- Joined
- May 10, 2005
- Messages
- 319
here's my short review of the ima knife show held this past weekend in munich.
i've managed to miss all the shows i wanted to attend this year due to work, so when i heard about the munich show i decided to make the short trip from prague. i'd been planning to do some siteseeing in munich and it was a good opportunity to combine the two.
the munich show was relatively small, about 35 makers or so. since most of the attendees were european, it was interesting to meet some new makers who i hadn't heard of previously. there were about a half dozen who did work that really exited me - mostly along the forged side of things.
i was there when the doors opened and the show was reasonably well attended, not packed to the gills, but still quite a few people.
one of the dissapointments for me, as an american being paid in dollars, was the pricing being in euros. already expensive pieces get pushed totally out of reach when you take a 25% hit on the currency conversion.
the other disappointment was that i only had a couple hours to spend at the show, consequently i didn't get to talk to everyone i would have liked to. also forgot to bring my camera, so i'm afraid i don't have any pics to share.
here's a few of the makers that caught my eye -
robert ball - www.alaskaknifemaker.com - an american out of alaska, he's been attending the munich show the last few years. he does mostly little stock removal fixed blades that were very nice and looked to make great users. he did also have some very nice stainless damascus folders with fossil ivory handles, accented by engraved bolsters. he has his engraving done locally in alaska by an engraver (jim white?) who does a lot of firearm engraving. the folders were very nice, and i seriously considered picking one up.
hans weinmueller - www.hwknivesandmore.com - hans lives in tucson, az. he had a number of very nice folders for sale. the one that caught my eye was a fossil ivory handled piece, where he'd heat colored the damascus bolsters and they almost exactly matched the tone of the ivory - very cool. really should have picked it up.
ulrich hennicke - www.messerunicum.de - didn't get a chance to talk with ulrich at all, but he had some beautiful pieces for sale. a couple of small sabre shaped blades, and an amazing ivory handled yataghan. really dug his stuff.
jockl greiss - www.jockl-greiss-messer.de - some very larger pieces. had a dagger that i really liked, nice solid piece of work.
richard van dijk - www.hoihoknives.com - i'd seen richard's work previously over on don fogg's forum and was really impressed. when i heard he was going to be at the munich show i was really excited to see his stuff in person & get a chance to talk to him. richard is originally from the netherlands, now living in new zealand. he's a heck of a nice guy and his work is amazing to boot. he has a background working as a goldsmith that shows through in the detail of his pieces. that said, he's not over the top in terms of embellishments. the result are nice clean pieces, executed with an eye for finish & detail.
richard had a number of pieces to show, but three of them in particular really caught my attention.
one is a large springbok handled fighter, with a damascus blade in a really agressive shape. the size, shape and heft made it feel very impressive in the hand.
the second one is a hawkbill fixed blade damascus piece with a carved ebony handle, and sterling silver details. this one feels light, but sturdy in the handle. there is a carved 'eye' in the blade, and the carving on the handle resembles wings - make the whole blade look like a stylized representation of some raptor. i really love this blade.
the third was a seax style piece with an integral guard, and a stag handle. this was probably the largest piece on richard's table and an immediate eye-catcher. i'd see it pictured previously but the pictures don't come close to doing the detailed damascus justice. it also had a very nice sheath with it. richard has been wax impregnating his leather, making them nice and solid. he's also started seaming them along the back instead of the side to get a slimmer profile. nice leather work to go with nice blades.
i had a really hard time deciding between the seax & the hawkbill piece. eventually i decided to wander around the show for a bit in the hopes that someone would pick up one or the other and make my decision for me. in the end though i decided on the seax. unfortunately due to baggage complications i couldn't take it home with me, and am having richard ship it instead. on the upside, anyone going to the ny show this weekend will be able to have a look at it.
thanks richard!
here's a pic of the seax -
i've managed to miss all the shows i wanted to attend this year due to work, so when i heard about the munich show i decided to make the short trip from prague. i'd been planning to do some siteseeing in munich and it was a good opportunity to combine the two.
the munich show was relatively small, about 35 makers or so. since most of the attendees were european, it was interesting to meet some new makers who i hadn't heard of previously. there were about a half dozen who did work that really exited me - mostly along the forged side of things.
i was there when the doors opened and the show was reasonably well attended, not packed to the gills, but still quite a few people.
one of the dissapointments for me, as an american being paid in dollars, was the pricing being in euros. already expensive pieces get pushed totally out of reach when you take a 25% hit on the currency conversion.
the other disappointment was that i only had a couple hours to spend at the show, consequently i didn't get to talk to everyone i would have liked to. also forgot to bring my camera, so i'm afraid i don't have any pics to share.
here's a few of the makers that caught my eye -
robert ball - www.alaskaknifemaker.com - an american out of alaska, he's been attending the munich show the last few years. he does mostly little stock removal fixed blades that were very nice and looked to make great users. he did also have some very nice stainless damascus folders with fossil ivory handles, accented by engraved bolsters. he has his engraving done locally in alaska by an engraver (jim white?) who does a lot of firearm engraving. the folders were very nice, and i seriously considered picking one up.
hans weinmueller - www.hwknivesandmore.com - hans lives in tucson, az. he had a number of very nice folders for sale. the one that caught my eye was a fossil ivory handled piece, where he'd heat colored the damascus bolsters and they almost exactly matched the tone of the ivory - very cool. really should have picked it up.
ulrich hennicke - www.messerunicum.de - didn't get a chance to talk with ulrich at all, but he had some beautiful pieces for sale. a couple of small sabre shaped blades, and an amazing ivory handled yataghan. really dug his stuff.
jockl greiss - www.jockl-greiss-messer.de - some very larger pieces. had a dagger that i really liked, nice solid piece of work.
richard van dijk - www.hoihoknives.com - i'd seen richard's work previously over on don fogg's forum and was really impressed. when i heard he was going to be at the munich show i was really excited to see his stuff in person & get a chance to talk to him. richard is originally from the netherlands, now living in new zealand. he's a heck of a nice guy and his work is amazing to boot. he has a background working as a goldsmith that shows through in the detail of his pieces. that said, he's not over the top in terms of embellishments. the result are nice clean pieces, executed with an eye for finish & detail.
richard had a number of pieces to show, but three of them in particular really caught my attention.
one is a large springbok handled fighter, with a damascus blade in a really agressive shape. the size, shape and heft made it feel very impressive in the hand.
the second one is a hawkbill fixed blade damascus piece with a carved ebony handle, and sterling silver details. this one feels light, but sturdy in the handle. there is a carved 'eye' in the blade, and the carving on the handle resembles wings - make the whole blade look like a stylized representation of some raptor. i really love this blade.
the third was a seax style piece with an integral guard, and a stag handle. this was probably the largest piece on richard's table and an immediate eye-catcher. i'd see it pictured previously but the pictures don't come close to doing the detailed damascus justice. it also had a very nice sheath with it. richard has been wax impregnating his leather, making them nice and solid. he's also started seaming them along the back instead of the side to get a slimmer profile. nice leather work to go with nice blades.
i had a really hard time deciding between the seax & the hawkbill piece. eventually i decided to wander around the show for a bit in the hopes that someone would pick up one or the other and make my decision for me. in the end though i decided on the seax. unfortunately due to baggage complications i couldn't take it home with me, and am having richard ship it instead. on the upside, anyone going to the ny show this weekend will be able to have a look at it.
thanks richard!
here's a pic of the seax -
never mind. 