Jody Samson

L

Less Than Sharpest

Joined
Mar 22, 2021
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I was going through a box of wood and saw some handwriting and thought about Jody Sampson, and wondered what some of you knew about him, and if anyone would be willing to share.

At some point Jody worked for Pacific Cutlery and was the custom bali-song blade grinder, along with being the sharpener and when Pacific became Benchmade and moved to Oregon Jody moved with them. During the summer months it was perfect, not too hot, sunny, but then when it began to rain in the fall he couldn't stand it and moved back to LA. I never met him and regret that, but my friend Rob told me a few things about him.

I know that he was an amazing sword maker and was really into all the little details that we take for granted these days. I own a sword that Rob made for me, and I can see Jodys' influence quite clearly.

I take it he hated the cold and I didn't understand why he would ever move to Wisconsin, where he died alone in his shop two days after Christmas, 2008. The world lost a very good one that day.
 
So Jody Samson as I'm sure most people know was responsible for the swords in the Conan movies. As swords go the Atlantean and the Fathers Sword were pretty unwieldy things, you actually had to BE Arnold to heft the "hero swords" properly or so I've heard. Of course that wasn't the point. Those swords were supposed to be larger than life and demonstrate Mr. Samson's amazing skills in sculpting. They do that incredibly well and are quite possibly THE most iconic movie swords of all time.

I have had the opportunity to handle probably around a dozen Samson pieces over the years and I assure you that most of his swords would function quite well as fighting weapons. That is if they were not so amazingly beautiful. The blade grinds are unbelievably complex and executed perfectly. I was told that he never used a jig which makes them that much more amazing. The fittings are also unbelievable. They are often incredibly creative and again flawlessly executed. No one captured the Hypoborean motif like Jody Samson. I can only speculate as to how Howard Waddell got him to come to Albion in Wisconsin. I suspect that the prospect of stable employment with a steady income doing what he loved without having to deal with all the business details was a powerful incentive.

As you say he died in his shop alone but he did not live and work that way in his last years. I hoped that his apprentice Shann Ann would be able to carry on his legacy but for whatever reason that did not happen. It's one of my greatest regrets that I did not purchase one of his last works when Albion was selling the off.

Oddly I actually have one of his swords in the shop now. I'll get some pictures and post the when I'm done fitting it out.
 
Vic Anselmo, Jody Samson's workmate under Cooper also made the sword for "The Beastmaster" films. When Cooper came west, he hired Anselmo as shop help, and little later Jody gets hired on. Anselmo has an interest in Filipino weapons, Les DeAsis comes along needing someone to help him produce butterflies, Anselmo decides he doesn't like the work, and wants to remain independent. He introduces Jody to Les, and Samson becomes their custom grinder.

That's the way I've heard the story.

The whole story of Cooper knives is interesting. Lots of talent associated with it. Jody, Vic, Alex Collins (one, if not the first Black custom knifemaker), etc....

Gil Hibben is another guy with a similar story, most people don't know it, but the amount of talent that started under him is crazy.
 
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Before Jody Samson became known with the swords for movies, he designed several knives (apart from the butterflies) which were manufactured by G.Sakai in Seki and sold under the Pacific Cutlery label. This preceded his many custom knives.
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PS: OP might want to correct the thread title to Samson, not Sampson.
 
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Jody was a good friend and much of what has been written here is here say and embellished....;)

SO....He never sharpened any knives, Les paid him by the piece and if he needed $50, that’s how many blades he’d grind that day. He did not ‘make’ balisong’s, he ground the blades for them.

He was a quiet man but extremely knowledgeable and a World Class Artist in any medium, I miss him greatly and the visits to his shop.

The story is quite long...all of my pictures with him in his shop are gone with that #%€€ing Fototime but I still have ‘a few’ balisong’s, daggers, swords and such....those f’n thieves didn’t get those.
 
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Very few of his butterflies are signed, like the first one below. But you don't need a signature to recognize a hand-ground Samson.

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I've always been a Conan fan, so I first learned about Samson in his role as a sword maker. But it was his Bali-Song work that kept his name familiar to me over the years. I turned down an opportunity to buy a Samson Bali-Song butterfly a few years ago--a decision I regret!

I appreciate the information and stories this thread has generated.


-Steve

P.S. - A little movie trivia: While I don't doubt that Samson's swords for Conan were quite heavy and unwieldy, many of the movie's swordplay scenes were shot with fiberglass reproductions. The fiberglass versions weren't harmless, however, as Ben Davidson (if I recall correctly) was cut badly with one.
 
"Never heard of him" That just goes to show how quick you are forgotten in this business when you are gone. I first met him when he moved North to Oregon with Les DeAsis. Was in the shop watching him grind blades and had lunch with him and Les a few times. Benchmade was just a tiny shop in those days.
 
Dawkind said:
Jody was a good friend and much of what has been written here is here say and embellished....;)

SO....He never sharpened any knives, Les paid him by the piece and if he needed $50, that’s how many blades he’d grind that day. He did not ‘make’ balisong’s, he ground the blades for them.

He was a quiet man but extremely knowledgeable and a World Class Artist in any medium, I miss him greatly and the visits to his shop.

The story is quite long...all of my pictures with him in his shop are gone with that #%€€ing Fototime but I still have ‘a few’ balisong’s, daggers, swords and such....those f’n thieves didn’t get those.
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So I certainly did not know the man personally, my interactions came exclusively from working on his pieces. If anything I posted was inaccurate please set the record straight so that I don't continue to post bad data.
 
tltt said:
Vic Anselmo, Jody Samson's workmate under Cooper also made the sword for "The Beastmaster" films. When Cooper came west, he hired Anselmo as shop help, and little later Jody gets hired on. Anselmo has an interest in Filipino weapons, Les DeAsis comes along needing someone to help him produce butterflies, Anselmo decides he doesn't like the work, and wants to remain independent. He introduces Jody to Les, and Samson becomes their custom grinder.

That's the way I've heard the story.

The whole story of Cooper knives is interesting. Lots of talent associated with it. Jody, Vic, Alex Collins (one, if not the first Black custom knifemaker), etc....

Gil Hibben is another guy with a similar story, most people don't know it, but the amount of talent that started under him is crazy.
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I didn't know those two worked together, interesting!
 
Yea
Sidehill Gouger said:
"Never heard of him" That just goes to show how quick you are forgotten in this business when you are gone. I first met him when he moved North to Oregon with Les DeAsis. Was in the shop watching him grind blades and had lunch with him and Les a few times. Benchmade was just a tiny shop in those days.
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I thought that one was a little disturbing too. Kind of like saying, "Warenski never heard of em..."
 
The Whip said:
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These 2 knives belong to me with about 40 more balisongs which I have a number Jody signed for me....these pictures are well over 10 years old.

I’ve spoken with these ‘kids’ that have never heard much of anything, never heard of the movie let alone Schwarzenegger or Jody....the World is awash with unknowing people in this age. :(
 
It is funny how quickly people forget, or rather, don't ask others for information that would lead them to a better understanding of our collective history. No offense intended, but if Jody wasn't sharpening for BM, who was? I was told that when Jody left they hired a guy (I forget his name) from Gerber who was their only sharpener. And while Les did know how to operate the serrator, I never actually saw him sharpen a knife. I doubt he sharpen knives. Does anyone know who did?
 
There were NEVER any of Jody’s bslinsong’s that were ever serrated...that’s all bs no matter what pictures you see.

No idea and does it matter? Jody would charge extra to sharpen a sword...FYI.
 
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