorry, just not my cup of tea.
 
My background is high end furniture, and the same kind of thing has been sweeping craft fairs in california for years. Terribly furniture, poor to no finish, god awful joinery, surfaces arent flat and the sanding is at diffrent grits and goes in all direction, and they all use their magic word.

"Rustic"

Because its not poorly made garbage, its Rustic!
 
jdm61 said:
Two questions.
1. Were they selling and for how much?
2. Where is this show? :p
Click to expand...

#1 I don’t know, and I didn’t ask... no prices on them. The two makers who looked like they knew what they were about had everything marked and seemed to be doing at least some business.

#2 Carlsbad, NM
 
[QUOTE="Greenberg Woods, post: 18155716, member: 367503]

Because its not poorly made garbage, its Rustic![/QUOTE]


I don’t mind Rustic... I’ve seen some really awesome rustic stuff over the years. There was this awesom Cajun joint in a nearby town who’s tables were all made out of old doors. They were solid, flat and really added to the atmosphere. But yeah, I’m pickin up what you are puttin down!
 
How sad, I too don't do much for knife & gun shows. I do like shows with real custom
knifemakers,- the more competition the better. If I can't compete with my style and the
prices I charge for my knives I don't belong there. First knife sold 1977. Ten years before
retirement I paid the bills with making knives. I'm guessing you can put that knifemaker
label on anybody.
Ken.
 
I split a table at a monthly gun show for half a year with my buddy Tobin Nieto, back well before the existence of Forged in Fire, much less both of us competing and winning on the show. It was an experiment that turned out as I hypothesized it would: during that time I sold three items. In my experience, gun show customers are there for guns and ammo and consider spending $40 on a knife to be big money.

We heard many times about the episode of Texas Country Reporter that had featured a teenaged kid forging railroad spike knives. I'm sure it's worse with FiF. :D

I do two knife shows a year now. Much better use of my time.
 
I've done pretty well at some of the local shows. Quality stands out, regardless of the venue.
 
True, Joe. West Texas is strong rural vibe, even in the cities. Not much of the trenchcoat tattoo piercing crowd, lol.
 
I haven’t been to show for a while, but the big shows in Dallas were like the last ones that I saw that were resisting as beat they could the turkey jerky Nazi memorabilia stupid AR accessory, etc trends for many years. Gun shows in places like North Florida were already going downhill starting in the mid 1990’s.
Jason Fry said:
True, Joe. West Texas is strong rural vibe, even in the cities. Not much of the trenchcoat tattoo piercing crowd, lol.
Click to expand...
 
i have seen it too. on one hand it makes me annoyed that these people think they are actually going to sell a poor piece of craftsmanship for $550. but on the other hand they make my knives look like the deal of the century for $350 !
 
I did the gun show circuit for about 5 years and had to stop due to the Walmartization of the shows. I make a fixed blade knife for everyday use they are 80CrV2 carbon steel and g10 or micarta handles nothing fancy. I had people say why are my knives so expensive(my range was $50-125) they can go to Walmart and get one for $9.95.
I told them to please go to Walmart and buy one...... It got to the point I was almost belligerent to them. Once I had a guy ask me what steel I used and I told him Peabody #6 he went on to tell me that was a great knife steel........

I would usually make 25-30 and sell most every one. My best customers were Special Forces soldiers from Bragg, they politely walk up to the table and buy and do not say much of anything....much like they are in the field.
 
I don't go to knife/gun shows anymore, and consider them a waste of time. I can't deal with the people, and it's easier to just order things online. It's like the bar scene in Star Wars to me.

The last time I went, there was a guy selling kit knives as customs. They were the standard Jantz blanks that everyone has seen. He didn't even put a finish on the tang after adding handles; 60 grit at best.
 
The Antique Arms Show in Vegas was in the past a big one for knives. It was one of 4 major shows every year, Vegas, California, New York, and the Guild show.

Vegas used to have makers like Bob Loveless, Ron Lake, Buster Warenski, Rod Chappel, Ted Dowell, AG Russell, etc. All of the big name makers and big time collectors came. Some of the early meetings to form the guild were held at the show. I miss those days.

It’s one gun and knife show that was really good for custom knives.

Hoss
 
The Pomona gun show in LA county was the mother of gun shows. They shut it down probably 20 years ago. Advertised as 5000 tables. Used to run for 3 days. Mostly quality stuff back then. That was an entertaining show. Guns/ammo,knives , military and everything in between. This Randal guy usually had around 100 blades displayed always. Back when you could buy a nice custom for 200. Housed mostly in these huge exhibit halls and outdoors. I always thought, who would be stupid enough to try and steal something.
 
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