My Blade Show thread...

They all look great my preference is for #2 AND A HYBRID OF #4 AND #6. aS FOR STEEL do what you do your best in. looks great
 
Kohai999 said:
Better to use KISS, and show your flair AFTER you have your stamp.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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They should issue this as standard instructions for all JS testers. Nobody ever flunked a JS test by playing it safe. Know the requirements and aim to exceed them, but stay within your wheelhouse. The JS test is not the place for pushing personal envelopes.

Roger
 
I can't really add anything, Phillip, it's all be said. Just do your absolute best and you should have not problem :)
 
Thanks, everyone, for the advice so far. I've made some changes as a result.

Now, some of the other questions I have:

What, as collectors, do you like to see on a makers table?

What do you NOT like to see on a makers table?

And anything else I need to know before going to a big show like Blade?
 
I really like #4 and #6.

Phillip, I would suggest going with what you know and makes you feel most comfortable.
Sometimes seaking too much advice can be a bad thing. fit&finish; fit&finish; fit&finish.
Did I mention fit&finish?
 
Phillip Patton said:
What, as collectors, do you like to see on a makers table?

What do you NOT like to see on a makers table?
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My answer to the first is, "lots of knives"

And to the second is, "no knives" ;)

Seriously, not intending to deliver completely useless feedback, just mean that so often things gets snapped up in the first mad rush of buyers. :) Take some hi-resolution pictures of your knives, both those you're taking with you and also any of your old ones that you'd like people to see, and that way if you end up selling out before it's over, you can give the Sunday shoppers a look at what they could look for from you and have something to talk about. Some business cards wouldn't be a bad idea either. I've only been to Blade twice, but in both cases I've ended up ordering knives from makers whose work I loved but was already too tapped-out on cash to buy at the show; and it's nice to have a card with contact info on it that I can write, "awesome horn-handled skinner that looked kinda like that first one only better" and other such memory aids.

Keep an oily rag or one of the Walmart silicon gun cloths handy to wipe down with after everybody picks them up and puts their fingerprints all over the blade/edge and just have fun. There's a great amount of expectation surrounding Blade but the majority of people are just coming to have a great time. I've seen/own enough of your work to tell you that you'll be in very good shape with whatever you take.

Warren
 
Can't add much of value here Phillip, I just wanted to say that I'm glad to hear you're going for it and wish you the best. I think you'll find it to be stressful but really rewarding (moreso than stressful in the end!) :)

I'm not so sure about the steel thing. IF (IMHO) you are confident in the steels you normally use then that is what determines what to use for your test knives. I used 1084, W1, and 52100 for my five and 52100 on my performance blade. Jim's right though, 5160 is nearly bulletproof when it comes to the performance test. As long as your steel is CLEAN and you can do a solid heat-treat and super clean finish on it, then use whatever you got/want to :)

I'm sure you'll pass with an A+! :D :thumbup:
 
phillip
keep it simple.the frist time i got all my knives ready for the test tim hancock told me that i was getting to fancy to fast and told me to take it the next year and focus on building a simple ,clean knive.and i did .and in 2005 i tested and won the george peck award. so it worked out .my test knife was 52100, and my test knives were all 52100 and just about the same style. you can see them on my site tgannknives. hope it helped
and good luck.
tommy
 
The BASICS make sure the Basics are perfect....Fit and Finish.....

The only other thing I can add is In my opinion Micarta would not be a choice for any of my judging knives,But it is a definat way to make sure you dont have any shrinkage or cracking problems,But I have always heard that they didnt want to see it in the judging room,but I may be wrong...

Good Luck,
Bruce
 
tgann said:
phillip
keep it simple.the frist time i got all my knives ready for the test tim hancock told me that i was getting to fancy to fast and told me to take it the next year and focus on building a simple ,clean knive.and i did .and in 2005 i tested and won the george peck award. so it worked out .my test knife was 52100, and my test knives were all 52100 and just about the same style. you can see them on my site tgannknives. hope it helped
and good luck.
tommy
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That seems like very good advice from Tim and very good for Tommy to past it on.
 
Once again, thanks everyone for the advice. Fit&finish. Not too fancy. Hmm. Is ivory micarta too fancy? :D
And thanks Nick and Tommy for the encouragement. I hope you guys will be there.

I'll try to have pictures of lot's of knives on the table, and definitely business cards. Are brochures useful? I won't have time between now and then to make them myself, but I have family who could do it.

What else do collectors/buying public like to see or not see on a table? I've only been to one show, so I have very little experience setting up a table.


BTW, here's some pictures of my two performance test blades as forged, cycled, and annealed:


jstestblade-1.JPG



And one of them ready for heat treat:


jstestblade-2.JPG
 
phillip...i wish you the best of luck at the show....as for brochures i really like burt foster's if u ever saw it....lot of nice color pics with a little info about the knives and PRICES.....good luck....lookin great so far.....ryan
 
Hi Phillip,

Most shows I have attended were like the OCKS. Most makers have business cards and a few may have brochures, but that is the exception. I wish more makers did do brochures with pictures to show work that they may not have on their table, but I understand that the cost involved may be prohibitive.

Paul
 
If you're going to pick a maker to use as a business model, I think Burt is a hard one to beat.

Super excited to see what you finish up Phillip!!! :D :cool:

Not sure if I'll make the show this year, but it'd be nice to shake your hand and see your knives up close and personal. :thumbup:
 
blad5 said:
Hi Phillip,

Most shows I have attended were like the OCKS. Most makers have business cards and a few may have brochures, but that is the exception. I wish more makers did do brochures with pictures to show work that they may not have on their table, but I understand that the cost involved may be prohibitive.

Paul
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Hi Paul,

Brochures are probably not going to happen, but I think it would be nice. I'll try to twist some arms and see what happens. :)
And I will definitely have some pictures there, hopefully nice, big ones.


NickWheeler said:
If you're going to pick a maker to use as a business model, I think Burt is a hard one to beat.

Super excited to see what you finish up Phillip!!! :D :cool:

Not sure if I'll make the show this year, but it'd be nice to shake your hand and see your knives up close and personal. :thumbup:
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I'm excited to see what I'll finish up, too. :rolleyes: So far I've changed just about everything about the five knives I was planning. :D

I'd like to meet you face to face also, and hopefully see some of your work in person. Pictures just aren't the same. It was very enlightening the first time I saw other makers work in person. I was surprised at how small all the knives were.

Ryan, I've never seen Burts brochure, but I like his website. :)
 
Phillip, your post is a good answer as to why we (collectors and makers) NEED knife shows.

I am hesitant to say this as it will probably come off as pretentious... But what the heck.

I was very dissapointed in a boat-load of makers' work when I actually started handling it at shows. Stuff that looked PERFECT in every way in the magazines is suddenly in your hand and you can see that the tip isn't centered, the plunges are off, there are swirls in the hand-rubbed finish, there are sharp edges OTHER than the cutting edge... etc. etc. You quickly realize how silly it is that words like "perfect" and the like are thrown around on the forums describing knives that just plain suck. A great photographer can make a horrid knife look grand.

Hope you don't think that when you see mine! :p :D

But to be fair... there are TONS of guys that knock out KILLER pieces that are every bit as clean and well executed when you see them in person. Plus you get the FEEL of the knife... which to me means SO FREAKING MUCH... and it isn't possible to convey via a 2dimensional static photo (although Coop comes close :D ).

The thing about Blade is you get to see and handle work from some of your very top tier dream makers from ALL "schools" :D

Even better is getting the chance to really sit down with makers and collectors and partake in some good 'ol male bonding :)

I'm sure we'll meet sooner or later... but it would be great if it's at Blade when you get your Js :cool: :thumbup:
 
nick...no truer words have been spoken....i have been quite disappoointed in some knives i have purchased and some i have gotten to see in person......shows are important and i hope i can make it to blade to see some more steel....keep up the hard work phillip....ryan
 
NickWheeler said:
Phillip, your post is a good answer as to why we (collectors and makers) NEED knife shows.

I am hesitant to say this as it will probably come off as pretentious... But what the heck.

I was very dissapointed in a boat-load of makers' work when I actually started handling it at shows. Stuff that looked PERFECT in every way in the magazines is suddenly in your hand and you can see that the tip isn't centered, the plunges are off, there are swirls in the hand-rubbed finish, there are sharp edges OTHER than the cutting edge... etc. etc. You quickly realize how silly it is that words like "perfect" and the like are thrown around on the forums describing knives that just plain suck. A great photographer can make a horrid knife look grand.

Hope you don't think that when you see mine! :p :D

But to be fair... there are TONS of guys that knock out KILLER pieces that are every bit as clean and well executed when you see them in person. Plus you get the FEEL of the knife... which to me means SO FREAKING MUCH... and it isn't possible to convey via a 2dimensional static photo (although Coop comes close :D ).

The thing about Blade is you get to see and handle work from some of your very top tier dream makers from ALL "schools" :D

Even better is getting the chance to really sit down with makers and collectors and partake in some good 'ol male bonding :)

I'm sure we'll meet sooner or later... but it would be great if it's at Blade when you get your Js :cool: :thumbup:
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Well said, Nick. :thumbup:
 
Well, I've changed some of the materials used in the five knives, so I thought I'd post them and see if anyone has anything to add.

Here's the drawing again:

jsknives.JPG


Starting from top:


Hunter: Stainless guard, stainless and micarta spacers, african blackwood handle, W2 steel

Camp/utility: Stainless guard, no spacers, Desert Ironwood handle, 1084 steel

Fighter: Stainless guard, stainless and ivory colored spacers, ivory micarta handle, 1084 steel

Big chopper: I'll probably still use black or natural micarta, just because it's hard to find good wood big enough for this handle style. W2 steel.

Bowie: Aluminum bronze guard and butt plate, black and aluminum bronze spacers, desert ironwood handle. I'll probably drop the butt a little more, too.
W2 steel, w/hamon.

I'll be making a sixth knife as backup, and haven't started designing it yet.

Oh, and I just hardened the two test blades last night. Here they are after a quick etch to show the quench lines:

1039.JPG


As you can see, they both have double quench lines, and the two lines intersect about 2 inches from the tip. Pretty cool. :D


Any input is welcome,
Phillip
 
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